Mudgalapurana 6.37: guṇeśāvatāravarṇanaṃ nāma saptatriṃśattamo'dhyāyaḥ

Homage to the glorious Gaṇeśa.

The Śaktis said: / Having heard the majesty of Vikaṭa, O Śakti, we have attained supreme / joy, especially that which consists of the nectar of yoga.

Even so, O goddess, we do not reach satiety; / having heard that tale which increases aesthetic delight, speak again the supreme story of the Lord of Obstacles.

Other incarnations were assumed by Vikaṭa, O Mother of the universe; / tell briefly their deeds born of [each] incarnation.

Ādiśakti said: / There was a king named Cakrapāṇi, the protector of the city of Gaṇḍakī; / and his wife was Ugrā, endowed with the virtue of devotion to her husband.

Righteous, generous, and devoted to wise conduct was the king, / eager to receive gods, Brahmins, and guests, and a performer of the five sacrifices.

Having conquered the entire circle of the earth, he brought it under his subjection; / he enjoyed wealth, especially that which was respected even by the gods.

Whatever child was born to them perished in that very instant; / thus the couple came to be afflicted with the defect of childlessness.

For that purpose he performed vows, gifts, and the like in accordance with the rules; / yet the king did not obtain offspring from the Supreme Lord.

Then, entrusting the kingdom to his ministers, he prepared / to go to the forest with his wife, filled with grief, O great goddesses.

In the meantime, the yogin Śaunaka, the best of sages, wandering about, / came there by chance to that king, being supreme.

The king performed the vow of the sun taught by him; / pleased by that, the Sun placed an embryo in the queen in a dream.

Endowed with burning heat, that Ugrā was not able / to bear the embryo endowed with the splendor of the sun; then she abandoned it in the ocean.

A son was born there, three-eyed and bearing a discus; / he dried up the water of the ocean in particular.

Then in the form of a Brahmin, the Ocean / came to Cakrapāṇi and told the account of the son's birth.

Having given the son, the Ocean vanished, and [the king] became delighted; / together with all the people and the Brahmins, the king performed the birth rites.

The son was named Sindhu by the Brahmins especially; / because of being endowed with boundless virility, he also became powerful.

Having received permission to go to the forest for the sake of austerities, on the way / Kāvya gave to Sindhu the solar mantra with proper rites.

Standing on one foot, he performed excellent austerities; / being naturally without food, he pleased the son of Kaśyapa [the Sun].

After two thousand years the Sun became a granter of boons; / he gave him the sovereignty of the three worlds and a drink of nectar:

'Remaining devoid of the three qualities, known through the scriptures of Brahman, / he, having assumed a body, will extract the nectar and kill you.'

Having spoken thus to his devotee, the Sun then vanished; / filled with joy, Sindhu himself returned to his own home.

Greatly honored by his parents, he shone, endowed with splendor; / the king gave him the kingdom and went to the forest with his wife.

Then Sindhu conquered the supreme earth possessing the seven continents; / knowing this power born of the grant of a boon, the Daityas came to him.

Śumbha, Atiśumbha, Vṛtra, Kamala, Śaṅkha, / Kolāsura, and others became obedient to his command.

Together with them, he conquered the chiefs of the gods, headed by Śambhu; / Śaṅkara fled immediately, abandoning his own Kailāsa.

Having captured Viṣṇu, the Sun, Brahmā, Indra, and others, he went to his own city; / (

Section 6, Chapter 37, page 106) / endowed with strength, he threw the leaders of the gods into prison.

Having thus conquered the three worlds, that great asura ruled; / he established the chiefs of the Daityas everywhere in the abodes of the gods.

Then, after much time had passed, the great asura, filled with wrath, / breaking the shrines and sacred places of the gods, destroyed ritual actions.

Having made an image of himself, he set it up upon the earth; / he had it worshipped by human beings in every realm, city, and village.

Then a cry of distress was raised by all people endowed with caste and stage of life; / ritual action such as svāhā and svadhā was destroyed everywhere, O Śaktis.

Now I shall tell the means of his slaying; listen, O beloved ones: / Śaṅkara, accompanied by his Gaṇas, came to the sacred place of Trisandhyā.

Accompanied by Gautama and others, he took up residence there with his wife; / resorting to meditation, he worshipped Vighneśa with devotion.

Once, overcome by doubt and having bowed to him, / Pārvatī spoke to Śaṅkara, endowed with modesty, O goddesses:

Pārvatī said: / 'You are the lord of all the gods, and beyond you there is no lord; / therefore you are declared to be the lord, O Maheśvara, in the Vedic assertions.

Even so, engaged in meditation, whom do you worship in particular? / Tell me, the handmaiden of your lotus feet, who am filled with doubt.'

Śiva said: / 'By whom non-lords and lords alike have been created, O goddess of the gods, / that Gaṇeśa, the lord of Brahman, I ever worship with devotion.

The syllable "ga" is remembered as non-lord, and the syllable "ṇa" as consisting of the lord; / their master is Gaṇeśa, behold in the Veda, O lady of pure smiles!'

Having heard that speech of his, Pārvatī, endowed with modesty, / spoke words to Śaṅkara for the sake of attaining him.

Pārvatī said: / 'If I do not know such a Gaṇeśa at any time, / tell me the principal means for attaining him; I will accomplish it.'

Śiva said: / 'Receive the single syllable and perform austerities according to rule, / meditating on the god Gajānana; from that you will obtain success.'

Having spoken thus, he gave her the supreme mantra of Gaṇapati; / having bowed to him, the goddess went to the delightful Lekhanādri.

Through austerities characterized by meditation, consuming only wind, / Ḍhuṇḍhi was worshipped by her and became a granter of boons.

After a hundred years he came to the goddess and said, 'Ask for a boon.' / By that goddess he was asked, 'Become my son, O protector against obstacles!'

There I shall perform your service especially, O Lord; / both of us, mother and father, free from bondage, will abide in you as our son.

Saying "So be it," and granting the boon to Pārvatī, he vanished. / The goddess then had Vighneśvara installed there by the chief brāhmaṇas.

Having worshiped the lord of Gaṇas, she then went to Śaṅkara / and related the news; he too became exceedingly delighted.

Then, fixing her mind on him, she remembered the boon-giving lord; / through the greatness of her fortune, she saw that king of Gaṇas everywhere.

Then in the month of Bhādrapada, having fashioned an image, the goddess, / joined by Śaṅkara, worshiped [him] at midday during the bright fortnight,

on the fourth lunar day, on a Monday, conjoined with the nakṣatra Svātī; / and the boon-giving image of Vikaṭa became endowed with life.

Overcome by his splendor, the two deities were unable to look at all; / then, praised by both of them, he became endowed with a gentle radiance.

Śiva saw him there, six-armed and resembling the moon. / (

[Khaṇḍa 6, Adhyāya 38, Page 107]) The two supreme ones performed the birth-rites and all the rest through brāhmaṇas.

On the eleventh day, the twice-born gave him the name "Guṇeśa"; / the joyful Śiva and Pārvatī worshiped the twice-born.

Om tat sat. Thus ends the thirty-seventh chapter, named "Description of the Incarnation of Guṇeśa" in the deeds of Vikaṭa, in the glorious final purāṇic Upaniṣad, the glorious Maudgala Mahāpurāṇa.