Story of the Birth of Lord Ganesh

Once Goddess Parvati was spending time in the garden along with her friends Jaya and Bijaya. Jaya and Bijaya started talking about how 'Gana', 'Preta', ‘Nandi’, ‘Bhrungi’ everyone obeys the orders of Lord Shiva only. ‘Ganas’ and ‘Pretas’ are the attendants of Lord Shiva who reside in Kailash along with Lord Shiva. They all along with Nandi and Bhrungi are called ‘Shiva-Ganas’. They guard his entrance with complete devotion. Jaya and Bijaya said that even if they were our own, for them the orders of Lord Shiva are above all. They further said that Goddess Pravati should also have someone for whom her orders are above all. Goddess Parvati thought of this after hearing from her friends.

Some days passed and one day when Parvati was taking a bath, Lord Shiva entered after threatening Nandi who was guarding the entrance. Seeing Lord Shiva, Parvati stood up embarrassed and remembered the words of her friends. Goddess Parvati thought of having a gatekeeper for whom her orders were above all. She took the turmeric paste and dirt from her body and sculpted a beautiful human form out of it. It was a flawless body with beautiful limbs, an enchanting face, and unmatched strength. This was Lord Ganesh. She called him her son and bestowed various powers upon him. She gifted him the best of clothes and jewellery. Lord Ganesh stood up and asked how he could help her. Goddess Parvati then ordered him to be her gatekeeper. “No one should enter my palace without my permission whosoever he/she may be.”

One day Lord Ganesh was guarding the palace of Goddess Parvati and was taking a bath when Lord Shiva returned to the palace after many days. Since Ganesh did not know who he was, he refused to let him in. Lord Shiva again asked Lord Ganesh to not obstruct his path but in vain. This angered lord shiva and seeing this 'Gana', 'Preta', ‘Nandi’ everyone rushed to convince Lord Ganesh that it was his father and he must not obstruct his path. Lord Shiva asked the identity of Lord Ganesh to 'Gana' and 'Preta' to which they answered that he was the son of Goddess Parvati. 

Lord Shiva, the supreme godhead who is all-knowing never does anything without reason. By then all the deities had arrived there. He started his ‘leela’ (divine play) and ordered all of them to fight with Lord Ganesh. All the deities also took part in this fight to defeat Lord Ganesh. He did this to check the growing ego of all of them. 

Then Lord Shiva himself came to fight with Lord Ganesh. This duel continued for a long time. But at the end when Lord Ganesh still refused to give up, Lord Shiva had to behead him with his Trishul. When this news reached the ears of Goddess Parvati, she was enraged and took her Kaali form (The fierce form of Goddess Parvati). Her uncontrolled energies started huge disturbances in the whole universe. The whole creation was on the verge of destruction.

All the Rishis had reached there by then. Worried, Devarishi Narad also came there and all of them started discussing the ways to calm Goddess Parvati. Then all the rishis and Narad Muni went to Goddess Parvati and prayed to her. Goddess Parvati answered their prayers and said that if Lord Ganesh is revived and given due respect she will assume her normal form. The rishis and deities went to Lord Shiva to ask him about it. Lord Shiva directed them to go in the North direction and behead the first creature that they find and attach the same to Lord Ganesh’s body. 

Following this order, they went and found an elephant with one tusk there. They asked the elephant if he was willing to give up life for this cause to which he agreed. They brought his head and kept the head near the body of Lord Ganesh. After this Lord Shiva started the process of reviving Lord Ganesh with the Veda Mantra. He sprinkled holy water over the body and Lord Ganesh woke up as if from a deep sleep. Goddess Parvati assumed her calm form. Lord Ganesh was bestowed with numerous boons by the rishis and deities. He also was made the ‘Agrapujya’ (the one who is prayed first in any religious rites). 

Source: Shiv Purana

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