Fascinating stories of Lord Ganesh

Lord Ganesh is one of the most popular gods and is omnipresent in nearly every corner of the country. People celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi all over the world nowadays. But do we know the actual meaning of the name Ganesha? “Gana” means group of people and “Isha” used to refer to the gods. The masses have made Ganesha their “Lord.” Many people have worshipped Vinayaka for many years, and his popularity has grown hugely.

Since Ganesh Chaturthi is on the corner let’s put some light on lesser known stories of Vighnaharta.  

Writing the Mahabharata with Lord Ganesh

Ganesh wrote the Mahabharata. Sage Vyasa recited it to him. Vyasa recited the epic uninterruptedly on the condition that Ganesh would not stop writing. This is because Vighnaharta wanted to understand every verse of it. They spent three years continuously speaking and writing to complete the epic.

Lord Ganesh and the missing Conch

Lord Vishnu always carries his Conch with him. One fine day, the Conch went missing from Lord Vishnu’s possession. He started looking for it everywhere. As Lord Vishnu was looking for his conch he heard its sound from a distance. Soon he realized the sound was coming from Mount Kailash. As he reached the Mount, he found Ganesh was busy blowing it.

God Vishnu knew that he would not relent easily so he went to Lord Shiva to ask for his help. Lord Shiva said he too didn’t have any power over Ganesh’s wishes. The only way to appease Vinayaka is to perform Puja for him. God Vishnu set up all the necessary elements for the puja and worshipped Ganesh with all his heart. Gajanan returned God Vishnu’s conch with great pleasure. From this, we can say even the great God Vishnu did not hesitate to worship Vinayaka

The story of Parvati’s wounds

Mischievous child Lord Ganesh indulged in numerous naughty activities. One fine day he came around with a cat while playing and went to mess around with it. Pulling its tail and having fun with it. While the cat mewed in pain Lord Ganesh failed to notice the same and continued playing with the Cat. On reaching Mount Kailash Ganesh found Devi Parvati lying down outside the house with wounds all over her body and crying in pain. Ganesh rushed to her and asked her who did this to her. To which she replied Ganesh himself did this to her. The cat was a form of Parvati as she wanted to play with Lord Ganesh. But Ganesh treated her unfairly and ruthlessly. Ganesh was utterly sorry for his behavior and took an oath to treat all the animals in a gentle manner and with care and affection.

Lord Ganesh and the story of sweet kheer.

Ganesh once entered a village in the form of a boy having a bowl of Milk in one hand and a bowl of rice in the other hand. He began asking for help to make Kheer, but everyone else was busy. He reached a poor woman’s hut who agreed to make some kheer for him. She mixed the rice and milk and set up a pot to cook. She fell asleep, and the boy went out to play. When she woke up, she realized the kheer had cooked and was extremely delicious.

She was too hungry and couldn’t resist. Before eating she took out some kheer and offered it to the idol of Ganesh and then began eating. No matter how much she ate the pot never emptied. When the boy returned, she offered the whole pot to him and confessed that she had eaten before him as she was hungry. The boy replied he ate it too when she offered it to the idol of Vighnaharta. The woman began crying at Ganesh’s feet, and Ganesh blessed her with wealth and health.

Ganesh is recognized as the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. The above stories describe Lord Ganesh’s different shades. Ganesh’s stories from the trove of mythology are a great way to introduce ourselves to Lord. Various pujas and rituals may always be a part of our lives, but what is necessary is to hold God in our hearts and adhere to the principles put forward by him.