Shiva and Parvati lived on Mount Kailash along with Nandi and the Ganas. One day when Parvati was bathing, Lord Shiva happened to come there without any intimation. Parvati realized that she needed a gate-keeper to do her own bidding. Shiva was an ascetic. He used to go away for long periods of time and spend a large amount of time in meditation or sadhana. All this time when Shiva was away, Parvati was alone on Mount Kailash and she felt very lonely.
To end her loneliness, privacy and security concerns she decided to create and give life to a baby. One day while she was having a bath, she took the dirt from her body and and created a form of a baby. Then she breathed life into the baby and a little boy was born. Parvati named the boy Vinayak.
Many years passed. Vinayak had now grown into a young boy. Parvati was immensely happy to have Vinayak with her. One day she was going for her bath. She told Vinayak ‘I am going for my bath. Make sure no body comes this way’. Saying this, she gave him a hard stick and made him her gate-keeper. Vinayak obediently listened to his mother’s orders and stood guard at the spot.
In the meantime, Shiva returned with Nandi and his ganas to Mount Kailash. Eager to meet Parvati, Shiva headed straight to find her. Vinayak had never seen Shiva. As Shiva approached the spot where Vinayak was standing guard, Vinayak shouted ‘Stop! Come no further. Mata Parvati has instructed me to not allow entry to anyone beyond this point’.
The Ganas and Nandi intervened but they were mercilessly beaten by the brave boy. On hearing about this incident all the Gods along with Brahma, Vishnu and Indra gathered at the gate. They tried to persuade him but Vinayak wouldn’t budge. Vinayak defeated all the Gods too in the fight which followed. In the end Shiva enraged and not willing to be stopped, chopped of Vinayak’s head with his ‘trishul’.
When Parvati saw the bloody ‘trishul’ and Vinayak lying dead, she was filled with rage. She created thousands of Goddesses in a moment and bade them to create a flood and devour all the Gods. Thereupon Sage Narada prayed to Parvati. ‘Oh Mother of the Universe! be calm. If a mother like you destroys her children, who else will protect them?’ Parvati replied ‘If my son regains life, then alone there will not be further destruction.’
Shiva spoke ‘Oh Gods! You shall go to the north direction and cut off the head of the first living being you see and fit it to body of Vinayak.’ The Gods came across a single-tusked elephant whose head was chopped off and then fitted to Vinayak’s body. The boy came back to life immediately. On seeing her boy alive again, Parvati’s rage subsided.
Parvati was happy but also worried that everyone would make fun of her son as he looked very different with an elephant head, a trunk and big ears. Shiva then explained ‘Parvati! Do not worry. Gajasura was an elephant who was also my ardent devotee. He had asked for a boon to be always near to me. The time had come to fulfill this boon. The head fixed to Vinayak’s body is of Gajasura – the elephant.’ On hearing this, Parvati was immensely happy and relieved.
Shiva made Vinayak the ‘Chief of his Ganas’. Thus he became ‘Ganesha’ or ‘Ganapati’. Shiva also bestowed on Ganesha the honour of being ‘Prathampujya’ (i.e. Ganesha would be worshipped first before any other God). Mata Parvati also granted Ganesha many boons. All the Gods worshipped and adored Ganesha.
