Mythological Short Story – Ganeshji- Prior among Gods
Photo credit: RobbinsSky from morguefile.com
Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi loved their two children Ganesh and Karthik and they in turn were devoted to their parents. The Devas (deities) were pleased with the lovely divine children and they worshipped them.
But one day, there was a discussion among the deities about who should be worshipped first on the occasion of worship, religious sacrifices etc. All the Devas talked about the qualities of the brothers. A doubt arose in the mind of one of them. “Who is the wiser of the two brothers?” he asked the others “Ganesh or Karthikeye?”
Every deity told their own opinions. But they could not come to a conclusion. So, they decided to go to Lord Brahma as he is the creator of the world and he can surely solve this doubt.. Without any more delay, the Deities rushed to Brahma and asked about their doubt. Lord Brahma listened to all deities and finally told his judgement “the one who will go round the whole world seven times and return first, is the noblest and will be adored first of all.”
Kartikeye immediately took off on his peacock and started his journey round the earth. But Ganesh ji remained there thinking what to do, as his body was heavy and his vehicle was a tiny mouse. He thought for a while, soon an idea struck his mind. He directly went to kailasa which is the abode of his parents. No one had noticed him going to kailasa except Brahma ji.
Ganeshji having reached kailasa, brought two cushioned seats and made his parents sit on them. Ganeshji prostrated at his parents feet and then went round them seven times .Then again, having prostrated at his parents feet, he went back to the abode of Lord Brahmaji.
When Kartikeye reached the abode of Lord Brahma after finishing his journey round the earth , he saw that Ganeshji was sitting there. He thought that Ganeshji was staying there because he must have thought that he could not go round the earth and reach there first.
Finally Brahmaji announced the winner and to the surprise of all ganesh ji won. Lord Brahma said that Ganeshji would be worshiped first of all. One of the deities asked brahmaji,” You told us that, who having gone round the earth seven times, reached there first, would be worshiped first of all. But now you have declared Ganeshji as the winner who did not even complete a single round around earth.”
Lord Brahma said ”Indeed ganesh ji went round the earth for seven times and came back to me before karthikeye.” All were surprised with this answer. Then brahmaji explained to them ” The shastras say that worshipping one’s parents and going round them is equal in merit to going round the world. The mother is an embodiment of the earth and the father is an idol of lord Narayana.”
So the deities now realized the greatness of lord Ganeshji and bowed to him. Respect in parents Devotion to them gave him the honour of being adored (worshipped) first of all among deities.
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