The Myth of Gajasura
A very interesting myth exists about Ganesha’s elephant head – the myth of the demon Gajasura.
As the myth goes, Gajasura – elephant headed demon was doing a very strict penance to seek blessing from Lord Shiva. Shiva granted him a boon as his satisfaction from the penance. Gajasura, asked that he be able to emanate fire from his body, so that nobody could dare come near him. Shiva granted the wish.
Gajasura continued his penance and Shiva would occasionally come and grant him his wishes. Finally Gajasura asked that Shiva inhabit his stomach and quite obviously Shiva granted the wish without thinking of the consequences. Soon Shiva was missing from his abode and Parvati was getting restless with the absence. Parvati then approached Lord Vishnu for help.
Lord Vishnu figured out soon regarding the whereabouts of Lord Shiva. He then devised a plan and took the form of a flautist and got Shiva’s Nandi bull to become a dancing bull. Together they performed in front of Gajasura who was so impressed by the performance that he granted a wish to the flautist – “anything you desire”. Lord Vishnu immediately asked for the release of Shiva.
Gajasura immediately saw thru the charade, but released Lord Shiva as promised. However, he asked for one last wish from Shiva. He said that he would want people to love him and his head should be remembered for ever after his death. Lord Shiva then got his son Ganesha there and substituted his head with that of Gajasura. This was one last gift by Shiva to Gajasura.
A very interesting myth exists about Ganesha’s elephant head – the myth of the demon Gajasura.
As the myth goes, Gajasura – elephant headed demon was doing a very strict penance to seek blessing from Lord Shiva. Shiva granted him a boon as his satisfaction from the penance. Gajasura, asked that he be able to emanate fire from his body, so that nobody could dare come near him. Shiva granted the wish.
Gajasura continued his penance and Shiva would occasionally come and grant him his wishes. Finally Gajasura asked that Shiva inhabit his stomach and quite obviously Shiva granted the wish without thinking of the consequences. Soon Shiva was missing from his abode and Parvati was getting restless with the absence. Parvati then approached Lord Vishnu for help.
Lord Vishnu figured out soon regarding the whereabouts of Lord Shiva. He then devised a plan and took the form of a flautist and got Shiva’s Nandi bull to become a dancing bull. Together they performed in front of Gajasura who was so impressed by the performance that he granted a wish to the flautist – “anything you desire”. Lord Vishnu immediately asked for the release of Shiva.
Gajasura immediately saw thru the charade, but released Lord Shiva as promised. However, he asked for one last wish from Shiva. He said that he would want people to love him and his head should be remembered for ever after his death. Lord Shiva then got his son Ganesha there and substituted his head with that of Gajasura. This was one last gift by Shiva to Gajasura.
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