Ganesha

Ganesha, the god with an elephant head, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon. He is revered as the god of beginnings, the remover of obstacles and the patron of arts and sciences and the god of intellect and wisdom. I talked about the reason why in my post "Elephant memory".

Ganesha may have emerged as a deity as early as the 1st century BCE, but most certainly by the 4th and 5th centuries CE, during the Gupta period...

There are many legends abut Ganesha. But interestingly, most of these stories concentrate on three things: his birth, his elephant head, and his single tusk.

In this article I would like to talk about these legends and would try to extract from them data that will help us to understand who this god really is...

While Ganesha is popularly considered to be the son of Shiva and Parvati, the Puranic myths relate several different versions of his birth. These include versions in which he is created by Shiva, by Parvati, by Shiva and Parvati, or in some other manner and is later discovered by Shiva and Parvati.

The most well-known Ganesha creation story is probably the one taken from the Shiva Purana. 

The goddess Parvati had started preparing for a bath. As she didn’t want to be disturbed during her bath and since Nandi (Bull servant of Shiva) was not at Kailash to keep guard of the door, Parvati took the turmeric paste (for bathing) from her body and made a form of a boy and breathed life into him. This boy was instructed by Parvati to guard the door and to not let anyone in until she finished her bath.

After Shiva had come out of his meditation, he wanted to go and see Parvati but found himself being stopped by this strange boy. Shiva tried to reason with the boy saying that he was Parvati's husband but the boy did not listen and was determined to not let Shiva enter until his mother Parvati finished her bath. The "usually peaceful" Shiva who was "desperate" to "see" Parvati got so mad with the boy that his "divine fury" severed the boy's head with his Trishul thereby killing him instantly.

When Parvati learned of this, she was so enraged and insulted that she decided to destroy the entire Creation. Lord Brahma, being the Creator, naturally had his issues with this, and pleaded that she reconsider her drastic plan. She said she would, but only under two conditions: one, that the boy be brought back to life, and two, that he be forever worshipped before all the other gods.

Shiva, having cooled down by this time, agreed to Parvati’s conditions. He sent his Shiva-dutas out with orders to bring back the head of the first creature that is lying with its head facing North. The Shiva-dutas soon returned with the head of a strong and powerful elephant Gajasura which Lord Brahma placed onto boy's body. Breathing new life into him, he was declared as Gajanana and gave him the status of being foremost among the gods, and leader of all the ganas (classes of beings), Ganapati.

Goddess Parvati derives her name from Parvata (पर्वत), one of the Sanskrit words for "mountain". She is the daughter of king Himavan (also called Himavat, Parvat), the god of the Himalayas and the personification of the Himalayas range. 

It is Himalayas that create the monsoon. 

And it is that monsoon which is "the bath of Parvati". 

So Parvati created Ganesha from turmeric to guard her bath and stop anyone from coming in...

Now interestingly, turmeric is planted "right after the first monsoon showers" and in a way is the symbol of the beginning of the monsoon season...Monsoon season which in Ganges river catchment area starts in May/Jun and ends in Oct/Nov. 

The monsoon season peaks at the end of Jul beginning of Aug. Right at point when summer (symbolised by a bull, Shiva's vahana) meats autumn (symbolised by a lion, Parvati's vahana)...

So Shiva who was "in meditation" wakes up (at the beginning of summer, end of Apr beginning of May, in Taurus) and goes on to "see" his wife. But he is stopped by the "strange boy made of turmeric" (beginning of monsoon). He tries to argue with the boy, but is getting more and more hot and bothered (temperature peaks towards the end of summer). Finally he blows up and kills the boy. At that moment Parvati is in the bath (monsoon in full swing). She comes out totally pissed off and starts yelling at Shiva who knows that he has screwed it up and will not get to "meet" Parvati unless he fixes the shit he has made pronto. So he sends his goons to get another head for the boy and they bring back an elephant head...Abrakadabra...Elephant boy...By the way, the fight between Parvati and Shiva happens in the middle of Parvati's bath, in the middle of monsoon, at its peak, at the end of summer, beginning of autumn, and of Jul beginning of Sep. At the peak of the Indian elephant mating season...Which overlaps with the monsoon season...

I talked about all this in detail in my posts "Ardhanarishvara" and "Musth". 

This Ganesha creation story simply states that he was born by Parvati...

Parvati gave birth to a beautiful boy. All the gods came to see him. Except Shani. He had not come due to a curse which made the head of anyone he glanced at get burnt to ashes. When Parvati heard about this, she felt her son faced no such threat. She pressed Shani to visit her. But, even his hesitant glance at the child - with just one of his eyes; proved his fears right. The child's head went up in flames. A distraught Parvati demanded that Shani restore her child's head. She asked him to send a servant to bring back the head of the first person he met. But Shani could punish someone only if he had erred. His emissary, who went looking for an erring individual, found an elephant sleeping with his face turned northwards. He cut off his head and brought it back to be placed on Parvati's little son.

In another version of the same story featuring Shani 

...to prevent Parvati in her anger from destroying the world, Lord Vishnu flew north on His eagle Garuda and, finding a bull elephant exhausted from intercourse with this mate, cut off his head, returned with it, and joined it successfully to Lord Ganesha’s body.

It is interesting as it says that Parvati's son's head "went up in flames"...I believe that this is the description of what happens to nature, which Parvati gives birth to, during the last few scorching hot days before the arrival of the monsoon. This is the time of drought, the time of fires. The nature dies...But then the elephant musth starts and the rain arrives and the nature is revived...This time with an elephant head...

But why do both of these stories state that "the elephant was lying with his head pointing north"? Well I believe that this has to do with the direction of the monsoon winds...They blow northward during the rain season.

Do elephants face away from the prevailing winds, basically facing the same direction as the wind blows? Or is this just a symbol for "when the rain winds blow and elephants mate"? Either way it's all there, in plain sight...

This next version of the Ganesha creation story links it directly with the elephant matins season, which starts in June and lasts until September. Basically covering the whole monsoon season: 

Shiva and Parvati went to rest in a forest on the slopes of Himalaya. They found two elephants making love there. Their passions ignited, Shiva and Parvati wanted to enjoy themselves like these elephants. They turned into elephants and made love. This is why Ganesha, the son who was born to them afterwards, had the face of an elephant. 

I fully believe that ancient Indians directly linked elephant Musth (mating season) with the arrival of rains. Which is why the Thunder god Indra "rides" on Airavata, a white elephant which is also called "Abhra-Matanga" meaning "elephant of the clouds". 

And which is why Ganesha, the elephant god, is the product of the union of Shiva and Parvati. Shiva "rides" on a white bull (symbol of summer, May-Jul). Parvati "rides" on a lion (symbol of Autumn, Aug-Nov). Their union, meeting place, is the moment when summer meets autumn, end of Jul, beginning of Aug, the peak of the monsoon...Also the peak of the Elephant Musth...Hence the elephant boy...

I talked about all this in detail in my post "Ardhanarishvara". 

By the way, this is why this story makes perfect sense: 

Once there was a competition between Ganesha and his brother to see who could circumambulate the three worlds faster and hence win the fruit of knowledge. Skanda went off on a journey to cover the three worlds while Ganesha simply circumambulated his parents. When asked why he did so, he answered that his parents Shiva and Parvati where his whole world and was thus given the fruit of knowledge.

Several other versions of the Ganesha creation myth involve Parvati creating Ganesha "after her bath". 

1. After finishing her bath, Parvati made a human figure from the bathing oil and the dirt scrubbed away from her skin. It came to life after she sprinkled water from the Ganga on it.

2. Parvati took the mixture of bathing oil and the dirt cleaned from her body to where the river Ganga began her course. She made Malini, a rakshashi with an elephant’s head, drink it. Malini conceived afterwards and gave birth to an elephant headed son. Parvati took him away from her and kept him with her.

Like in all areas with a monsoon driven climate, it is the annual monsoon rain which creates the annual floods which rejuvenate and replenish the alluvial soil with nutrients and prepare it for another agricultural season...

You can see that the Ganges river level peaks right at the time when Shiva (summer, bull) meets Parvati (autumn, lion), at the peak of the elephant mating season.

Is this why Ganesha is revived by the water of the river Ganges? After all it is Parvati "the mountain that gives birth to the monsoon. And it is the monsoon that gives birth to the holy river Ganges...And it is the silt rich waters of the holy river Ganges which create abundant harvests in the Ganges catchment area...

There is a very interesting festival called Ganesh Chaturhi. This festival celebrates Ganesh's arrival from his mother's place (Himalayas). It takes place in late August, early September. It is a 10 days festival during which a clay statue of Ganesha are installed in people's homes, worshiped, and then submerged into rivers to dissolve in river water. 

There are two explanations for the practice of immersion. It is said that Ganesha is immersed in order to send him back home to Mount Kailash. It is also said that the process of immersion is considered a proper way of disposing of the deity or rather a way of its safekeeping.

This is very interesting as this "disposing of deity" coincides with the peak of the monsoon and the peak of the musth, the mating season of the Indian elephants...It also coincides with the peak of the flood sediment deposition...

And so it is the literally the "dirt scrubbed away from Parvati's skin" and "Partvati's bath water" which create Ganesha, the god of harvest and of abundance. You did know that Ganesha was explicitly connected to the grain harvest? To the point where he is considered to be an old harvest god? 

You can read all about it in the intro to the "The Origin of the Ganapati Cult" by S. M. Michael.

That Ganesha represents the bountiful harvest can be seen from one of his names "suprakarna". Supra means winnowing basket. One of the names for the last sheaf of grain harvested from the field is "benappu" which is a synonym for Ganesha...It is also believed that Ganesha's customary yellow color was derived from the color of the ripe grains...

And who is one of the biggest enemies of the grain farmers? Mice and rats who can devastate the granaries. So in order to have a bountiful harvest, people need to destroy mice, rats...Which is why it is believed that Ganesha, the god of bountiful harvest, rides on (subdues) a mouse, rat...

Rats were sacrificed to Rudra and his sister Ambika. Rudra later became Shiva and Ambika became Parvati, whose son is rat riding (subduing) Ganesha...After the clay statue of Ganesha is dissolved in the river during Ganesh Chaturhi festival, a bit of clay is brought back home and ceremoniously thrown into the granary. It is believed that it would protect the grain from rats...In Ratnagiri district (🙂) they have a special rat festival during which both Ganesha and a rat a worshiped. The food offerings placed before the rat are taken to the grain fields the next day and are crumbled among the grains to appease the rodents so they don't eat the grains...  

Interestingly, in India, people see rats more often from April through June (spring breeding). This is basically during the wheat harvest, just before the beginning of the elephant musth (mating season) which starts in June and which announces the beginning of the monsoon...

Elephant arrives on (comes after) a rat...

Oh and guess when is the second best time of the year to see feeld rats in India? In October and November as the season changes, the monsoon, which coincides with elephant mating season (June to September) has ended, and when the rice harvest begins...

Rat - Elephant - Rat...Elephant riding on a rat...

Oh and guess what is the first thing that people do when the elephant arrives on a rat? They plant rice...The the main rice planting season is in May/Jul. What is the only thing that can make insatiable Ganesha full? A bowl of rice...And guess when the rice is harvested? After the end of monsoon, in Sep/Dec...This article has dates of rice seasons per region. 

Oh and guess who is one of the biggest enemies of the field mice and rats in India? Cobra. Which is why Ganesha "wears cobra around his neck or around his fat belly, which is the symbol of bountiful harvest, oh holds it in his hand or..."

These next two Ganesha creation stories indicates that he is actually Shiva:

1. A good looking boy emerged out of Shiva's laughter. Noticing Parvati getting attracted towards him, Shiva turned jealous. He cursed the boy and took away his good looks by giving him an elephant's head and a fat belly. 

2. A part of Shiva turned into a handsome being and emerged from Parvati's womb.

Ganesha is Shiva. Shiva "wearing elephant skin". 

This is basically spelled out to us in the first, most famous Ganesha creation story: "The Shiva-dutas soon returned with the head of a strong and powerful elephant Gajasura which Lord Brahma placed onto boy's body"...

Who the hell is Gajasura? 

Well he is the demon Rakshasa who assumed the form of an elephant and terrorized Brahmins who were worshipping the Shiva linga. Shiva emerged from this linga, slew the demon, and removed the elephant skin, thereafter wearing the hide on his upper body. 

Since then Shiva became known as Gajasurasamhara (lit. "The Slayer of the elephant demon"), also Gajasamhara, Gajantaka and Gajaha (all three lit. "the Slayer of the elephant") and Matangari ("The Enemy of the elephant"). 

So here we can see that Shiva literally wears elephant skin. His slaying of the elephant demon just depicts the anthropomorphisation of the original elephant worship...

Here is another, even better story about Gajasura and Shiva. 

Once, there existed an Asura (demon) with all the characteristics of an elephant, called Gajasura, who was undergoing a penitence (tapas). Shiva, satisfied by this austerity, decided to grant him, as a reward, whatever gift he desired. The demon wished that he could emanate fire continually from his own body so that no one could ever dare to approach him. The Lord granted him his request. Gajasura continued his penitence and Shiva, who appeared in front of him from time to time, asked him once again what he desired. The demon responded: "I desire that You inhabit my stomach." Shiva agreed.

Parvati sought him everywhere without results. As a last recourse, she went to her brother Vishnu, asking him to find her husband. He, who knows everything, reassured her: "Don't worry, dear sister, your husband is Bhola Shankara and promptly grants to his devotees whatever they ask of him, without regard for the consequences; for this reason, I think he has gotten himself into some trouble. I will find out what has happened."

Then Vishnu, the omniscient director of the cosmic game, staged a small comedy. He transformed Nandi (the bull of Shiva) into a dancing bull and conducted him in front of Gajasura, assuming, at the same time, the appearance of a flutist. The enchanting performance of the bull sent the demon into ecstasies, and he asked the flutist to tell him what he desired. The musical Vishnu responded: "Can you give me that which I ask?" Gajasura replied: "Who do you take me for? I can immediately give you whatever you ask." The flutist then said: "If that's so, liberate Shiva from your stomach." Gajasura understood then that this must have been no other than Vishnu himself, the only one who could have known that secret and he threw himself at his feet. Having agreed to liberate Shiva, Gajasura asks him for two last gifts: "I have been blessed by you with many gifts; my last requests are that everyone should remember me adoring my head and you should wear my skin."

So, Shiva, "who was inside Gajasura", basically "who was Gajasura", gets to wear Gajasura's skin while his son, Ganesha, gets to wear Gajasura's head...Together Shiva and Ganesha are Gajasura...

Oh and by the way, the depictions of Shiva dancing triumphantly after slaying Gajasura, show him "holding one of Gajasura's tusks in one of his hands"...For those wondering "how did Ganesha loose one of his tusks"...

Another very interesting part of the above story is the very first sentence: "Once, there existed an Asura (demon) with all the characteristics of an elephant, called Gajasura, who was undergoing a penitence (tapas)". Tapas is a variety of austere spiritual practices in Indian religions. Basically it's asceticism, inner cleansing...The word "Tapas" which means "warmth, heat, fire", is based on the root Tap (तप्) meaning "to heat, to give out warmth, to shine, to burn". The term evolves to also mean "to suffer, to mortify the body, undergo penance" in order to "burn away past karma" and liberate oneself...But I believe that originally it just meant to suffer (from heat, thirst and hunger) during the last few scorching hot months before the grain harvest (Apr-May) and before the monsoon returns (May-Jun)...This is the "Tapas" endured by Gajasura before "Shiva started dancing in his belly"...Before the monsoon returned and the elephant Musth started...

This last Ganesha creation story is brilliant as it actually confirms what I just said abut tapas:

The gods were feeling alarmed: there were too many humans entering heaven after performing penance. They rushed to Shiva for succour. After listening to them, Shiva turned towards Parvati. Rubbing some dirt off her body, she made a plump figure with four arms and an elephant head from it. It came to life soon afterwards. Parvati directed him to place obstacles in the path of humans seeking to enter heaven through penance. 

Now if penance (suffering, no food, no water, to procreation) is what brings people to heaven, then lots of food, lots of water, lots of procreation is what stops them from going to heaven...What keeps people alive, satiated and happy...And definitely keeps them out of heaven...Tapas "warmth, heat, fire" causes drought which causes nature to wither, which causes suffering which cause causes lots of people to die from suffering which causes lots of people to go to heaven (whether they want it or not). On the other hand, the mad humping Elephant of rain causes monsoon, which causes nature to flourish, which causes wells to swell and crops to grow, people to procreate and get born and "puts a lot of obstacles in the path of humans seeking to enter heaven through penance". 

Thank Shiva and Parvati...Oh, and Ganesha, "the remover of obstacles"???