Curse to Chandra and Shyamantaka jewel

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Curse to Chandra

After one year, the first anniversary of Ganapati's coronation was celebrated.

On that day, a special type of sweet dish (which was very dear to Ganapati) was

offered in every household. Ganapati's belly, which was quite big further

swelled after consuming the offerings. In the evening, when he wanted to

prostrate before his parents, he found it difficult to touch his forehead and

the feet simultaneously, because of his bloated abdomen. However much he tried,

he could not perform the Sashtaanga Vandana (a traditional posture which

involves touching eight parts of the body simultaneously while prostrating).

Seeing this, the moon, adorning the head of Lord Shiva giggled.Immediately,

Ganapati's stomach burst open and he collapsed on the ground, lifeless. Parvati

was furious now. She said, Chandra, your crooked eyes caused my beloved son's

belly to burst. Your face is most inauspicious. May those who see your face

become victims of false allegations.

Two undesirable incidents had taken place in quick succession. Immediately all

the angels, including Brahma assembled there. They realised that there was no

respite unless Parvati was pacified. They pooled all their energies together

and fastened Ganapati's belly with a serpent and infused fresh life to Him.

Parvati was now happy. The angels collectively prayed to Parvati. O Divine

Mother, hitherto your son was the combination of the energies of Shiva and

Shakti. He was Adipoojya (one who is worshipped first). But now, he is the

agglomeration of all energies. Worshipping him will amount to worshipping all

the Gods. Although the childish behaviour of Chandra brought about an unhappy

incident, eventually it has turned out to be beneficial to Ganapati. But what

about your curse? Because of your curse, no one dares to look at the moon. It

is impossible for people to live without seeing Chandra, who confers a rare

kind of coolness. Therefore, O! Divine Mother, please forgive Chandra by

withdrawing the curse

Parvati thought for a moment and said, What you are saying is true. But it is

not good to withdraw the curse completely either. Therefore, the curse

continues to apply to only those who see the moon on the fourth day of the

bright half of Bhadrapada month. I hereby limit the curse to that extent.The

angels were relieved to a great extent.

It is said that anyone who looks at the moon on the night of the Ganesh

Chaturthi will be falsely charged with theft or a similar crime. If someone

inadvertently sees the moon on this night, he/she may remedy the situation by

listening to (or reciting) the story of the syamantaka jewel

Shyamantaka Gem/ jewel

Towards the end of Dwapara Yuga, Lord Vishnu incarnated as Sri Krishna and was

ruling the empire of Dwaraka.During that time, a person called Satrajit, who

was a great Upasaka (worshipper) of Sun God lived in Dwaraka. Soorya, pleased

by Satrajit's tapas, presented him with a gem stone called Shyamantaka. With

the help of this precious stone, Satrajit started producing huge quantities of

gold everyday. His wealth and fame increased day by day.

One day Narada came to visit Sri Krishna. In the evening, Narada said that he

had to return and sought Krishna's permission. Sri Krishna asked him why he was

in such a hurry. Then Narada said, Today is the fourth day of the brighter half

of Bhadrapada. On account of Parvati's curse, those who see the moon today will

become victims of false allegations. I would like to return to the celestial

world before moonrise.

Sri Krishna notified about Parvati's curse in his kingdom and advised his

subjects not to see the moon that day. He also remained indoors. It was evening

time and the children in the palace had to be given milk to drink. But there was

no milk in the kitchen. Sri Krishna himself had to go to the cowshed to fetch

milk. He walked carefully with his head bent down in order to avoid seeing the

moon. While he was milking the cows, he accidentally saw moon's reflection in

the milk pot. Krishna became perturbed by this and returned to his palace with

a disturbed mind.

Many days passed and Krishna forgot the incident completely. Krishna, who held

the financial portfolio, came to know about Satrajit and his magic stone. He

summoned Satrajit to his court one day and said, Why don't you give that gem

stone to me so that I can use it for the welfare of my subjects? What made Sri

Krishna to ask for it was beyond everyone's comprehesion. Satrajit flatly

refused to part with the precious stone.

One day, Prasena, the brother of Satrajit went to a forest for hunting. He was

wearing this gem stone at that time. Many days elapsed and he did not return

from the forest.

Satrajit became sad and said it would have been good if I had given the stone to

Sri Krishna. Because I refused then, Krishna has killed my brother for the sake

of the bead. Surprisingly, everyone seemed to believe him.

Gradually people started to spread this allegation levelled against Krishna.

When Krishna came to know about this, he immediately concluded that this false

allegations was because of the fact that he had seen the moon on the forbidden

day. How to come out of this crisis? He had to find a way out.Sri Krishna set

out to search Prasena and went to the forest. During his search, he found

Prasena's horse lying dead. He also spotted a lion's foot marks near the dead

horse. He followed the trail and came near the lion's cave, where he saw the

dead body of Prasena. The gem stone was not there on his body! He continued to

follow the foot marks of the lion. After a while, he saw even that lion lying

dead. There were signs of a fierce fight between the lion and a bear in that

place. Now he followed the foot marks of the bear. It lead him to a cave.

Krishna asked his men to wait outside and entered the cave all alone. The

inside of the cave looked like a big palace. There, in a corner he saw

a woman singing lullaby and a baby sleeping in the cradle. The lullaby was :

Simhah prasenamavadheet simho jaambavataa hatah

Sukumaraka ! maa rodih tava hyesha shyamantakahtc "Sukumaraka ! maa rodih tava hyesha shyamantakah"

(Meaning : The lion killed Prasena. Subsequently, the lion was killed by

Jambavanta. Dear child, don't cry. This Shyamantaka gem is all yours now)

Hearing these words, Sri Krishna came to know everything. When he heard the name

Jambavanta, some hazy memories came to him.The woman, seeing the intruder,

screamed loudly.

Immediately, a huge bear came roaring and pounced upon Krishna. The two fought

fiercely. After waiting for 12 days, Krishna's men who were waiting outside

concluded that Krishna had died and returned to Dwaraka. Krishna's relatives

heard about this, their grief knew no limits. They bagan preparing for the

final rites for Krishna.The citizens of Dwaraka, after coming to know the real

cause of Prasena's death, started blaming Satrajit for the false allegation he

had made against Krishna.The fight between Krishna and Jambavanta continued for

21 days. Jambavanta, who was very old, started losing and finally cried out Rama

! Rama and fell at the feet of Krishna and said, O! Lord, You are none other

than Rama. I am Jambavanta, your servant during the past Yuga. During that

Yuga, I had once expressed a desire to have a one-to-one fight with you. You

had then said that it was not proper to do so then and that you would grant my

desire during the subsequent incarnation. You have done so

now and you have successfully demolished my ego. To fulfil my desire, you have

incarnated again. I beg for your mercy and forgiveness.

Sri Krishna then appeared as Rama and Jambavanta was overjoyed with nostalgia.

Krishna caressed Jambavanta's body. All of a sudden all the injuries that

Jambavanta had sustained during the 21 day fight disappeared and Jambavanta was

free from pain now.Jambavanta surrendered the Shyamantaka Mani to Krishna. He

also gave his daughter Jambavati to Him and accorded a respectful farewell to

him.

By the time Krishna returned to Dwaraka with his new wife Jambavati, his

relatives had already started his last rites. Seeing Krishna, all his relatives

jumped with joy and pleasant surprise. Krishna called for an emergency meeting

of His ministers and other important people and in their presence, handed over

the Shyamantaka gem to Satrajit. Now Satrajit put his head down in shame. He

also trembled at the fact that he had become Krishna's foe. He was sure that

the people on the street outside would chide him for his act. He thought for a

while and sent a message to saying that he would give his beautiful daughter,

Satyabhama to Krishna. Krishna agreed instantaneously. During the marriage,

Satrajit gifted the Shyamantaka gem to Krishna. But Krishna politely refused.

Narada, who was present at the marriage ceremony pleaded to Krishna thus :

Lord! By seeing the moon on the forbidden day (fourth day of Bhadrapada), even

you had to suffer the curse. Because of your immense power, you not only came

out of the embarrassment, but also earned two more wives. But what about

ordinary human beings? Is it fair to undergo humiliation just because one sees

the moon? You should do something about this.

Krishna closed his for a while and said, Narada, I am hereby passing a statute

today. Those who worship Ganapati on the day of Bhadrapada Chaturthi (fourth

day of Bhadrapada) and listen to the episode of Shyamantaka Gem and how I

became acquitted of the false charges, will not suffer this curse even if they

accidentally see the moon on that day.

Thus the curse executed in the celestial world influenced Lord Vishnu on earth

and eventually the day of Ganapati's coronation assumed great importance.

Vishnu, who has played key roles in each and every stage from the Gajasura

stage to removal of curse has indeed conferred more prominence to Ganesha

phenomenon.

This in short is Ganapati's story.

As mentioned before, it is full of symbolic episodes and contains pieces of

history from the celestial world. Bhagavan Vyasa has clearly stated that

because of the difference in Kalpas (see below for the meaning of Kalpa), there

will be minor differences in the history.

Krita-Treta-Dwapara-Kali yugas (eras) put together make 43,20,000 years. This is

one circle. Thousand such circles constitute the daytime (half day) of Brahma.

It is called as one kalpa. After this period, Brahma rests for exactly the same

duration. That is His night. With His dawn, creation begins afresh. That is

Brahma's second day, the second Kalpa. Creation takes place almost similarly in

all the Kalpas. There may be minor differences.

Puranas contain stories pertaining to several Kalpas. In addition to this, they

also contain narration of episodes in a symbolic manner. This is the reason why

there is minor difference in the story of Ganapati in different Puranas. Let us

take a look at the Ganapati story found in different puranas in brief.

Padma Purna

When Parvati created an idol with flour (used for bath), the idol took the form of Gajanana .

Brahma Vaivarta Purana

Parvati performed a ritual called "Punyaka Vrata" and begot Vinayaka. Because of

the evil effect of Saturn, the child lost its head. The angels then fixed an

elephant's head and infused life in to the child. (This story is from a

different Kalpa)

Linga Purana

Parvati's son took birth sporting an elephant's head. In order to cause

hindrance to the activities of the demons, he was made the leader of obstacles.

 

Shiva Purana

The name of the child created by Parvati is Dandapani. He was beheaded by Shiva

Himself. Later, Shiva travelled north and brought the head of an elephant,

which was sleeping with its head towards north. He fixed the head to the

beheaded child. (This story compares with the story of Ganapati narrated above.

But there is no mention of Gajasura. This may be due to the change on account of

the difference in Kalpa)

Ganesha Purana

Ganapati himself cursed Chandra. We see similar description in Skanda Purana

also.(This pertains to a different Kalpa). According to Ganesha Purana,

Ganapati's form is different in different Yugas.In kreta yuga -HE has lion as

his vehicle and sports eight hands..In Treta yuga- He has peacock as his

vehicle and has six hands..In Dwapara Yuga- He has elephant head and two

hands.. In Kali Yuga -He has two hands and is white in colour..Om Shree

Ganeshaya Namah..

Deepa H debu7366

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