Cāndraṅgada and the Varada Gaṇeśa Vrata

King Cāndraṅgada ruled the land of Mālavadeśa from his capital Karṇanagara. A rākshasī pursued him, and then a Nāgakanyā (a nāga woman) took him down into pātāla. His queen Indumatī gained his freedom by keeping the Varada Gaṇeśa Vrata, as Nārada Maharshi taught her. Pārvatī later heard this account from her father Himavān and kept the same vrata (vow) to be joined again with Śiva.

Cāndraṅgada’s trials

Cāndraṅgada was a dharmic and capable king. Even so, a run of great misfortunes fell on him.

First, a fierce rākshasī became fixed on him and chased him without rest. She used her powers to harry his movements and to cause constant trouble in his kingdom. He asked for help from ṛshis and warriors alike. Her āsura (asura) power made her very hard to stop.

While he was trying to escape her, Cāndraṅgada came to a far-off region and met a Nāgakanyā, a serpent-woman of the nāga realm. Driven by her own desires, the Nāgakanyā seized the king and drew him down into pātāla, the nāga world below the earth, and kept him there as her captive.

For a human king to be held in pātāla meant he was cut off from his life above. No ordinary means could reach him. His ministers and his queen could do nothing. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 53)

Indumatī’s grief and Nārada’s teaching

Queen Indumatī was in deep sorrow. Her husband was missing and no one knew where he was. Every way of rescuing him had failed. In this great distress she prayed with full bhakti (devotion), and Nārada Maharshi appeared before her. He is the divine ṛshi who travels through all the worlds and is always present where true devotion calls.

Nārada told Indumatī the truth: her husband was held in pātāla by a Nāgakanyā. Then he gave her the key to his freedom, the Varada Gaṇeśa Vrata. He taught her the whole method, from Śrāvaṇa śukla caturthi through Bhādrapada śukla caturthi. He explained that Gaṇeśa removes all obstacles and can end captivity in any realm, pātāla included. He assured her that by Gaṇeśa’s grace no prison could hold. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 54)

The vrata and its fruit

Indumatī kept the Varada Gaṇeśa Vrata exactly as Nārada had taught. She kept her mind fully on it, with one prayer in her heart: the release of her husband.

At the end of the vrata, on Bhādrapada śukla caturthi, Gaṇeśa’s grace moved in pātāla. The Nāgakanyā who had held Cāndraṅgada found that her power over him had suddenly melted away.

There was more. The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa says the Nāgakanyā herself had been under a śāpa (a curse), and that this śāpa had driven her to take a captive. Gaṇeśa’s grace, flowing through Indumatī’s vrata, lifted that śāpa too. The Nāgakanyā was freed from her own bondage along with Cāndraṅgada.

Cāndraṅgada rose from pātāla and went back to Karṇanagara. He and Indumatī were joyfully reunited. The king knew that his freedom had been won wholly by his queen’s devotion. He joined her in the pūjā of Gaṇeśa with deep thanks. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 54)

Pārvatī hears the account and keeps the vrata

Himavān, the father of Pārvatī, told her this account of Cāndraṅgada’s freedom. He told it after the Tripurāsura conflict, at a time when she and Śiva were apart because of the turmoil of that great war.

Pārvatī had gone to her father’s home when Śiva’s first defeat at the hands of Tripura threatened Kailāsa. Even after Tripura was finally destroyed, through Gaṇeśa’s grace and Śiva’s arrow, she had not yet gone back to Śiva.

Himavān saw his daughter’s longing and her worry about her bond with Śiva. He advised her not to simply wait, and not to go to Śiva without spiritual preparation. She should keep the Varada Gaṇeśa Vrata. After all, it was Gaṇeśa’s grace that had given Śiva his victory. The same grace would bring Śiva and Pārvatī together again in harmony and fullness.

Himavān taught Pārvatī the full method of the vrata. This included the Pārthiva Gaṇeśa Pūjā, the pūjā of an image shaped from sacred mṛttikā (earth). This is the form of Gaṇeśa pūjā linked with this occasion. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 48–50, 55)

The reunion of Śiva and Pārvatī

Pārvatī kept the vrata with perfect devotion. Gaṇeśa was pleased that his mother kept his own vrata. He made sure that the reunion with Śiva would be auspicious and complete.

Śiva, restored from the battle, came to Himavān’s home. At the end of the vrata the divine parents were joined again. In the joyful gathering Himavān performed the kanyādāna, the gift of his daughter’s hand, to Śiva. All three worlds celebrated.

Indumatī kept the vrata for the return of her king, and Pārvatī kept it for the return of her husband. In both accounts the Varada Gaṇeśa Vrata ends a separation, whether it was caused by captivity under an asura or by the troubles of a great war. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 55)

Sources

Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 53–55 (Chapter 53: the trials; Chapter 54: Nārada’s teaching and the release; Chapters 48–50 and 55: Pārvatī and the Pārthiva Gaṇeśa Pūjā)