Sri Ganesha Purana

Foreword

Vedas from the core of Hindu religion. They guide the man to the highest truth that he can know. They form the essential texts of our religion. Their learning should be insisted upon even during one’s childhood as other religionists are doing. We have to know what our religion is, for the simple reason that ‘Religion’ means not mere ritual but means Dharma which will make us contented and happy in our life.

The Vedic prescriptions for a happy life are contained in the form of pithy statements, rich in meaning. They, therefore, need to be enlarged and elaborated, as a brief exposition of these pithy statements could help only the enlightened and not the common man. If the same ideas are conveyed in the form of interesting stories and anecdotes, they touch the heart and leave an emotional impact that lingers long in the minds of the young and the old alike. Puranas serve this purpose through their popular renderings of the Vedic injunctions, by means of stories of kings, adventures (or Leelas) of Gods and legends of Saints and Rishis. They were the means employed for mass education by our ancestors in their days. Now they are all the more relevant in our days when it is considered a fashion under the cloak of so called secularism and pseudo scientific approach, to demigrate our holy texts and scriptures, while the followers of other religions safeguard and enshrine their own texts to the extent that any attempt to analyse critically is considered an affront on their religious beliefs.

Puranas help to develop deep involvement in the Vedic concepts and principles such as adherence to Truth, Restraint, patience, compassion, chastity, honesty, sincerity, justice, faithfullness, ahimsa, appreciation of all forms of beauty and nature and other allied virtues. The great types of character whose legends they narrate, have richly served the purpose of firmly establishing the principles of Hindu Dharma in the minds of our nationals.

In the Hindu pantheon of Gods, Lord Vinayaka (Vinayaka means one who has no master) is held as the foremost God without whose Puja, no worship or any rite or ritual for that matter begins. In addition to the eighteen popular major puranas, there are another eighteen upa puranas in which Bhargava Purana, also known as Vinayaka Purana or Ganesha Purana, figures prominently. Infact all puranas have a reference to Lord Ganesha. But the Ganesha Puranam deals exclusively with the birth and leelas (adventures) of Lord Ganesha. With her concern for the children and the youngsters, Dr. Akila Sivaraman has appropriately chosen the appropriate episodes on Lord Ganesha for a book in English, as English is now the most sought after medium of learning even at the primary level of education. Her expression is lucid, readable, child friendly and direct. The style she has adopted is conversational and she is sure to create a rapport with the reader.

As the contents are primarily intended for the children at the primary and secondary level, she has subtly and discreetly chosen such of those passages that are quite graphic and esoteric. At the same time she has closely adhered to the basics and thereby succeeded in preserving the flavour of traditional story telling, spiced with imaginative description of events. With the student readers in mind, she has scrupulously avoided flowery language or any embellishment for that matter. Her contribution will amply serve the cause of educating our children in our traditional values and cultural heritage and merit consideration for inclusion in school curriculum at the primary and secondary level for moral instruction.

The younger generation now needs badly an exposure to our traditional values and cultural and spiritual heritage. Even among the elders it has become a fashion to dub anything beyond the normal experience of the ordinary senses of the ordinary man as supernatural and dismiss and discredit them as outside the realm of truth. They tend to forget that there are phenomena and many spiritual experiences of exalted souls that cannot be subject to national analysis. It will be a great disservice to the posterity if the puranas are bypassed and instead make them read only what has been written as history. In the words of Paramacharya Sri Chandrasekharendra Swamigal, Puranas are also history and they must also be read because puranas are history with an ennobling purpose.

Chennai

22.12.07

(Sd) K. Ganesan

Retd. Principal

Vivekananda College, Chennai-4.

Former Vice-Chancellor,

Sri Chandrasekharendra Sarasvathy

Maha Vidyalaya Deemed University,

Kanchipuram

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Publishers Note

Lord Ganesha is the Favourite Deity of not only the Hindus but also of most people following other religious faiths. He is not only popular in India but also across the globe. The innumerable temples built for this Deity in every village , every town, every city, every state and every country all over the world is a testimony to the growing faith on this Lord amongst people.

It’s the traditional faith among the Hindu Community that Lord Ganesha also known as Vinayaka, Ganapati, Vighneshwara etc annihilates any and every obstacle and impediment that may block the path to success in One’s endeavour.

Hence it’s common that Vinayaka is propitiated at the beginning of any Initiative, any auspicious Function or ceremony.

Unlike other Deities of Hindu Faith, many aspects of Lord Ganapati including His physical appearance kindles intrigue in everyone. He has an abnormally huge human body but from head to neck he resembles an elephant.

There are eighteen Mahapuranas and many Upa Puranas and Ganesha Purana is one among them.

It is with this sincere intention to reach out the Glory of this Invincible Lord to the multitudes spread over the globe that GIRI who is a known as the Pioneer in publishing Scriptural Texts, spiritual & religious Books and enhancing the spread of Sanatana Dharma among the seekers takes immense pleasure in publishing the Ganesha Purana in English in simple and lucid language scripted by Smt. Dr. Akila Sivaraman who is a popular author of many well acclaimed Books .

We are sure that this sincere effort of GIRI benefits One & All the Readers and they are blessed with health wealth and prosperity.

- Publishers

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Einführung

"shuklaambharadharam vishnum

   shashivarnam chaturbhujam

prasanna vadanam dyaayet

   sarva vighnopa shaantaye"

All of us are familiar with this invocation verse in Sanskrit (Dyana Shloka) to Lord Ganesha which we know by heart and recite at the start of all our activities. Who is this all-powerful deity? Why is He being worshipped universally by one and all? Well, it is absolutely necessary to know more about Him in order to appreciate His immaculate greatness. Sri Ganesha Purana, the divine story of Lord Ganesha, is worth a thorough study to enable us to understand His unique greatness. Perhaps, He has the maximum number of temples all over the country. We can see Him on the banks of all rivers and in every corner of all streets and roads. The first shrine in all the temples, right at the entrance, is that of Lord Vinayaka who is worshipped by every visitor, as soon as they enter.

This book will enlighten you on the great significance of His worship, as explained by our revered sages in the Puranas. Let us derive the benefit of their kindness by which all of us will rise to great heights in life, as Lord Vinayaka is sure to remove all obstacles in our endeavours and bless us for all-round success.

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The Origin of the Story

Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe, was giving audience to the most distinguished sages, who had come to worship Him at Satyaloka. The sages had a special prayer to the Lord to show them a suitable place where they could peacefully indulge in their prayers.

Lord Brahma made a wheel of darbha grass and rolled it in the ground. Then He addressed the sages and asked them to follow its path and use the spot where it stops, for their prayers and penance.

The spot thus identified, was called Naimisharanya where all saints, scholars and sages congregated to do rituals and austerities. Once a sage, Shaunaka by name, started a big yajnya which was attended by innumerable saints from all over the world. A great scholar, Sage Sudhama, was one of them who had learnt all the eighteen puranas. The visiting saints considered it a boon to approach Sage Sudhama for narrating a significant purana for them to spend the twelve years of their stay there with advantage. Sage Sudhama agreed to fulfill their desire.

The primary Puranas are eighteen in number. These Maha Puranas were originally given to Nandideva by Lord Shiva Himself.

Nandideva then initiated Sage Sanat kumara, to these Maha Puranas. He, in turn, taught them to Sage Vyasa. He presented these Puranas in the form of Shlokas, which spread far and wide all over the world. Many illustrious saints who learnt these, prepared eighteen Sub-Puranas. There are all in the form of songs, easy enough to be handed down to generations. Among all these sub-puranas, Bhargava Purana stands supreme. The eminence of Lord Vinayaka is dealt with in detail in this Purana.

Sage Bhrigu acquired full knowledge of this Purana from Sage Vyasa and divided it into two sections-viz. Upasana Kandam and Leela Kandam, each Kandam having 250 chapters. It gives a good account of Lord Vinayaka’s greatness and how to worship Him. So it is widely known by the name - Bhargava Purana.

Sage Sudhama thereafter narrated to the visiting saints, how various devotees who prayed to Lord Vinayaka attained great esteem and glory in their lives.

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1. The Story of Kamandha

There is a city called Kollam near the Vindhya Hills. Chidroopa, a merchant and his wife, Sulochana lived there happily, following all dictates of the righteous ways of life. In due course, they were blessed with a son, Kamandha.

As and when Kamandha grew up to be a handsome young man, Kutumbini married him. The couple lived happily and twelve children (seven sons and five daughters) were born