Bhrūśuṇḍī and Mahotkaṭa

Bhrūśuṇḍī and Mahotkaṭa is told in Chapters 16 and 17 of the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa of the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa. In the forest of Daṇḍakāraṇya, Mahotkaṭa meets the muni Bhrūśuṇḍī, who has a trunk growing from between his brows. This is the sign of his deep absorption in Gaṇeśa. The episode is the setting for two names of Gaṇeśa: Āśāpūraka, the fulfiller of hopes, and Gajānana, the elephant-faced one.

Bhrūśuṇḍī in Daṇḍakāraṇya

Chapter 16 tells of the great forest of Daṇḍakāraṇya. It is known from the Rāmāyaṇa as the place of Rāma’s exile. It was also the home of many ṛshis who did hard austerity (tapas) in solitude. One of them was the muni Bhrūśuṇḍī. His name was itself remarkable. It means “the one with a trunk (śuṇḍā) at the brow (bhrū)”. Through years of meditation on the form of Gaṇeśa, a trunk-like growth had come out from between his eyebrows. It showed that his whole being was turned toward the elephant-faced Bhagavān Gaṇeśa.

The meeting with Mahotkaṭa

Mahotkaṭa, the avatāra of the Kṛta yuga, came to Daṇḍakāraṇya in the time of his divine acts. There he met Bhrūśuṇḍī. The muni’s strange look and the depth of his devotion made this one of the most moving meetings in the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa’s account of Mahotkaṭa’s life.

Bhrūśuṇḍī spoke to Mahotkaṭa with full recognition. He knew that this child was the avatāra on whom he had meditated all his life. His devotion had already shown itself in the change of his body. Now it poured out in words of praise and surrender.

The names Āśāpūraka and Gajānana

Chapter 17 tells that this meeting became the occasion for two great names of Gaṇeśa.

Āśāpūraka means “the fulfiller of hopes”. Bhrūśuṇḍī had kept alive his hope of the darśana of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa through a whole lifetime of tapas. When Mahotkaṭa appeared before him, the muni’s hope was fulfilled beyond measure. Gaṇeśa fulfils the deepest longing of the sincere devotee, and he received this name from the fulfilled hope of Bhrūśuṇḍī. One who worships Gaṇeśa as Āśāpūraka worships him as the one who does not let true devotion go unanswered.

Gajānana means “the elephant-faced one”. This name was not new. It had always been one of the names of Gaṇeśa, taken from his elephant face. But in this meeting with the muni who had a trunk on his brow, the name took on fresh meaning. The muni’s brow-trunk was a kind of answer to the elephant face of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa. It was a bodily witness to a devotee’s absorption in the one he worships.

Sources

• Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 16–17