Mudgalapurana 6.38: bālakhelāvarṇanaṃ nāmāṣṭatriṃśattamo'dhyāyaḥ

Homage to glorious Gaṇeśa.

The Primordial Śakti said: / Then the spies of Sindhu stationed there in disguised form, / having found out, reported the great event to Sindhu.

In the meantime, O powers, a voice arose there, / and Sindhu heard that bodiless, terrifying [voice]:

"Indeed, O lord of Daityas, this one will swiftly destroy you with speed; / he will make all that moves and does not move established in their own respective dharmas."

Hearing this, the Daitya fainted, but became alert / in an instant with great effort, and then the dull-witted one grieved.

The leader of Daityas dispatched Daitya chiefs to kill him; / they all went to Trisandhyā-kṣetra in disguise.

Having resorted to various forms of illusion to kill him, / Śiva's son struck down those who had arrived in the forms of animals, birds, and the like.

Then that virtuous goddess Pārvatī grieved in many ways: / "Alas, innumerable Daityas are constantly being killed by my son.

Even so, what will the Daitya kings do to my son? / Will they kill Guṇādhīśa? Reflecting, I do not know.

The full master of Brahman himself has become my son; / will he depart under some pretext through the power of my lack of fortune?"

Then the lord of Guṇas cast a supreme, deluding illusion; / deluded by it, the goddess regarded the lord of Gaṇas merely as her son.

In the meantime, the yogi Marīci, worshiping Gaṇapa, / prayed to the lord of gods: "Grant me a vision, O Vighnapa!"

Then that great yogi heard a pure inner voice: / "Gaṇeśa has attained the state of Śiva's son; behold him there."

Hearing this, he arrived with joy, and Pārvatī saw him; / bowing, worshiping, and feeding him, she pleaded with that sage:

"You are one who has directly become Brahman, yet you do not come to my hermitage; / abandoning sacred places and the like, O brāhmaṇa, you are devoted to worshiping Gaṇeśa.

Just as the god is the remover of obstacles, so surely are you; / therefore I pray to you, master: protect my son with protection!

A host of Daityas and others constantly arrives to kill the lord of Gaṇas, / cursed by death, and they end up dead.

Our family deity is Vighneśa, there is no doubt about this; / he protects my son, O sage; otherwise, he would be dead.

The lord of Gaṇas was served by Śaṅkara, O great sage; / (

[Khaṇḍa 6, Adhyāya 38, Page 108]) his merit protects my son, of this there is no doubt."

Hearing Pārvatī's words, the great sage was astonished: / "She is the direct Śakti, yet deluded, she regards Vighnapa merely as her son!"

He gave the Gaṇeśa armor to Śambhu's son; / bowing to him and praising him, the sage went to his own hermitage.

Nevertheless, seeing the Daitya kings arriving daily to kill him, / assuming various disguises, he slew them in child's play.

Once, rising early in the morning, Pārvatī, devoted to Śiva, / fashioned a liṅga-image and held it in her left hand.

Invoking Śaṅkara into it, she became engaged in worship; / in the meantime, Guṇeśa woke up there.

"Give me milk," he said to Pārvatī, and she replied to him: / "Having worshiped Maheśāna, I will give you breast milk to drink."

Then he said to her: "Why are you devoted to worship? / Leaving me aside, from where will Śaṅkara give you anything greater, O goddess?

Give me milk, O mother; through that, the infinite Śivas and others, / and the Brahmans will become satisfied, O daughter of the mountain!"

Even so, smiling, she did not give him breast milk to drink; / then Mayūreśa was filled with anger.

With a strike of his palm, he knocked the Śivaliṅga resting in the goddess's hand / onto the ground, and it was broken, O powers!

Filled with intense sorrow, Pārvatī, becoming exceedingly enraged, / struck Vikaṭa back with a blow of her hand.

Then the lord of Gaṇas, angered, approached his mother / and bit her finger, and profuse blood flowed.

Leaving her as she wailed in distress, he fled in fright— / even though he gives fear to fears themselves, displaying child's play.

Seeing Śiva's liṅga, endowed with life-infusion, broken, / Śaṅkara's beloved wept, filled with extreme grief:

"A sin equal to the murder of Śiva has been incurred by me, there is no doubt; / another occurred in slaying one's husband, and precisely that has now been done by me!

This son of mine, Guṇeśa, is considered a giver of hell; / if I had been barren, then my fate would be blessed, of this there is no doubt.

Now, afflicted with grief, having remembered Gajānana in my heart, / I will abandon my body. O king of obstacles, homage to you!"

By the very remembrance of Gaṇeśa, a change occurred in her intellect; / she saw that king of Gaṇas nearby in the form of her son.

With a stick in her hand, the goddess went to strike her son, the highest of the high; / and seeing her, Gaṇeśa fled, filled with fear.

Running after him, she, the beloved of Śiva, seized her son. / Vighneśa produced an illusion and assumed the form of Śiva.

Deluded by the illusion upon seeing Śaṅkara, the goddess was distressed: / “Why, with a staff in my hand, am I about to strike the great lord?”

Releasing him, deeply grieved, she prepared to give up her body. / Gaṇarāja too again assumed the form of her son.

As he fled filled with fear, the goddess set out to strike him; / she followed him, and he fled and went into the forest.

Meanwhile, an asura named Kardama, / a devotee of Śiva in the form of a twice-born, arrived there and said to the boy:

“Why are you running, my son? I shall protect you, without doubt. / Therefore stay still there, where your mother does not know.”

Section 6, Chapter 38, Page 109) Saying “So be it,” Guṇeśa spoke in the guise of a child. / Seizing the boy, he swallowed him and was filled with joy:

“Ah, the great enemy of Sindhu has been devoured by me! / Today the fear of all the chief Daityas has been destroyed!”

Meanwhile, the mother of the universe arrived there; / seeing the twice-born devotee of Śiva, she bowed and spoke:

Pārvatī said: / “O master, where has my son hidden in your presence? / There is no doubt in this, [yet] I do not see his footprint ahead.

Following the trail of his footprints, O wise brāhmaṇa, I came to take him, / by the marks of the axe and other [weapons]; tell me the truth, O highly intelligent one!”

The twice-born said: / “O daughter of the mountain, your son has not been seen by me, of this there is no doubt. / Swearing an oath by Śiva, I say: look for your little son!”

Then, overwhelmed with sorrow, she remembered the elephant-faced one. / Thereupon Gaṇanāyaka came forth from his lotus mouth.

Emerging, the asura was slain with the blow of a fist by Guṇeśa; / that very wicked one died and became eighteen yojanas [in size].

Then she became exceedingly joyful, free from anger; / taking her son, the goddess went to her hermitage and entered her home.

The son fell to the ground; O Śaktis, he rolled about there, / and repeatedly he of dreadful face yawned.

Seeing him in such a state, Pārvatī was filled with sorrow: / “What has happened to my son today? What will happen, O lord of obstacles?”

Then, bewildered with fear, she beheld the entire universe in his mouth, / filled with endless cosmic eggs, and she fell down upon the surface of the earth.

She remembered her guru, Śaṅkara, her chosen deity, / [and] Gaṇeśa; through that, Pārvatī became free from delusion.

The goddess reflected: “This Gaṇeśa has become my son; / abandoning him, I am devoted to worship of the liṅga like a fool indeed!

With the attitude of a husband, I worship the lord of the gods, Śaṅkara, who bears a body; / with the attitude of God, [I should worship] Gaṇeśa, but that has been forgotten.

Out of foolishness, the drinking of breast-milk was not given to Gaṇeśa, / within whom endless beings, beginning with Śaṅkara, reside.

When he is pleased, all of them become well-pleased; / Gaṇeśa is the lord of Brahmā and others; he indeed is satisfied.

Ah, he was seen by me in the form of Śiva right before me, / and seized there; yet wonderful it is that I do not understand how [it happened]!

From now on, I will constantly worship Gaṇeśāna, who has arrived in the form of a son, / with every attitude, as the bringer of welfare.

He is the husband, he is the father, the mother, the son, and the friend; / he is God, he is Brahman, there is no doubt; Guṇeśa gives me true peace.”

Having thus resolved, the goddess arose, bowed to him, / and, filled with joy, bowed her neck in devotion and praised him.

Seeing her praising him, Gaṇeśa cast delusion [upon her]; / then, completely deluded, the goddess fell into utter forgetfulness.

Taking Vighneśa in the attitude of a son, she fondled him; / the goddess became engaged in household duties just as before.

The Śaktis said: / “Gaṇeśa, the lord of Brahman, engaged in childhood play, / having assumed the state of a son, acted just like a child.

Why did he show the entire universe containing various cosmic eggs, / and why did he show the form of Śiva to Śakti?

Having shown it, why did he cause that arisen knowledge to disappear? / Tell us this wonder, so that our doubt may be destroyed.”

Section 6, Chapter 39, Page 110) Ādiśakti said: / “He was always eager to receive devotion that consists of the attitude toward a son; / by the power of granting boons, he became the bestower of the fruit of asceticism.

Having accomplished the purpose of the gods and sages, he will disappear; / then remembrance of the knowledge will arise for the goddess:

‘Gaṇeśa has come to me in the form of a son, of this there is no doubt; / endowed with ignorance, I certainly know him [only] as my child.

Dwelling in a human body like a son, Gaṇeśa showed me / the majesty and power of Brahman, yet he is not recognised.’

Endowed with immense devotion through that, she will worship Gajānana; / for that purpose Gaṇarāja performed this wonder there.

Having thus slain various Daityas himself, O Śaktis, / he served Śiva and Pārvatī by the power of his attitude as a son.”

Om tat sat. Thus ends the thirty-eighth chapter, titled ‘Description of the Childhood Play’, in the story of Vikaṭa, in the sixth section of the glorious and ultimate purāṇic Upaniṣad, the venerable Maudgala Mahāpurāṇa.