Mudgalapurana 5.19: mūṣakadevasamāgamo nāma ekonaviṃśatitamo'dhyāyaḥ

Salutation to Śrī Gaṇeśa.

Mudgala said: / Coming out of the heart of Śeṣa, the leader of the Gaṇas / respectfully took the position of a son, mounted on a mouse.

Then, rising up, Śeṣa bowed to him with folded hands; / he worshipped the Lord of all, and bowed down again.

With folded hands, he praised him with the Atharva-Upaniṣads; / the lord of serpents made a supplication, bending his neck in devotion:

Śeṣa said: / "You are the lord of yoga, O Gaṇādhyakṣa, traditionally remembered as the leader of the Brahmans; / why do you take the position of a son to me? It is a mockery!"

Then Gajānana indeed deluded him by means of māyā; / deluded, the serpent king regarded Gajānana as his son.

Together with his wife, Śeṣa received and fondled the child; / gradually the Lord became five years old in his house.

Now hear, O lord of creatures, the account born of the Daitya: / the wicked Māyākarāsura brought about the destruction of ritual acts.

Demonic action was performed everywhere by that wicked soul; / because of that, the leaders of the gods were afflicted with fasting.

Then an outcry was made by all the people belonging to the castes and stages of life: / "Neither *svāhā* nor *svadhā* and the rest can be performed by anyone at all!"

Then all the best sages and the gods, led by Śambhu, / filled with fear, deliberated for the sake of the destruction of the Daitya.

There the great yogin Bṛhaspati of noble intellect spoke: / (

Khaṇḍa 5, Adhyāya 19, page 41) "Filled with devotion, worship Gaṇeśa for the attainment of your status!

When the four objects of life are combined, Gaṇeśa is the awakener of one's true nature; / and devoid of these four, he will slay the greatly wicked one."

Having heard, they, united with their guru, performed great austerities, O lord, / endowed with abstention from food and the like, intent upon diverse religious observances.

When a full hundred years had passed, Gajānana became pleased; / satisfied by their devotion, the highly renowned one came to grant them boons.

Seeing him, the gods and sages, filled with joy, respectfully / bowed down, worshipped him, and praised him with diverse hymns of praise.

Respectfully, they chose Gaṇeśa, the leader of all, as their boongiver: / "Slay the Daitya Māyākarāsura, O Gaṇādhyakṣa, O lord!

Likewise, grant your devotion that is devoid of Māyā; / we are all the servants of your lotus feet, without doubt."

Having heard them, the king of Gaṇas, filled with joy, said: / "I shall swiftly slay Māyākara as the son of Śeṣa.

If my foremost mount there is composed of the four gods, / O guardians of the gods, O Brahmins, then I shall mount it.

Devotion to me will surely become intense for you; / especially, you shall always be my very firm servants."

Having spoken thus, that Gaṇeśa, the leader of the gods, vanished, / he who had arisen from the meditation of Śeṣa for the success of his devotees' tasks.

Then those chiefs of gods and sages immediately considered: / "Of what nature should his mount be, which is composed of the four gods?"

To all of them there, Śiva in person spoke an excellent statement, / the god who embodies the Veda, truly the guru of all.

Śiva said: / "This mouse-mount has been spoken of in the Vedas; / the verbal root *mūṣ* means 'to steal', and it should be known as holding the thief-Brahman.

Everything consists of name and form; there the unreal Brahman abides. / Through his own Māyā, he is the experiencer of those experiences in name and form.

He who is the experiencer of experiences within experiences exists in their form. / Those who are endowed with egoism, utterly deluded, do not know:

'We are indeed the experiencers'—thus they especially consider. / But Īśvara is the enjoyer of all, abiding in tendencies toward theft.

He alone is called the mouse, the impeller of humans; / hidden in form by Māyā, he enjoys experiences like a thief.

In the same way, the sun, the soul, the god presiding over the life-principle, especially / himself enjoys experiences within diverse living beings, like a thief.

In the same way, Viṣṇu is the enjoyer of all among equal things, no doubt; / and the lord, possessing a form consisting of being and non-being, [enjoys] like a thief through Māyā.

Likewise, among innate things, the god Śiva, abiding in the fourth state, is the experiencer, / like a thief, without doubt here, joined with Māyā that is free from delusion.

Make the experiencer, who abides in the state of a thief, the mount, O dear ones! / Indeed, let that form having the appearance of a mouse be given to the lord of Gaṇas."

Having heard, all those gods and sages, delighted, said to Śiva: / "Well said, well said by you! You are omniscient, O Sadāśiva!"

Then, having meditated on the lord of Gaṇas, a body was fashioned by the four; / there the gods bestowed their own portion in the form of the experiencer, O lord of creatures.

By that portion, a living, mighty mouse came into being. / Brahmā, along with the divine sages, performed the consecration.

Stealing is internal, external, and so forth, yet it exists supreme everywhere; / (

Khaṇḍa 5, Adhyāya 19, page 42) it is manifold and also single; among these, this [mouse] is called the king.

Consecrated there in person, the mouse became delighted; / he was made an experiencer of a share of the sacrifice by the gods along with Indra.

Taking him, all the gods and sages came to the abode of Śeṣa; / and seeing them, Śeṣa was astonished.

The highly renowned king of serpents worshipped them all; / seating them on various seats, he spoke back to them:

Śeṣa said: / "Blessed indeed is my birth, my gift, my austerity, and my innate knowledge, / and blessed are my ancestors, O sages and gods, on account of seeing you!

For what purpose have you all come? Tell me, O divine sages! / Endowed with your grace, I will perform it with good devotion."

Hearing that speech of his, Śaṅkara, the leader of all, / the increaser of joy, spoke to that king of serpents, gladdening him.

Śiva said: / "O Śeṣa, O Śeṣa of great fortune, you are blessed in the whole realm! / The leader of the Brahmans has attained the status of your son, O lord.

This incarnation who rides a mouse is five years of age; / do not consider the lord, born from meditation through austerity, to be merely your son.

This foremost mount of his is born from portions of the four gods' parts; / bearing the nature of stealing, it resides completely in the hearts of all.

Having mounted upon this, the mighty one who rides a mouse, / the lord of Gaṇas, will instantly slay the demon Māyākara."

Having thus heard their speech, that king of serpents, filled with sorrow, / said nothing to the gods on account of his affectionate feeling for his son.

Then the god Śaṅkara again spoke a word to him: / "Do not grieve, O auspicious one! The destroyer of obstacles will not die.

By the gods and sages through diverse austerities, your son Gajānana / was petitioned for the destruction of Māyākara.

Previously, the god Gajānana was worshipped by you through austerity; / by the power of the granting of a boon, he indeed became your son."

Meanwhile, Gajānana, he who rides a mouse, arrived there, / engaged in play with the noble serpent children.

Seeing him, the Brahmins together with the gods rose up and bowed down; / they praised the lord of Gaṇas with a hymn of praise based on the Sāmaveda.

Then indeed the king of Gaṇas spoke beneficial words to them: / "Choose, O wise ones, a supreme boon desired by your minds!"

Then, filled with immense joy, those divine sages said to him: / "O Lord, slay the demon Māyākara, who terrifies everyone!

Grant unwavering devotion to your feet, O Gaṇādhīśa! / We are your servants, O Lord Gaṇeśa; protect us in particular!"

He then said to them, "So be it! But I have no vehicle. / Therefore, O great gods, let a supreme, suitable vehicle be given!

Death is not possible for the wicked Māyākara / from entities of four categories. What should I do, O gods?

If a vehicle having the form of four categories is produced for me, / then I will slay him; of this there should be no doubt."

Om tat sat. Thus ends the nineteenth chapter, named 'The Arrival of the Divine Mouse', in the story of Lambodara, in the fifth section of the glorious and final Purāṇopaniṣad, the glorious Maudgala Mahāpurāṇa.

Section 5, Chapter 20, page 43