8 - The birth of Ganesha 

Narayana said - On hearing the prayer of Parvati, Krishna the ocean of mercy appeared before her, who is invisible for all and difficult to get. 

Goddess Parvati visualised the form of Krishna in her mind devoted toward him, in the form of the lustre which was quite surprising. He was wearing a garland studded with jewels, a beautiful garland of rubies, the yellow garments purified by fire, the best of all and bestower of progeny; his throat was adorned with the garland of forest flowers, had a dark complexion, was adorned with ornaments, was clad in garments studded with gems, was of tender age, was clad in astonishing costumes decorated with sandalpaste, a beautiful serene smile on the face, putting to shame the lustre of the moon of the winter season, wearing a garland of jasmine flowers, placing the feather of a peacock on the head, surrounded by the cowherdesses, illumining by embracing Radha, lowering the glory of crores of gods of love, quite pleasant to look at, joyful and the one who bestowed the grace on the devotees. 

At the sight of the lord, the beautiful goddess Parvati desired in her mind to have a son like him. She was granted the boon at the same time, Krishna the lord of bestower of boons, was the form of lustre fulfilling the desire of all the gods and than disappeared from the same place. 

The gods then convinced Sanatkumara who was all merciful and returned Shiva and Parvati. Thereafter Durga, the adorable wife of the lord of the universe, distributed gems among the Brahmanas besides gold to the beggars and the bards. She served the presents and adored lord Shiva. 

The drums were beaten; the welfare songs were sung and arrangements for the devotional music were made in honour of the lord. Thus completing the vrata and giving away valuables in charity, Durga served food to all with a serene smile on her face. Thereafter, she also took food herself together with Shiva. 

She also served the fragrant betels with camphor to all and also herself took the same. 

Thereafter, the supreme goddess reclined on the beautiful bed made of gems with a bed-sheet of pure white colour, quite charming, filled with flowers and sandal-paste, kasturi and kumkuma, she retired to bed with Shiva. 

At that point of time in a part of Kailasa in the beautiful forest of sandal-wood, filled with fragrant flowers and a fragrant breeze, in which the hissing sound of black-wasps was being echoed and was the only place for the cuckoo to issue its sweet notes. Ambika went to the forest with Shiva. 

But at the time of the falling of the semen he was influenced by Vishnu who reached there in the form of a Brahmana at the gate of the pleasure house. 

О sage, the beggar had the form of a Brahmana who had dishevelled hair on the head with torn clothes, white teeth and was upset with thirst. 

The lean and thin fellow had applied the shining tilaka on the head and spoke in a grief-stricken tone. He appeared in quite a miserable condition. He was desirous of food and was quite weak and old and was moving with the help of a staff. He accordingly reached the door of pleasure house and he called for lord Mahadeva. 

Brahmana said - О Mahadeva, what are you doing? You protect a person like me who has come to take refuge under you. I am hungry after performing vrata for seven nights and feel quite disturbed. I went to have food. 

O Mahadeva, О lord, О ocean of mercy, what are you doing? I am quite old and thirsty because of being quite weak. You better look an old person like me. 

О mother, get up and give me the water of welfare besides food. О daughter of Himalaya, the abode of immense jewels, I have come to take refuge under you. You better protect me. 

О mother of the universe, come here, I am not out of the universe, I am suffering from lack of food and water inspite of my mother remaining there." 

О sage thus after hearing the grief-stricken words, Shiva got up and his semen fell on the bed instead of in the womb of Durga. 

Thereafter the terrified Parvati also clad herself in fine garments and accompanied Shiva up to the door. 

Shiva looked at the Brahmana who was quite poor, old and disturbed. His body was trembling. He was an ascetic disturbed and could walk bending his back with the help of the staff. His throat, neck and tongue were dried up and inspite of that he was bowing in reverence with great devotion offering prayers. 

The blue throated Shiva, listening to his nectar like words, spoke to him smilingly.

Shiva said - О Brahmana, О best of those well-versed in the Vedas, where do you live? What is your name? You tell me. 

Parvati said - О Brahmana, you have arrived here because of my fortune. Where from have you arrived, my life has been successful today, a Brahmana has arrived here as a guest. 

О Brahmana, the one who adores the guest he himself adores in the three worlds, the gods, Brahmanas and the teachers at the same place. 

The sacred places reside in the feet of the guest, a householder by washing his feet achieves the merit of receiving the water of holy places. 

Therefore, the one who adores the guest, according to his own competence, gets the merit of bathing in all the holy places and receives the dlksha of all the yajnas. 

He is taken to have performed all the great charities on earth. The one who adores the guest with devotion, 

All the merits described in the Vedas do not adoring the guest. 

Therefore, if a guest goes away from a house without adoration, his manes, gods, Agni and even teacher meet with disrespect and leave that place. 

He who does not adore the desired guest, attracts the sin of Brahmahatya. 

Brahmana said - О well-versed in the Vedas, you are well aware of the Vedic practices; therefore, you perform the puja as prescribed in the Vedas. О mother, I am suffering because of hunger and thirst. I have heard in the Vedas that the one who suffers from ailment, is hungry or resorts to fasting, decides to have things of his own liking. 

Parvati said - О Brahmana, what would you like to eat? I will serve you anything which is difficult to get in the three worlds. I can serve you the same food. Let my life meet with success. 

Brahmana said - О chaste lady, I have heard that for performing the vrata you have collected all types of the best of food. I have therefore, arrived here to consume various types of sweets. 

О chaste lady, I am like your son, you adore me after giving away the sweets which are difficult to get in the three worlds. 

О ascetic lady, there are five types of fathers described in the scriptures and the number of mothers is innumerable. The sons however, are of five types. This has been ordained in the Vedas 

The one who imparts knowledge, the giver of food, the one who protects others from danger, the one who gives birth and the one who gives away the daughter are the five types of fathers described in the Vedas. 

The list of mothers includes the wife of the teacher, the one who carries a child in the womb, the one who feeds with breast milk her child, the sister of the father, the sister of the mother, the step-mother, the wife of the son and the one who gives away food are called to be the mothers in the universe. 

There are five types of sons described in the scriptures which include the servant, the pupil, one who is brought up or adopted and the one who is born of one’s own semen and the one who arrives to take refuge. Out of these, four are as called Dharmaputras and the one who is born of one’s own semen, he inherits the property and riches. О mother, I am suffering from hunger and thirst, am quite old and have come to take refuge with you. Currently, I am an orphan son of a barren lady like you. 

You give me the fried round flour cakes, payasam, ripe fruit, many stuffs made of flour, stuffs made according to the time and the place, ripe cereals, svastika, milk, juice of sugar-cane and the stuffs made of it, besides ghee, curd boiled rice, the stuffs made or fried in ghee, the balls of sea-same, sweets of guda and all other stuffs which are unknown to me besides the sweets which are delicious like nectar and fragrant like camphor, in addition to the best of betels and spotless, clean and tasteful water. О daughter of the mountain, you make all these things available to me by eating which I should become a person with protuding belly. 

Your husband happens to be the lord of the three worlds and the creator of the three worlds, bestower of all the riches and you are yourself Mahalaksmi who can bestow all the fortunes. 

You bestow on me the firm devotion of the lord Hari together with a beautiful gem-studded lion-throne, ornaments studded with gems and invaluable garments purified by fire, the mantra of the god which is difficult to get, because you are the beloved of the lord and always remain there as his shakti. 

You also give me the knowledge of overcoming death because you are the one who provides pleasure and all the siddhis. Q mother, you can give everything to your son. О best of the ladies, I shall devote myself to dharma and tapas purifying my mind but I shall never enslave myself with worldly desires. 

One performs one’s deeds according to his desire and also has to face the result of the same. One has to face the reward of his deeds which are good as well as bad and result in pleasure and pain. 

О goddess, one neither gets pain from anyone nor pleasure. Whatever one has to face is the result of one’s own deeds, therefore, the learned people always remain unconcerned with the desire. 

One who adores the lord with his utmost intelligence and tapas, gets pleased after coming into contact with the devotees of the lord which ultimately results in removing all the karmas. 

Because the pleasure derived out of the combination of the pleasure of the organs of senses is short lived and the pleasure of the reciting of the name of the lord always remains present at all the times. 

О chaste lady, the life of those who recite the name of the lord never gets wasted, the time cannot overpower them nor can lord Shiva do so. 

In the land of Bharata, the devotees of the lord always have a long life and they achieved all the success and move about in all the places independently. 

The devotees of the lord preserve the memory in earlier births; therefore, they are well aware of the happening of crores of births who continue narrating these stories and they are reborn pleasantly according to their own wishes. 

They are always pure at heart and by their performance they purify even the sacred places where they go on roaming about to serve others. 

In a sacred place where the Vaishnavas stay up to the evening, the land gets purified with the very touch of their feet because a person in whose ear the mantra of lord Vishnu enters from the mouth of the teacher, the people well-versed in the ancient scriptures consider him to be as sacred as a holy place.

The devotees in the land of Bharata redeemed a hundred generations of their ancestors and a hundred coming generations without much effort. Similarly, the brothers, the mother, maternal grandfather and ancestors, of ten generations are redeemed together with the ten generations of the maternal grand mother. 

Those of the people who had an audience with the devotees or embraced them, earn the merit of all the holy places and receive diksha of all the yajnas. The devotees who always remain engrossed in the devotion of the lord and never get involved in any of the sins which are like fire which consumes everything but the wind remain unaffected by it. 

One gets the human birth after three crores of births and after having crores of births, a human being comes across the company of the devotees. О chaste lady, by coming across the devotees, the seed of devotion is sprouted which dries up at the sight of unbelievers. 

But it blossoms again after conversation with Vaishnavas because only such of the sprouting remains intact and grows in every birth. 

О chaste lady, when this tree grows up a person achieves the slavehood of the lord and thereafter when the devotion is placed on firm footings, he becomes the courtier of the lord. Then such a person survives at the time of great dissolution when even Brahma and the entire globe vanishes. This is definite. 

О mother, therefore, you bestow on earth always the devotion of the lord. О illusion of Vishnu, without your grace one cannot achieve the devotion of the lord. 

People adore you or perform your tapas, vrata or puja for the sake of education, because you are the one who bestows the reward on all the people. Besides, you are everlasting and eternal. 

In every kalpa lord Krishna happens to be your son in the form of Ganesha and he is shortly coming in your lap. Thus speaking the Brahmana disappeared from the scene. After disappearing from the scene the lord changed himself into the form of a child and he entered the bed of Parvati and was soaked in the semen of Shiva and he started looking like a just born infant and started looking at the peak of the palace. 

He had the complexion of pure jasmine flower, the lustre of crores of moons, pleasant to look at by all, the one who increases the eyesight, having extremely beautiful body which could put even the god of love in fallacy and had the face of the shining moon of the winter season. Both his eyes were beautiful and could put the lotus to shame. His beautiful lips could put the ripe wood-apple to shame; he had quite charming cheeks and his head and his nose could put the beak of the parrot to shame. Thus he was having beautiful limbs and was moving his hands and feet on the bed. 

Parvati said - О extremely old Brahmana, you were quite hungry; where have you gone? О father, О illustrious one, you appear before me and save my life. О Shiva, get up at once and search for the Brahmana. He appeared before us for a moment only. О lord, the householder from whose house a hungry and thirsty guest goes away without adoration, the life of the same house-holder becomes of no consequence. 

Because the manes do not accept the offering the pindas and offerings made in fire from his hands. The gods also do not accept the flower and water offered from his hand.