The New Indian Express ·
Faithline | Tales of the tusk
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi, dear readers. This time, it could be interesting to revisit Ganesha stories, both at home and across the sea. For instance, I initially thought Ganesha broke off his own tusk to take dictation from Veda Vyasa because he didn’t have a pen. Whereas the legend is deeper than that. The story goes that Vyasa wanted to dictate an epic poem, the Mahabharata. He needed someone to write it down as it flowed from his mind. Nobody capable was found to exist on Earth, so he approached Ganesha or Vighna Vinayaka, the remover of obstacles, and requested him to help.
“Take dictation?” asked Ganesha. “If you please,” said Vyasa. “Very well, I shall,” said Ganesha, but added the proviso, “You may not stop at any point, or I shall stop writing and go away.”
We are taught that the gods love to twist the odds for mankind just to see how we will react, since all creation is their divine play or lila. Since Vyasa was clever—he could sort out the Vedas, compose a long and complicated epic like the Mahabharata, and yet another holy book, the Srimad Bhagavatam—he made a counter-condition. Ganesha had to understand every word before he wrote it down. Ganesha was pleased to agree, secretly delighted. He broke off his own tusk to write with, as proof of goodwill, and they began the task.
