Siddhāśrama Gaṇeśa Pūjā: Rādhā Worships Gaṇeśa

Siddhāśrama is the most sacred place in Bhāratavarsha. On the holy day of Vaiśākha Pūrṇimā, Rādhā worshipped Gaṇeśa there with the full shoḍashopachāra pūjā (worship with sixteen offerings). Gaṇeśa was pleased and appeared before her. He praised her and said that her name must always come before the name of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. Brahmā, Śiva and Ananta then praised her greatness one after another. The same section tells how Vasudeva performed the Rājasūya yajña. It comes from the Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapters 123 to 125.

Siddhāśrama, the most sacred place (Chapter 123)

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa tells Nārada about Siddhāśrama, a place of the highest holiness in Bhāratavarsha. Sanatkumāra gained siddhi (perfection) there. Brahmā received his powers of creation there. Indra gained the throne of the three worlds there. Vaiśākha Pūrṇimā at Siddhāśrama is especially auspicious. All beings gather on that day to worship. Priceless gem mūrtis of Gaṇeśa are set up and honoured there. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 123)

Rādhā’s pūjā to Gaṇeśa (Chapter 123)

Rādhā bathed in the sacred waters and made herself pure. Then she performed the whole shoḍashopachāra pūjā to Gaṇeśa, with offerings beyond measure.

Waters. Pādya (water for the feet) and arghya (water of welcome) were made with water brought from seven great tīrthas. The water for ācamana (sipping) also came from tīrtha-saṅgamas, the meeting places of rivers.

Scent and flowers. White flowers, sandal paste (candana), camphor (karpūra) and musk (kastūrī) were offered in plenty.

Naivedya (food offering). The food offered was almost past counting.

Sesame laḍḍus in countless numbers
Dishes of wheat and barley
Pāyasa (rice pudding) in streams
Modakas (sweet dumplings), Gaṇeśa’s favourite offering, in lakhs
All four kinds of food: charvya (chewed), choshya (sucked), lehya (licked) and peya (drunk)
All the fruits of the season
Rivers of ghee, milk, honey, treacle, curds and pāyasa, so many that they ran as streams

Other offerings. There was a ratna-siṃhāsana (a throne of jewels) for Gaṇeśa, white cāmaras (fly-whisks), a kāmadhenu (the cow that grants wishes), mirrors of gems and fragrant incense.

Mantra. The sixteen-syllable Gaṇeśa mantra was said one thousand times.

Oṃ gaṃ gauṃ vighnanāśakāya gaṇapataye svāhā

(Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 123)

Gaṇeśa’s teaching (Chapter 124)

Gaṇeśa was pleased with Rādhā’s pūjā. He appeared before her and gave a deep teaching. First he praised Rādhā as Brahma-svarūpiṇī, the one who is Brahman in form, and as the one who always lives on the vakshaḥsthala (chest) of Kṛshṇa. Then he made a declaration of the highest weight.

“Rādhā’s name must always come before Kṛshṇa’s. To say ‘Rādhākṛshṇa’ is the right and auspicious order. To turn it around and say ‘Kṛshṇarādhā’ is mahāpāpa (a great sin), as heavy as brahmahatyā, the killing of a brāhmaṇa. Rādhā is Mūla-Prakṛti, the first Śakti, and Kṛshṇa is the Paramātmā who comes from her left side. So she comes before him in name, as she comes before him in the order of manifestation.”

Gaṇeśa then gave a long teaching on Rādhā as the source of all śakti (power) in the world. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 124)

The assembly praises Rādhā (Chapter 124)

News of what happened at Siddhāśrama spread fast. All the devas, munis and beings of the worlds gathered there. Nanda and Yaśodā came, and all the three hundred crore gopikās. The gathering offered pūjā to Gaṇeśa. Each group brought mountains of laḍḍus and one hundred crore of each of many sweet offerings. Rādhā’s golden teja (radiance) filled all of Siddhāśrama with light.

Then came the praise.

Brahmā spoke with deep humility. “I did tapas for sixty thousand divine years at Pushkara only to have darśana (a sight) of Rādhā’s lotus feet. The only answer I got was an ākāśavāṇī (a voice from the sky) saying I was not worthy. What can I, the maker of the worlds, say of her glory?”

Mahādeva spoke. “Even the greatest yogīs have mastered their senses and feelings over vast ages. Yet they cannot hold Rādhā’s form in meditation for more than a moment before her supreme beauty and grace overwhelm them.”

Ananta (Śesha) spoke. “The Vedas and Sarasvatī herself have said they cannot praise Rādhā fully. If they cannot, what can I say? I am like a mosquito trying to describe an elephant.”

Rukmiṇī and Kṛshṇa’s other queens bowed before Rādhā with their heads on the ground. They were filled with holy awe, and no pride was left in them.

Satyabhāmā is known for her spirited nature. She was almost overcome and had to hold on to a pillar to keep standing.

(Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 124)

Vasudeva’s question and Śiva’s advice (Chapter 125)

Vasudeva and Devakī were humbled by seeing Rādhā’s supreme glory and hearing Gaṇeśa’s teaching. They went to Brahmā, Śiva and Ananta with a sincere question: “How can ordinary beings cross the ocean of saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death), the bhavasāgara?”

Śiva answered with a gentle laugh. “O Vasudeva, you are an aṃśa (part) of Kaśyapa. You have raised the Parabrahman himself as your child. Yet you still ask how to cross saṃsāra? This is māyā at its finest. Even the father of the Parabrahman, and even we devas, are sometimes veiled from knowing who stands before us. Remember, Brahmā once tried to test Kṛshṇa. Even I have not been free of this māyā.”

Śiva then told Vasudeva to perform the Rājasūya yajña with Sāṇḍipani as the purohita. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 125)

The Rājasūya yajña and the law of dakshiṇā (Chapter 125)

Vasudeva performed the Rājasūya yajña as he was told. Here Sāṇḍipani also taught an important law about the timing of guru-dakshiṇā (the gift to the guru and priest).

If the dakshiṇā is not paid within one muhūrta of the end of the yajña, the debt doubles. For each day of delay it grows four times. After fifteen days without payment it is one hundred times the first amount. After one month it is four hundred times. After six months it is one thousand times. After a full year without payment, it is one lakh times the first amount. In such a default, both the yajamāna (the one who performs the yajña) and the purohita (the priest) go to naraka. The law shows that honouring the guru and the priest is not a choice. It is a debt that grows.

Vasudeva did his duty with full generosity. His dakshiṇā was enormous.

To Garga first, as the senior purohita: ten crore ratnas (jewels).
Then one hundred crore maṇis (gems), and four times that amount in gold.
The same amounts of māṇikyas (rubies), muktās (pearls) and vajras (diamonds).
Silver, vessels set with gems, and ornaments.
One lakh white cāmaras and one lakh mirrors of gems.
All the kāmadhenus.
One hundred crore elephants and horses.
One hundred lakh villages with their crops.
Mountains of dhānya (grain) and great amounts of pāyasa.

The devas who had gathered went away satisfied, and the Yādavas returned to Dvārakā. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 125)

Sources

Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 123: Siddhāśrama and Rādhā’s pūjā to Gaṇeśa
Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 124: Gaṇeśa’s teaching and the assembly’s praise
Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 125: Vasudeva’s question, the Rājasūya yajña and the law of dakshiṇā