Mahotkaṭa in Kāśī
Mahotkaṭa is the Kṛta-yuga avatāra (descent) of Gaṇeśa, the Parabrahman. The Krīḍā Khaṇḍa of the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tells his life in Chapters 5 to 72. He was born to Aditi and Kāśyapa, killed many asuras as a child, spent years in Kāśī, and defeated the two great asuras Narāntaka and Devāntaka. At the end he returned to his own world, Svānandabhuvana.
Aditi’s tapas and the promise of Gaṇeśa
Devāntaka and Narāntaka had conquered all three worlds, and the devas wandered with no place of safety. Aditi, the mother of the devas and wife of Kāśyapa, turned to tapas (austerity). She had heard that Gaṇeśa, the Parabrahman, answers sincere austerity. She did intense tapas with focused devotion, and Gaṇeśa appeared before her. He promised to come into the world as her son, as the Kṛta-yuga avatāra, to restore order. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 5)
The birth of Mahotkaṭa
In the Kṛta-yuga, Gaṇeśa was born to Aditi and Kāśyapa in their āśrama. The child shone with great power, and the devas and ṛshis knew at once that this was the avatāra they had waited for. He was given the name Mahotkaṭa, “the supremely exalted one”, at birth. He was also called Vināyaka, the leader who leads without being led. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6)
Early deeds
Even in his first years, Mahotkaṭa did the work of the avatāra. He freed those in distress and killed asuras.
Citra the gandharva
The gandharva Citra had been given a śāpa (a curse) and had become a crocodile. The rākshasī Virajā was troubling him. Mahotkaṭa freed Citra from the rākshasī and from the curse, and gave him back his form as a gandharva. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 7)
Dhundhura and Uddhata
Mahotkaṭa killed the asuras Dhundhura and Uddhata in direct combat. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8)
The teaching of Pañcāyatana pūjā
The gandharvas Hāhā, Hūhū and Tumburu came before Mahotkaṭa. He showed them the idea of Pañcāyatana pūjā, the worship of five devas together: Gaṇeśa, Vishṇu, Śiva, Durgā and Sūrya. He showed it as one whole expression of the truth of the cosmos, and he showed them the Viśvarūpa (his cosmic form). (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 9)
The upanayana and the five asuras
Kāśyapa gave Mahotkaṭa his upanayana (sacred thread ceremony), the rite that marks entry into the brahmacarya stage of life. Five asuras came to disturb the ceremony, and they were killed after it. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 10)
Indra’s tests and surrender
Indra was proud and did not want to worship a newly arrived deva. He tested Mahotkaṭa again and again to see whether he deserved reverence. Mahotkaṭa passed every test with ease. When Indra finally gave in, he gave Mahotkaṭa three gifts. They were the name Vināyaka (the supreme leader), an ankuśa (an elephant goad, the sign of authority), and a kalpavṛksha (the wish-fulfilling tree). (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 11)
The years in Kāśī
When Mahotkaṭa was seven years old, the king of Kāśī, Kāśirāja, came to Kāśyapa’s āśrama and took the child to Kāśī. The purpose was the wedding of the king’s son to the daughter of the Magadharāja. Mahotkaṭa would protect the wedding and bless it. But his stay in Kāśī became much longer and fuller than one celebration, and Kāśī became the main place of his Kṛta-yuga deeds.
Dhūmrāksha and the first wave of asuras
As soon as Mahotkaṭa arrived in Kāśī, he killed the asura Dhūmrāksha. Narāntaka heard of this and sent 1,000 asuras to destroy both the child and the city. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 12)
Many asuras were killed in the battles that followed. Kāśī, protected by the presence of Mahotkaṭa, stood firm. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 13)
Dharmadhatta and the gift of Siddhi and Buddhi
Among the brahmins of Kāśī was Dharmadhatta, also called Śukla. He was poor and devoted. Mahotkaṭa was moved by his devotion and gave him the divine śaktis Siddhi (accomplishment) and Buddhi (wisdom) as companions. These gifts changed Śukla’s life and in time brought him great wealth.
In the same period, Jṛmbhā, the wife of the slain Dhūmrāksha, came to take revenge. Mahotkaṭa killed her with a coconut. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 14)
The night attack and the drinking of fire
Three asuras, Jvālamukha, Vyāghramukha and Dāruṇa, made a terrible night attack on Kāśī and spread fire across the city. Mahotkaṭa drank the fire itself and took the whole blaze into his body. Then he brought the ruined city back to life with amṛta (nectar). Kāśī was restored. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15)
Hemajyotirvid, the asura astrologer
The asura Hemajyotirvid took the form of an astrologer and entered Kāśī to do harm from inside. Mahotkaṭa knew him and killed him with a mudrārikā (a ring). (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 18)
More asuras defeated
The asuras Kūpa and Kandara were killed (Chapter 19). Andhakāsura, Ambhāsura and Tuṅga were met in battle, and Mahotkaṭa took the form of a giant bird to deal with them (Chapter 20). Bhramarā, the mother of Ambhāsura, also came for revenge and was killed. A stotra (hymn of praise) was offered when she was defeated (Chapter 21).
The names Āśāpūraka and Gajānana
While he was in Kāśī, Mahotkaṭa went to the Daṇḍakāraṇya and met the muni Bhrūśuṇḍī. This ṛshi had a trunk growing between his brows, and his strange ways showed his deep inner attainment. Through this meeting, two of Gaṇeśa’s best-loved names were established. They are Āśāpūraka (the fulfiller of hopes) and Gajānana (the elephant-faced one). (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 16–17)
Varada Vinayaka and Gaṇeśatīrtha
The ṛshis Sanaka and Sanandana came to Kāśī and saw Mahotkaṭa take countless forms at the same moment, so that he could feed all his devotees at once. After this, the Varada Vinayaka mūrti was installed in Kāśī. Beside it the holy Gaṇeśatīrtha was made, a pond with the power to purify. These made the presence of Gaṇeśa in Kāśī lasting, at its most sacred spot. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 25)
The great war: Narāntaka’s campaign
After years of smaller victories, the whole force of the asuras came down on Kāśī in Narāntaka’s own campaign.
Narāntaka gathered a huge army and surrounded Kāśī. He burned the city, took Kāśirāja captive, and took women prisoner. Queen Ambā wept in grief. When her cries reached Mahotkaṭa, he gave a cosmic roar and told Siddhi to create the Kālapurusha. This being had absolute power of destruction. He swallowed Narāntaka’s whole army and chased Narāntaka through all three worlds. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 57–58)
Kālapurusha caught Narāntaka by the hair and brought him to Mahotkaṭa. In the last meeting, Mahotkaṭa showed his Virāṭ rūpa (cosmic form) and crushed Narāntaka with one toe, as easily as one crushes a bedbug. Pṛthivī, the Earth devī, came forward in relief to thank Mahotkaṭa. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 59–61)
Narāntaka’s cut-off head fell in the courtyard of Raudraketu.
The final war: Devāntaka’s campaign and the tusk
Narāntaka’s death made Devāntaka furious. He began his own campaign against Kāśī with new strength and special powers. This was a war in several stages, with strange weapons, tāntric ritual and trickery. It included the best-known event of Mahotkaṭa’s Kṛta-yuga avatāra, the breaking of his tusk and its use as a weapon.
Mahotkaṭa’s warrior forms of the Ashṭasiddhi defeated Devāntaka’s ordinary army. Then Raudraketu did a great tāntric ritual, a ceremony on a seat of five pretas (restless dead). As the last offering he cut off the head of his own son. Devāntaka was brought back to life with new supernatural power by the grace of Śiva. A divine black horse came out of the fire.
Devāntaka came back and used the Nidrāstra (a weapon of sleep) and the Gāndharvāstra to put Vināyaka’s army to sleep. He also used abhicāra (a black-magic ritual of death). He made a māyā Aditi, a magical copy of Mahotkaṭa’s mother Aditi, in his hand, to shake Mahotkaṭa’s mind. An ākāśavāṇī (a divine voice from the sky) showed the trick for what it was.
An ākāśavāṇī also told Devāntaka’s one weak point. He could be killed only at ushākāla (dawn), the exact moment between night and day that the vara (boon) of Śiva had left unguarded. Mahotkaṭa waited for dawn and faced Devāntaka. In the great duel, Devāntaka broke off Mahotkaṭa’s tusk. Without a pause, Mahotkaṭa took up his own broken tusk and killed Devāntaka with it. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 62–70)
Peace, the wedding and the return of Mahotkaṭa
With both asuras destroyed, peace came back to the three worlds. Kāśirāja completed his son’s wedding with the daughter of the Magadharāja. This was the event that had first brought Mahotkaṭa to Kāśī. The city celebrated with joy. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 71)
Mahotkaṭa went back to Kāśyapa’s āśrama. Aditi was full of joy and embraced him. Kāśyapa embraced his divine son with tears of joy. Before leaving for Svānandabhuvana, Mahotkaṭa told Aditi that she would see him again at the temple of Bhavānī. Kāśirāja went back to Kāśī and set up a grand four-armed, three-eyed metal Ḍhuṇḍhirāja mūrti in a beautiful temple. Kāśyapa and Aditi also set up a mūrti at their āśrama. (Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 72)
Sources
- Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 5–72