Stories for Children

While Ganga is the biggest river of north India, Kaveri is the most important river of south India. Kaveri is also called Dakshina Ganga or 'Ganga of the south'. Many Indians lovingly address the Kaveri as 'Kaveri-amma' or 'Kaveri-taai' (mother Kaveri). Some people call the river Ponni. In Tamil, 'ponni' means 'gold'.

One Ganesha partook of a huge meal of modaka (a sweet greatly favoured by him) and was riding home on his vehicle, the mouse. Suddenly the mouse was tripped by a snake. Ganesha fell off his back and hive over-full stomach burst open and out tumbled the modaks.

The most interesting story concerning Ganesha is the belief that he was the scribe who wrote the Mahabharata. Sage Vyasa, the author of this epic, was advised by Brahma, on whom he meditated, to ask Ganesha to be the scribe to whom he could dictate the epic in verse form.

Gajamukha, a demon, did severe penance on the advice of Shukraachaarya, the guru of the asuras or demons, and obtained invincible powers from Shiva. He used these powers to harass the gods who then rushed to Ganesha for help. Ganesha battled with the demon but realized that, thanks to the powers given by Shiva, the evil one could not be killed.

There are several legends as to how Ganesha broke one of his tusks, giving him the name, Ekadanta, the one with a single tusk.

Shiva and Parvati were playing with their two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya (or Murugan, as he is known to the Tamils). They had been given a fruit by the gods and both the sons wanted it. The divine couple explained to the sons that this fruit had in it the nectar of Supreme Knowledge and Immortality, and since both wanted it, the one who circled the world three times and came back first would get it as a prize.

Another puranic legend has it that one day Parvati rubbed oil and sweet smelling powder on her body. Out of the perspiration that came off her body, she created a child.

Another puranic legend has it that Parvati longed for a child and conveyed her desire to Shiva. He asked her to undertake the Punyaka penance for one year, which she did.

A more popular legend deals with the birth of Ganesha to Parvati. Once while Parvati was going for her bath, she rubbed off the dust and oil from her body and out of it created the figure of a young boy. She infused life into the figure and told him he was her son and should guard the entrance when she went down to bathe.

According to one puranic story, the Devas (minor gods or celestial beings) approached the almighty Shiva and asked for help, as they were being harassed by the demons. Shiva consented to aid them and out of his mind appeared a glorious, glowing figure of a child with the head of a powerful elephant and a trident in one hand. The gods were overjoyed to see the mind-born son of Shiva who would henceforth protect them.