"Greetings to you all!" Ganesha called out from his balcony overlooking the crowd.
"I found no story more suitable on this first night than the story of my creation. Please, eat up-the macaroons are delightful!- and be merry.
And so the story began.
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Long ago, lived in a house the god Shiva and his consort, Parvati. One day, before Shiva was on his way out, Parvati asked for one of his servants to stand watch while she bathed. Her wish was granted, and after Shiva left, Parvati filled her tub with full flower blooms and complementing fragrant oils.
"You must not let
anyone enter the house while I am bathing," Parvati ordered the servant."As you wish," the servant answered.
Not too far down the dirt road, Shiva realized that he had forgotten something at his home, so he reversed his trail. As soon as his foot pressed on the first step of the house, the servant's voice called out, "Halt! Your entrance is not granted by mistress Parvati."
The young servant stood in-between Shiva and the entrance.
"Have you gone mad, servant? This is my house, and I will enter whenever I wish. Stand aside," Shiva said as he uneffortlessly brushed the servant aside and entered the house. In the back, Parvati overheard what had just occurred and wrapped herself up as she approached Shiva.
Annoyed, she asked, "Why are you here? I gave orders to the guard not to allow entrance to anyone in this house while I bathed, but here you are tramping around as if I had said nothing to your servant."
"Ha!" Shiva tossed his head slightly back and said, "Surely you don't think the servant I provided for you will prevent me from entering my own house, do you?" Arrogance traced Shiva's voice and it was obvious he had not taken his wife's request seriously.
"What use is your servant to me if he does not do the job he was given? Just go, both of you!" Parvati was visibly annoyed.
While she sat alone, she decided that she would create her own servant. She did this by mixing saffron, sandlewood paste, and scrapings of her skin. Parvati then infused life into the figure and gave him a staff similar to the one Shiva had.
"You, my son, are Ganesha. You will keep guard and not let anyone enter while I'm bathing," Parvati said, satisfied at the beautiful boy she created. She then returned to her bath.
When Shiva returned, he found an unfamiliar boy with a staff similar to his own guarding his house's entrance. As soon as Shiva placed his foot on the first step, the boy blocked his path and denied his entrance.
"Get out of my way, boy! This is my house, and I'll enter whenever I please!" Shiva said.
"Oh no you won't!" Ganesha yelled. He darted at Shiva and knocked him off his feet.
"This boy has no idea who I am," Shiva thought. With three stomps of his staff, Shiva called hundreds of his servants. Shiva was not aware that Parvati had given the boy powers similar to hers, so when he ordered the servants to attack they were quickly scattered around the area with one motion of Ganesha's staff. Taking a different approach, Shiva asked Ganesha if he knew who he was.
"No, nor do I care. I have been given orders by my mother to guard this entrance until she is done bathing," Ganesha responded.
Shiva's third eye opened upon hearing this. He now understood everything, and attempted to tell Ganesha that he was, in fact, his father. Ganesha still refused him entry. Shiva sighed and made his way to his door, but was soon knocked over by Ganesha. Shiva grabbed Ganesha and threw him across the yard. Ganesha ran back in the blink
of an
eye and grabbed Shiva. The two began fighting, and while Ganesha fought
with all his strength, Shiva was very careful not to use much of his. The voice of Vishnu entered Shiva's thoughts and said, "You must put an end to this at once. Imagine the mockery that will be made of you if you let him defeat you." In an instant, Shiva cut off the boy's head.
Shiva bowed his head and told Parvati the entire story. He apologized for the way he had treated her earlier and explained that he tried to reason with the boy, but that he would hear none of it.
Parvati's anger had subsided when she heard the regret in Shiva's voice.
"I will truly make it up to you, my gem," Shiva said.
"Death can only be made up with life. I want you to bring him back immediately," Parvati ordered.
"Well..." Shiva hesitated.
"Well what?" Parvati asked.
"His head..it's a little..a little damaged," Shiva continued, "I can give him a new one, however. I will send my servants out to take a head from the first creature they encounter who has just died."
Parvati agreed, and the servants left that instant.
When they returned, they carried the head of a small elephant. Shiva placed the head on the body and gave him divine life.
Shiva smiled at Ganesha and said to him, "This large head will contain endless amounts of wisdom that I will give you, your huge ears will fan only to allow good to reach your ears, your piercing eyes will allow you to see through any being's soul, and your trunk is unique and an organ unknown to any other divine being."
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As Ganesha concluded the story of his creation, he waved his trunk at the palace's guests in blessing. He was then carried off by Manzara to his meditation room.
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Chocolate-Covered Macaroons
Ingredients:
1. 2 cups coconut
2. 1/4 cup sugar
3. 4 eggs (just use egg whites)
4. 1/8 tsp vanilla
5. dash of salt
6. 1/3 cup dark chocolate
Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients (except chocolate) together.
2. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
3. Melt chocolate over medium heat.
4. Plop spoonful of chocolate on top of macaroons.
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Author's Note: For my retelling of "The Creation of Ganesha," I used a third person narrative. I tried to stay close to the original story as possible, but I added my own dialogue. I made a few changes from the original story so I would not go over the word count limit. One change involves Vishnu and Shiva during the brawl between Shiva and Ganesha. In the original story, Shiva speaks with Vishnu face to face. I changed the story line to have Vishnu come and speak to Shiva in his thoughts while he was fighting with Ganesha. I also had Shiva's servants find the baby elephant head replacement instead of Shiva and Parvati-which is what the original story said. I added the Chocolate-covered Macaroons recipe to the frame tale so I could include it at the end of my story. Coconut is a new obsession of mine, and I remember reading that Ganesha loves coconut, so I thought it would be a great recipe to include. I wanted to make this story the first story in my storybook because it gives the reader a nice background to Ganesha's origin and family.
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Cover Page
Story one: The Creation of Ganesha
Story two: Race Around the World
Story three: Birthday of Ganesha
Story four: Writing the Mahabharata
Bibliography: "The Creation of Ganesha-Ganapathi" from "Chakra Mantras" by Thomas Ashley-Farrand (year) pages 71-77.
Image Information: "Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva" by Unknown from Exotic India.
Image Information: "Shiva and Parvati" by Unknown.
Image Information: "Parvati the Love Goddess" by Unknown from Exotic India.
Recipe Information: Chocolate Covered Macaroons received from Sarai Huber 2008.