Lord Ganesha becomes the foremost worshipped deity
Each Devata was able and each wanted to be the first receiver of the oblations, the foremost worshipped before commencing upon any task and the matter reached Lord Shiva who was sitting at Kailash, away from every din, gracing the world with the Divine Shakti. Why were the Devatas desiring to be the foremost receivers of the prayers od SD, anyway? Well, after all, the Devatas were beings who had worked hard on their own inner self to bring forth the purity to be near the Divine! No doubt that each was capable yet a little desire they had made their minds skip an important thing.
To solve this question of being the first receiver of the oblations in SD, Lord Shiva came up with an idea of a competition- take a round of the Universe and come back to Kailasha and whosoever wins the race, would be considered the most capable to be the receiver of the foremost worship and oblation.
They all set out with their vehicles with full vigor. Some had owls, some lions, some donkeys, some peacocks and Devatas took off to win. The competitive spirit was high but none resorted to ill means or any cheating in any way, after all, they were the Devatas, the beings who were pure minded and pure hearted.
Among all, it was Lord Ganesha whose vehicle was a little Mooshak, a mouse. He was tiny, soft, timid and Lord Ganesha knew that he wont win the race anyway if he used Mooshak as a vehicle. So, Lord Ganesha, then a child, sat down in a corner swaying his trunk, thinking. On one hand was the command of his father, Lord Shiva, the sole creator of this Universe and on the other side was Mooshak, a poor mouse who possibly wouldn’t stand a chance of even completing the race, probably. The child Ganesha would dare not defy the words of Lord Shiva at any cost due to utter respect and he was compassionate to not put Mooshak on such a tedious task.
Crisis swayed in front of his eyes and he finally folded his own hands in utmost humility, bowed his head and did a circumambulation of Maa Parvati and Lord Shiva who were seated in front of Him and finally he declared, “Lord, I have finished the task and here I am standing before you.”
They looked at Ganesha, their child, with an eye of a question and the Lord Ganesha said- Dear Shiv-Shakti, you are the point source of the creation. Everything begins with you and ends with you. You are the creator, sustainer and dissolver of everything that there is. So, by doing a circumambulation of you, I have indeed done the parikrama of the universe which verily sprouts from you!
Lord Shiva looked at the child Ganesha offering a pranaam who was lying flat on the ground, completely submitting himself to the Lord of the Universe. Lord Ganesha didn’t care about winning or losing the challenge, he just cared about completing the task at hand without compromising on his compassion. Then, gradually, the devatas started returning back to Kailasha and were stunned on seeing the child Ganesh there as they had not seen him anywhere on the way at all.
Well, how could they? They were busy in the “challenge“ of the Universe while Lord Ganesha had submitted himself completely at the feet of the creator! And Lord Shiva declared Lord Ganesha the deity to be worshipped foremost before undertaking any task in SD!
Shive Vhishno ch shakto ch soorye mayi naradhipa
Yo bhedbuddhiryogah sa samyagyogo mato mama
Dear nareshwar, the being whose mind does not distinguish between Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, Maa Shakti, Lord Soorya and Lord Ganesha is the one who is capable of understanding and reaching me!
Here, Lord Ganesha indicates that He Himself takes up various forms.
to be continued…