Bhrūśuṇḍī
Bhrūśuṇḍī
Bhrūśuṇḍī was a muni who lived in the Daṇḍakāraṇya forest. He appears in Chapters 16 and 17 of the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa of the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa. A trunk-like growth had come out between his eyebrows after years of deep meditation on the elephant form of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa.
His meeting with Mahotkaṭa in the Kṛta yuga gave Bhagavān Gaṇeśa two of his best-loved names: Āśāpūraka, “the fulfiller of hopes”, and Gajānana, “the elephant-faced one”.
Who he was
Bhrūśuṇḍī lived in the deep forest of Daṇḍakāraṇya. This is the great wilderness of central India, known as the place of Rāma’s forest exile. Many ascetics lived there, doing hard tapas (austerity) far from towns and villages.
Bhrūśuṇḍī lived alone in this forest, and a trunk-like growth came out from between his brows. His name comes from this: bhrū means the eyebrow, or the space between the brows, and śuṇḍā means a trunk. He had spent years in dhyāna (meditation) on the elephant form of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa.
The meeting with Mahotkaṭa
Mahotkaṭa travelled through the Daṇḍakāraṇya during his divine deeds in the Kṛta yuga. There he met Bhrūśuṇḍī. The muni knew at once that the child before him was the avatāra on whom he had meditated all his life, the one whose form had grown into his own body. He spoke to Mahotkaṭa with praise and full surrender.
The names Āśāpūraka and Gajānana
The meeting gave two names.
Āśāpūraka means “the fulfiller of hopes”. Through all his years in the forest Bhrūśuṇḍī had held one hope: the darśana (direct sight) of the elephant-faced Bhagavān Gaṇeśa. When Mahotkaṭa appeared before him, that hope was fulfilled completely. Bhagavān Gaṇeśa fulfils the deepest wish of a sincere devotee without holding anything back, and so he received the name Āśāpūraka.
Gajānana means “the elephant-faced one”. This name was spoken before the muni who himself had a trunk at his brow.
Sources
- Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 16–17