Maṅgala Aṅgāraka
Maṅgala, also called Aṅgāraka, is the deva of the planet Mars. In the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa he was born from the retas (vital seed) of the ṛshi Bhāradvāja and the body of the earth (pṛthvī), with a deep red colour. He did a thousand years of tapas on the banks of the Narmadā, chanting the Gaṇeśa mantra.
Bhagavān Gaṇeśa appeared to him on a Māgha kṛshṇa caturthi that fell on a Tuesday. He gave him the names Maṅgala and Aṅgāraka and placed him among the nine navagrahas (planets). He also said that a caturthi on a Tuesday would be called Aṅgāraka Caturthi. Maṅgala installed the Cintāmaṇi image of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa at Pārinena-nagara (Theur).
Birth
Maṅgala was born outside the usual lineages. The retas of the ṛshi Bhāradvāja fell on the earth while he was doing strong tapas. The earth received it. From the joining of the tapas power of the ṛshi and the first matter of the earth, Maṅgala was born with a pure red colour, like coral (pravāḷa), like fire and like the planet Mars.
His mother was the earth herself, so one of his main names is Bhūmiputra, “son of the earth”. He is also called Kshitija, “earth-born”, and Avanija, “born of the ground”.
Tapas on the Narmadā
Maṅgala was born with no fixed place in the order of the worlds, and he needed to find his purpose. He went to the holy banks of the Narmadā and did a thousand years of tapas, with Bhagavān Gaṇeśa as his ishṭadevatā (chosen deva). He chanted the Gaṇeśa mantra with full attention for the whole time. He kept celibacy, kept the fasts that were set for him, and stayed steady in meditation.
The darśana of Gaṇeśa and the naming
When the thousand years were over, Bhagavān Gaṇeśa appeared to Maṅgala on the Māgha kṛshṇa caturthi at moonrise. The day was also Maṅgalavāra, a Tuesday. This coming together of two days was very auspicious.
Bhagavān Gaṇeśa spoke to the red-hued tapasvin with great love and gave him his place in the worlds. The names he gave were these.
- Bhūmiputra: son of the earth.
- Aṅgāraka: the ember-red one, from aṅgāra, ember or coal.
- Maṅgala: the auspicious one.
Bhagavān Gaṇeśa made Maṅgala the navagraha of Mars. Mars is the planet of courage, active energy, skill in war and bodily strength. From that day Maṅgala held his place among the nine overseers of time and karma.
The Cintāmaṇi at Pārinena-nagara
Maṅgala was grateful for the grace of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa and for the place he had been given. He installed a beautiful image of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa and named it Cintāmaṇi, the wish-fulfilling gem. This installation at Pārinena-nagara began what is today one of the famous Ashṭavināyaka shrines of Maharashtra. It is the Cintāmaṇi Gaṇeśa at Theur, near the meeting of the rivers Muṭhā and Bhīmā.
Aṅgāraka Caturthi
The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa says that when a caturthi (the fourth lunar day of either fortnight) falls on Maṅgalavāra, a Tuesday, the day is called Aṅgāraka Caturthi. It carries the grace of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa and of Maṅgala together. It is counted among the most powerful of all caturthi observances. Pūjā on Aṅgāraka Caturthi is especially good for health, success in war, safety from enemies, and the removal of obstacles about property and authority.
The planet Mars
As the navagraha Mars, Maṅgala rules these things.
- Courage, firm will and energy for war
- Bodily strength and vitality
- Land and property
- Brothers and sisters in the family
- Tuesday (Maṅgalavāra)
- The colour red
His pūjā is held to help those whose birth charts show an unfavourable place of Mars. The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa links pūjā to Bhagavān Gaṇeśa on Aṅgāraka Caturthi with relief from the troubles of Maṅgala.
Sources
- Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 60