Hinduism Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for followers of the Hindu religion and those interested in learning more about Hinduism. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
Every one knows the story of Lord Ganesha, how he got Elephant head but one doubt comes to my mind,
I am not criticizing, I have less knowledge in Hinduism so just like to know the reason.
it is because of lord shiva's boon to elephant demon GAJASURA...
read the story below...
The demon Gajasura (also knows as Nila ) was a friend of Andhaka's. Nila took the form of an elephant and attacked Shiva, but was killed by one of Shiva's attendants. Two representations of Shiva from this battle, often combined, are Shiva Andhakasuravadha (impaling Andhaka) and Shiva Gajasamharara (dancing on Nila's decapitated head or underneath his butchered skin).
Gajaharamurti is said to have been sent by sages of Darukavana to kill Siva for seducing their wives as Bhikshatana. Siva killed the elephant and opened his head.
Another story of Gajasura explains that the rakshasa called Gajasura was an ardent devotee of Lord Siva who underwent penance for many years to receive special boons. Siva, who is easily pleased by prayers, was moved by Gajasura's devotion, and offered a boon. Gajasura asked Siva to reside in his belly, and Siva agreed.
Meanwhile on Mount Kailash, Parvati was anxious to know the whereabouts of her husband and finally approached Lord Vishnu for help. Vishnu disguised himself in the form of a street player along with Nandi, Siva's bull carrier, and the two set out in search of Shanker (Siva). In Gajasura's kingdom, Nandi performed a dance to please the demon. In thanks, Gajasura let Siva out of his stomach, but prayed that he would be allowed to be immortal in the memories of people. To fulfill this wish, Lord Siva severed Gajasura's head and freed him from the cycle of birth and death. He carries the head along with him.
On Mount Kailash, Parvati comes to know of Vishnu's victory and is very happy. She creates a doll out of the dough that she uses in her bath, and calls him Vinayak - the one who puts off all obstacles. This boy having never seen Siva, prevents his entry into the palace. In a fit of fury Shiva beheads the boy and enters the palace. Parvati is unaware of the happenings and receives Siva with warmth, for he had returned after a long period. During the course of their conversation, Siva mentions the incident at the palace gates and tells her about severing the child's head. Parvati is shocked to hear the news and pleads with Siva to bring the child back to life for he is like a son to her.
Shiva who had with him the head of Gajasura, immediately puts it on the torso of the dead child, thus bringing him back to life and blessing him with a boon that the entire world would worship him in remembrance of that day.
sources : http://www.harekrsna.com/philosophy/associates/demons/siva/gajasura.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gajasura
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gajasurasamhara
Note : Lord shiva is Trikaldarshi, he knows everything.. what happened, what is happening and what will happen..
The trideva always tried not to play with the rules which they embodied in the system. They always had a strict notion, to follow the rules. The best example being, whenever any one of them was angry or not happy with how the rules are making things happen and wanted a sudden change, the other two would console the one to not to do the same, as the universe is a string with bodies connected, a small string moved will change how the universe behaves.
Believe me, there is no magic, people ask such things as that is a simple thing to do and in a jiffy it can be done, however powerful you are you cannot restrain the laws created by the trinity, neither the trinity themselves. Everything in every book, we see even the trinity is helpless in many cases, because they always need to find a way to fight the problem where their own laws are not hindered.
Why wasn't Lord Shiva who is so powerful god able to put back the original head of Ganesha? Why was he so helpless?
Coming to Lord Ganesha, there are many rare points which people don't know.
Why couldn't Parvati create another Ganesha like how she had created earlier?
It's not about new creations, she's a mother, and she had to have a mother's feeling in her. Ganesha being Parvati's son, when he died, it implanted a huge amount of pain and anger in Parvati's heart, this pain cannot be undone, it's a binding of a mother to the child, a universal law, which cannot be ruled out or bluffed. Every mother can give birth to a new child that doesn't mean she should stop lamenting on her dead child, a dead child is like loosing a part of your soul and it can be understood only by a mother, men are feeble creatures in that. Afterwards, Parvati did have another child.
Note : I cannot provide scripture references as I don't remember much. Secondly, my knowledge is limited to things I listened from Gurus and a general logical understanding.
Thank you for your interest in this question.
Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).
Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?
