Vyāsa and Gajānana: Twelve Years of Tapas

Chapters 149 and 150 of the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa of the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tell how Vyāsa met Gajānana, the elephant-faced form of Gaṇeśa. Vyāsa had heard the greatness (māhātmya) of Gajānana from Brahmā. He then did twelve years of tapas (austerity) on Gaṇeśa’s single-syllable mantra in a forest.

Gajānana appeared before him, entered his body, and gave him the power to compose the eighteen Purāṇas and eighteen Upapurāṇas. Vyāsa then set up a sacred mūrti of Gajānana and taught the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa to his disciple Vaiśampāyana.

Vyāsa’s question to Brahmā

Brahmā had finished telling Vyāsa the Dvāpara-yuga account of Gajānana. Vyāsa then asked a question. The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa gives several accounts of how Gaṇeśa was born:

from Śiva’s face
from Śiva’s anger
from Pārvatī’s tejas (radiance)
from her womb
from the secretions of her body

Vyāsa also asked how Gaṇeśa could have an elephant head from birth, as in the Dvāpara-yuga account, and also receive the elephant head after Śiva struck him, as in other accounts.

Brahmā answered that these accounts belong to different kalpas (cosmic cycles). Gaṇeśa is Parabrahman, and in each kalpa he comes down in a different way, by his own will. These accounts show the endless creative freedom of Parabrahman. The Liṅga Purāṇa, the Skanda Purāṇa and other texts tell how Śiva, Vishṇu and Brahmā bring each other forth in different kalpas. All such accounts are śāstra-sammata (accepted by the śāstras).

Brahmā then summed up the four yuga avatāras of Gaṇeśa. He also told in a few words about the Kali-yuga avatāra, Dhūmravarṇa. He ended with these words: “I have told you the Dvāpara-yuga account of Gajānana. Now I will tell you the Kali-yuga account.”

Vyāsa’s twelve years of tapas

Vyāsa had received all this knowledge from Brahmā. Now he longed to see Gajānana with his own eyes. Hearing (śravaṇa) alone could not satisfy him.

He took leave of Brahmā and went to an excellent forest. It was rich in roots and fruits and had good water. There he did twelve years of unbroken tapas. He sat with his mind fixed on one point and did japa (repeated recitation) of Gaṇeśa’s ekākshara mantra, the single-syllable mantra.

Gajānana appears

At the end of the twelve years, Gajānana appeared before Vyāsa. His form was this:

He wore red garlands (raktamālā) and red clothes (raktavastra).
He was anointed with red gandha and red sandalwood (raktachandana).
His eyes were like lotuses.
His forehead shone with an anointing of sindūra (red powder).
He was bright as the light of a koṭi (ten million) suns.
He wore divine earrings (kuṇḍala), armlets (aṅgada) on his upper arms, and a crown (mukuṭa).
Śeshanāga was on his body as an ornament.

The vision was too much for Vyāsa. He shut his eyes against the blinding light and trembled with fear. Still repeating the single-syllable mantra, he fell unconscious (mūrchchhita).

The words of Gajānana

Gajānana comforted him: “Do not be afraid. I am the one you have meditated on day and night. I have come to give you a vara (a boon).”

Vyāsa came back to his senses and bowed to the ground. He offered a stotra (hymn of praise). He said he was blessed (dhanya), and so were his parents, his tapas, the earth and the trees, because he had received the darśana of Gajānana. He called him sarvātman (the self of all), guṇātīta (beyond the guṇas), the support (āśraya) of all, chidānandaghana (dense with knowing and joy), ananta (endless), and the final cause (kāraṇa) of all causes.

Vyāsa then asked: “Clear away my confusion and give me firm bhakti (devotion) to you. Let me compose the eighteen Purāṇas. Give me the power to offer you stotras.” He added: “If you are pleased with me, then live in my heart.”

Gajānana replied: “All that you have asked will be given. You will be known as Vyāsa, the most honoured of all. You will have direct knowledge (aparoksha jñāna). You will be the guru of all gurus. You will be equal to Nārāyaṇa in fame, in good qualities and in śrī (glory). You will compose eighteen Purāṇas and the same number of Upapurāṇas.”

He also said: “In a former life you did not do my pūjā, and you did not remember me. That is why your speech had a hidden obstruction. But you have heard my greatness from the mouth of Brahmā. So your pride (dambha) and the pāpa (sin) that came from it have melted away. I now enter your body.”

Gajānana enters Vyāsa

Gajānana entered Vyāsa’s body. At once a light as bright as a koṭi suns filled Vyāsa from within. All the directions shone with that light. Vyāsa now had the power to compose all the sacred texts that Gajānana had promised him.

The siddha-kshetra and the teaching of the Purāṇa

Vyāsa made a great mūrti of Gajānana and set it up in a prāsāda (temple) at that place in the forest. He declared the place a siddha-kshetra, a holy place where Bhagavān Gajānana is present and where mantra-siddhi and all other siddhis are easily gained. He did long pūjā there.

Then Vyāsa told the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, just as he had received it from Brahmā, to his disciple Vaiśampāyana. Through this teaching the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa became known in all the world (bhūloka).

Sources

Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 149
Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 150