Candra Śāpa

The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tells how Candra, the Moon, laughed at Bhagavān Gaṇeśa and received a śāpa (a curse) from him. Candra then did tapas (austerity) for 120 years on the southern bank of the Gaṅgā, and Gaṇeśa lifted the śāpa in part. This account is the reason the Moon is not to be seen on Bhādrapada śukla (bright half) caturthi, the day of Gaṇeśa Caturthī.

The occasion of the śāpa

On the auspicious day of Gaṇeśa Caturthī, the devas gathered to give gifts to Gaṇeśa. Kārttikeya, out of respect for his elder brother, gave Gaṇeśa a beautiful fruit. Gaṇeśa took it with delight.

Candra was also there. He could not hold himself back. He burst into laughter at the sight of the large-bellied, elephant-headed Gaṇeśa eating the fruit with his trunk. He found the scene comical.

Gaṇeśa answered at once and sharply. He looked at Candra with displeasure and spoke the śāpa:

“O Moon! You have laughed at me, the first-worshipped among all devas, the one whose form is the very sign of auspiciousness. Because you mocked my appearance, you will grow dark, you will diminish to nothing, and anyone who sees you on this Bhādrapada śukla caturthi will suffer false accusations and slander for the rest of their days. Let the sight of you on this day bring disgrace to the one who sees you.”

Candra had been proud of his own beautiful, shining form. The śāpa shattered him. He saw his mistake at once and bowed before Gaṇeśa in remorse.

Candra’s tapas

Candra was humbled and full of regret. He went to the southern bank of the sacred Gaṅgā and began a tapas of 120 years. He chanted the Ekākshari Gaṇeśa mahāmantra without a break. In all this time he ate nothing, kept complete celibacy, and stayed steady in meditation on the form of Gaṇeśa.

The place where he did this tapas became known as the Siddha-kshetra, the field of siddhi (spiritual success), because there the Moon’s devotion bore its final fruit.

The śāpa is lifted in part

After 120 years of this hard tapas, Gaṇeśa appeared before Candra. He was pleased with how real and how long Candra’s repentance had been. He spoke:

“O Candra! I am satisfied with your tapas and I lift the śāpa in part. You will not be reduced to nothing for good. You will wax and wane in your natural cycle, and the world will go on honouring you. But the Bhādrapada śukla caturthi will remain under the shadow of this śāpa. On that one day the Moon is not to be seen. Whoever sees you on that night will meet false accusations and suffering. This rule shall remain forever as a reminder that even the most beautiful and honoured being must never mock the form of the divine.”

With the śāpa lifted in part, Candra’s cycle was restored. He returned to the sky and shone again. He now waxes and wanes each month, a pattern that Gaṇeśa’s first śāpa had set.

At the Siddha-kshetra where he did his tapas, Candra set up a beautiful image of Gaṇeśa and founded a shrine. Pilgrims still come to it.

The Bhādrapada caturthi rule

The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa gives this account as the basis of the well-known rule that the Moon must not be seen on Bhādrapada śukla caturthi, the great Gaṇeśa Caturthī. The Purāṇa says that even an accidental sight of the Moon on that night brings false accusations, misunderstandings and the blame of others.

The traditional remedy, if a person sees the Moon by accident on that night, is to hear or recite the account of the Śyamantaka Maṇi from the Bhāgavata. In it Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself is falsely accused, and his final clearing of the charge is the cure for the effect of the śāpa.

Bhādrapada śukla caturthi is therefore a day of two kinds of importance. It is the great day of Gaṇeśa’s pūjā (worship), and it is also the day when even the Moon, the most beautiful ornament of the sky, stays hidden.

Sources

• Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 61
• Bhāgavata (the account of the Śyamantaka Maṇi, named as the remedy)