according to the exigencies of the situation. So is the case with Lord Ganesh. He is an
eternal God who took the physical form as the son of Shiva and Parvati when it was
required of him to do so.
Shiva and Parvati were not worshipping their son here, but that eternal God who
is revered by all the gods and is worshipped at the beginning of any religious
ceremony as one of the divine forms of Brahm, the cosmic form of the Supreme
Being.
It is narrated in Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, Chanda line no. 1 that precedes
Doha no. 323 that Lord Ganesh was worshipped at the beginning of the marriage
rituals of Lord Ram and Sita.øı0. ¡Á‚ Á’’Ê„ ∑Ò§ Á’Áœ üÊÈÁà ªÊß ̧ – ◊„UÊ◊ÈÁŸã„U ‚Ù ‚’ ∑§⁄UflÊß ̧H 1H
caupā’ī.
jasi bibāha kai bidhi śruti gā'ī. mahāmuninha sō saba karavā'ī. 1.
The great sages who were conducting the rituals of marriage had all the nuptial
ceremonies and rites associated with marriage that are mentioned in the Srutis (Vedas)
performed in great detail^1. (1)
[Note—^1 Refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, Chaupai line no. 8 that precedes Doha
no. 323 where we read that during the marriage ceremony of Lord Ram with Sita, the
priests had performed similar rites in accordance to established tradition.
Refer also to “Parvati Mangal”, verse nos. 130-132 where Tulsidas has narrated
the different steps of the marriage ritual in detail. These steps are narrated herein
below also in Chaupai line nos. 2-3 in brief.]
ªÁ„ U Áª⁄UË‚ ∑ȧ‚ ∑§ãÿÊ ¬ÊŸË – ÷flÁ„U ‚◊⁄U¬Ë¥ ¡ÊÁŸ ÷flÊŸËH 2H
¬ÊÁŸª ̋„UŸ ¡’ ∑§Ëã„U ◊„U‚Ê – Á„Uÿ° „U⁄U· Ã’ ‚∑§‹ ‚È⁄U‚ÊH 3H
gahi girīsa kusa kan'yā pānī. bhavahi samarapīṁ jāni bhavānī. 2.
pānigrahana jaba kīnha mahēsā. hiyam̐ haraṣē taba sakala surēsā. 3.
Girish (the king of the mountains and the father of the bride) held in his hands some
blades of the Kush grass (which is dark in colour, thin, quite hard, straight and pointed
at the end, and is used in all religious ceremonies), a little water, and the hands of his
daughter Bhavaani, and then formally handed her over to Lord Bhava with the
realisation that she was the eternal consort of the Lord^1. (2)
When Lord Mahesh (Shiva) formally accepted the hand of the bride by virtue
of the ritual known as “Paani-Grahan^2 ”, all the gods felt exhilarated in their hearts^3.
(3)
[Note—^1 The word “Bhavaani” itself means the consort of “Bhava” which is one of
the many names of Lord Shiva. Narad has already told him this fact earlier in
Chaupai line no. 3 that precedes Doha no. 98 herein above.
(^2) The word “Paan-Grahan” has two parts—viz. (i) “Paani” which means ‘water’,
and “Grahan” which means ‘to accept’. It’s a ritual whereby the bride’s father
formally transfers the responsibility of his daughter to the groom, and the latter
accepts it. The finer meaning of this ritual is that the father of the girl who had been
taking care of her till now, formally transfers this responsibility of her safety,
happiness and well-being to the groom who pledges to carry out his duty faithfully
and diligently for the rest of his life. This promise is made in front of the sacred fire