Hindu Mythology
Lesson 3: Shiva
Ganesh
The myth of the birth of Ganesh reveals several facets about the relationship between Shiva and Parvati.
Often when Parvati took her bath, she had Nandi guard the door for her. But Nandi was Shiva’s faithful bull and hence was unable to prevent Shiva from entering as and when he chose. Even though Shiva was her husband, Parvati resented this intrusion of her privacy. Parvati then decided to create a son who would follow her every instruction. She had been hurt when Shiva created their first son, Kartikeya, without any involvement from her and saw this as an opportunity to take revenge.
She created a boy out of the dirt from her body. This was Ganesh. Parvati stationed Ganesh at the door of her apartment and instructed him that he prevent anyone from entering while she was in her bath. Shiva came there and was prevented from entering. When he insisted Ganesh used force. Shiva then told his assistants to beat up this boy. A fierce battle ensued and Shiva’s assistants were defeated. Indra, Kartikeya and Vishnu himself tried to subdue Ganesh, but were unsuccessful. Ultimately Shiva had to fight and he severed the boy’s head with his trident.
Hearing the din, Parvati hurriedly completed her bath and came out. When she saw the headless body of her son she let loose all her destructive powers and began to annihilate the Universe. The sages pleaded with her to stop. She put two conditions. Her son be brought back to life and that he be given a respectable position in the pantheon.
The first living creature the demi-Gods encountered was an elephant. They brought back his head. The supreme Gods connected the elephant head to the headless body and breathed life into it. They proclaimed that Ganesh would have to be worshipped before any other God is worshipped, including themselves. If this is not done then the prayers will not bear fruit.
There are several legends about Ganesh. This one is taken from Skanda Purana. Ganesh was known for his ravenous appetite. Once, when a guest of the Moon demi-God, he overstuffed his huge stomach. As a result, when he got up from the meal he was unbalanced and fell. The Moon demi-God laughed and ridiculed Ganesh. Ganesh retaliated by causing the Moon to disappear. Without the Moon the balance of Nature would be affected, hence Shiva requested Ganesh to alter his curse. Shiva also compelled the Moon to apologize. Ganesh said that Moon would not disappear at once but slowly diminish. And after being absent for a day he would regain his power slowly. This cycle would continue for ever so that people would remain warned at all times not to make fun of Ganesh. One of the purposes of mythology is to explain natural phenomena. This myth explains the waning and waxing of the moon.
Major mythological characters are never born normally. Whereas Kartikeya’s birth depicts external fertilization, Ganesh’s birth depicts virgin birth. When a God during his incarnation is born to a mortal, one can understand the need for virgin birth. No human can be that powerful as to produce a God through his seed. However this argument does not appear to be valid when a God is sired by another God. Yet virgin births abound not only in Hindu mythology but also in other mythologies.
Jocelyn Rhys, in the book ‘Shaken Creeds: The Virgin Birth Doctrine’ provides a likely explanation. Primitive societies could not determine the connection between sexual intercourse and childbirth. There are several reasons for this. The period of nine months between conception and delivery is significantly large. Intercourse continued even after conception so it was difficult to determine when conception took place. Sexual intercourse did not always lead to conception. In Primitive societies childbirth was a wonderful and miraculous event. Hence in the culture they created childbirth was even more wonderful and miraculous. By the time the connection between sexual intercourse and childbirth was realized, mythology must have become so entrenched as to make it irreversible.
Optional Exercises
5a. Read the myth of Ganesh’s birth from ‘Hindu Myths’ on page 261.
5b. Look at the image at the following site.
http://www.saranam.com/Pujas/image-4.asp
Below the feet of Ganesh is a tiny mouse. You will rarely see an image of Ganesh without the mouse. The mouse is known as the ‘vahana’ or vehicle of Ganesh. Whenever Ganesh travels he rides on the mouse. Each of the demi-Gods and Supreme Gods has their vahana, which are either a bird or a beast. The table below lists the vahanas of some of the mythological characters we have discussed. Note that some of the vahanas have Proper Names.
What purpose does this concept serve? Is there any relation between the deity and the vahana?
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