LORD GANESHA’S FEAST OF LAUGHTER Meera Uberoi writes stories and poems for children. Her previously published books include The Mahabharata, Leadership Secrets from the Mahabharata, Tales from the Panchatantra and Indian Tales for Children. She lives in New Delhi.
Lord Ganesha’s Feast of Laughter
MEERA UBEROI
Illustrations by AGANTUK
PUFFIN BOOKS
PUFFIN BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Group (NZ), cnr Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Group (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England First published in Puffin by Penguin Books India 2006 Text copyright © Meera Uberoi 2006 Illustration copyright © Agantuk 2006 All rights reserved 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN-10: 0143 335243 ISBN-13: 9780143335245 Typeset in AGaramond by Eleven Arts, New Delhi Printed at Pauls Press, New Delhi This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser and without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above-mentioned publisher of this book.
Contents Introduction
vii
1. How Ganesha Got His Elephant Head
1
2. How Ganesha Got His Mount
6
3. The Bowl of Laddoos
11
4. Why Ganesha Has a Pot Belly
14
5. Ganesha and the God of Wealth
16
6. The Pot of Kheer
24
7. How Ganesha Won His Brides
30
8. How Ganesha Got His Rat
35
9. Ganesha and Vyasa
39
10. Ganesha Writes the Mahabharata
42
11. Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes
47
12. The Remover of All Obstacles
52
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Contents
13. Ganesha and Kaveri
56
14. How the Tabla Was Created
62
15. The Wish-Fulfilling Gem
64
16. The Frog Devotee
69
17. The Clever Girl
73
18. The Bride and the Rats
78
19. How Ganesha Made the Poor Man Rich
83
20. Ganesha and Little Nambi
92
21. The Rich Merchant’s Son
99
22. Ganesha and Vishnu’s Conch
102
23. Ganesha Tricks Ravana
106
Introduction Ganesha, the elephant-headed, pot-bellied god riding a rat, is one of the best-loved Hindu deities. He is known by a thousand names: Ganapati (lord of the ganas—the attendants), Vakratunda (the one with the curved trunk), Lambodara (bigbellied), Vinayaka (a distinguished leader), Vighnaharta (remover of obstacles) . . . and more. Tales about Ganesha are hard to find and many of them have more than one version. For instance, there are many tales of Ganapati’s birth, some in the ancient texts and some in folk tradition. In the Uttara Ramayana, Shiva and Parvati take the form of elephants and Parvati bears a son with an elephant’s head. The Puranas contain two different versions—one, the first tale in this book, and the other, where Shani burns the head of Parvati’s son with a baleful glance and it is replaced with an elephant’s head. Similarly, there are two views about who was Parvati and Shiva’s elder son—Ganesha or Skanda, and also how the rat became Ganesha’s mount. This book brings together some of the most fascinating
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Introduction
and exciting stories of Ganesha—the god of wisdom, of beginnings, of writing, and of a thousand wonderful things. Lord Ganesha’s birthday—Ganesh Chaturthi—is celebrated in the Hindu calendar month of Bhadra (August– September).
How Ganesha Got His Elephant Head
S
hiva’s wife Parvati, daughter of Himalaya with its sparkling streams, was pretty easy-going but disliked being disturbed when she was bathing. And Shiva never seemed to remember that. He strode in whenever he wished, cool as you please, and this really annoyed Parvati. One day when Shiva was away meditating in the forest, Parvati went into her bathing chamber with a determined little smile on her lips. ‘Today I will not be disturbed,’ she thought as she rubbed her body with jasmine oil and a paste of sandalwood and sweet aloes. ‘He’s not going to barge in this time.’ Picking up a flat wooden knife she scraped the scented paste off her body and kneaded it into a lump. When it was firm enough, she fashioned the figure of a boy, perfect in every limb. Then she held it up to her face and poured her life’s breath into him. In the twinkling of an eye, a young boy stood
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Lord Ganesha’s Feast of Laughter
before her, handsome, alive, eyes bright with love. The boy gazed into his mother’s face and bowed. Parvati hugged him. ‘You are beautiful, my son,’ she said with a silvery laugh. ‘Now look, I want you to do something for me. I’m going to have a bath and no one, that means no one, is to enter this chamber.’ The boy bowed, hands folded. ‘It shall be as you wish, Mother.’ Parvati went in and shut the door. The boy posted himself outside and stood with legs apart, hands folded. Shiva returned to Kailasha, looked around for Parvati and when he didn’t see her, made straight for the bathroom. Then he came to an abrupt halt. In front of the door, blocking his passage, stood a strange young boy. Shiva moved forward purposefully, but the boy didn’t budge. ‘Out of my way, boy,’ Shiva said, eyes snapping with anger. ‘No,’ came the quiet but firm answer. ‘Step aside, now!’ Shiva thundered. ‘I will not,’ said the boy coolly, without a trace of fear. ‘My mother said no one must enter, so no one will—not until she says so.’ ‘I’m not interested in what your mother said. Move out of my way!’ The crescent moon on Shiva’s head glowed red with anger and Ganga raged as she poured out of
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Lord Ganesha’s Feast of Laughter
his matted locks. But the boy stood right where he was. ‘How dare you stop me!’ Shiva roared and his terrible anger erupted. In a flash his sword was out and fell on the boy’s tender neck. ‘Mother!’ the boy cried as he fell and his severed head rolled on the ground. Parvati sprang up and flung the door open. Her eyes widened in pain and anguish when she saw the headless body of her son. She turned on Shiva like a mountain lioness, angry tears pouring down her face. ‘You’ve killed my son, you heartless brute,’ she stormed. ‘How could you kill a young boy unequal in strength and years? And they call you Mahadeva—the Great God! Some Great God you are! I’ll never forgive you for this.’ Shiva looked at her in blank astonishment. ‘Your son? How on earth was I to know he was your son?’ he asked reasonably. ‘You should have known,’ Parvati bit out, wiping away her tears. ‘You are Mahadeva, after all.’ ‘I’m truly sorry, my dear, just don’t be angry with me,’ Shiva soothed in his most calming voice. ‘Look, I’ll bring him back to life.’ Parvati threw him a smouldering look and turned away. Shiva thought of his ganas and the faithful attendants appeared promptly. ‘Bring me the head of the first living
How Ganesha Got His Elephant Head
5
creature you see,’ Shiva ordered. ‘And make it snappy.’ The ganas left and almost immediately saw an old tusker shuffling down the path. They cut off its head and took it to Shiva. Shiva knelt down by the headless body of the boy and placed the elephant’s head on the raw, bleeding neck. The head merged seamlessly into the torso of the boy and a moment later the little eyes flickered open. Shiva raised him up and embraced him. ‘You, my son, will be the leader of my ganas and the world will know you as Ganapati,’ he pronounced with a loving smile. ‘No god or man will dare begin a venture without first invoking you. In you, my son, shall be the power to remove every obstacle in the path of man and in you shall lie the wisdom of the ages.’ Shiva then turned to Parvati. ‘Happy now?’ he asked with a smile. Parvati’s displeasure was the only thing that put the Great God into a quake. Parvati smiled but her eyes still crackled. ‘It will do,’ she said as she held her son close. ‘Come, my son, I want you to meet your brother Skanda. He is the commander of the heavenly armies.’ She led him away and Shiva followed with a rueful smile on his lips. ‘Whew! That was a close call,’ he thought, gazing fondly at them.
8+ Twenty-three lively stories about the lovable elephant-headed god Ganesha has an elephant’s head, a pot belly and a rollicking sense of fun. Full of mischief, he fools around with gods and humans alike. He is also wise and shrewd, gentle and compassionate. These tales of Lord Ganesha include old mythological favourites, like the stories about his birth and how he got his elephant head. Alongside are little-known tales dug up from ancient texts—how Ganesha created the tabla, how he stopped Ravana from becoming all-powerful, how he won a race around the world without moving an inch, and how he swallowed Vishnu, Brahma and Lakshmi in one big gulp! Each illustrated tale is told with sparkling wit—to match that of the boisterous god. Cover illustration by Agantuk