201
See also: Brahma creates the cosmos 200 ■ The game of dice 202–03 ■ The
Ramayana 204–09 ■ Durga slays the buffalo demon 210S
hiva, the destroyer god, was
married to the goddess
Parvati, who balanced out
his warlike tendencies. Parvati
desperately wanted a child, but her
husband did not. When he told her
this yet again, Parvati decided tohave a bath, and told the guards to
prevent anyone from entering. As
Parvati washed, she formed the dirt
on her skin into a child, which
came to life. Still bathing, Parvati
told her new son to guard the door.
When Shiva tried to access his
wife’s chamber, he was blocked by
a young man, who refused to let
him pass. “Do you know who I am?”
Shiva asked. The boy said that did
not matter—his job was to guard
his mother’s door. “Your mother?
That makes me your father,”
bellowed the angry Shiva. Parvati’s
son still wouldn’t let him past, so
Shiva lost his temper and chopped
off the boy’s head.
Parvati’s heart was broken. She
demanded her son be brought back
to life, or she would transform from
Gauri (the creative goddess) into
Kali (the destructive goddess). Shiva
ordered his goblin attendants, the
ganas, to bring back the head of the
first creature they could find, which
was an elephant. Shiva placed
the animal’s head on the boy’s
shoulders, and his son was reborn.
Shiva named him Ganesha. ■ASIA
SHIVA PLACED THE
ELEPHANT’S HEAD
ON THE TORSO AND
REVIVED THE BOY
THE BIRTH OF GANESHA
IN BRIEF
THEME
A god rebornSOURCE
Shiva Purana, Anonymous,
750–1350 ce.SETTING
Mount Kailash, in the
Himalayas.KEY FIGURES
Parvati Consort of Shiva
and goddess of fertility; a
form of Shakti, the divine
creative force.Shiva The destroyer in the
Hindu Trinity (Trimurti):
Brahma (the creator), Vishnu
(the preserver), and Shiva (the
destroyer).Ganesha The elephant-
headed god; remover of
obstacles and patron of
scribes; wrote down the epic
Mahabharata from the sage
Vyasa’s dictation.The elephant-headed god, Ganesha,
is often pictured riding on a rat. In
this 19th-century watercolor by an
unknown Indian artist, he is also
playing the dhola (double drum).US_200-201_Brahma_Ganesh.indd 201 06/12/17 3:01 pm