Once, when Lord Shiva had gone on a long journey to Mount Kailash, Goddess Parvati desired a son whom she could trust completely — a child who would be entirely her own and guard the door of her chamber while she bathed. She took the turmeric paste from her own body, shaped it into the form of a beautiful boy, and breathed life into him. She named him Ganesha and declared him her son.

One day, Parvati asked Ganesha to stand guard at the entrance and let no one in while she bathed. Ganesha obeyed faithfully. Just then, Lord Shiva returned home. He was stopped at his own door by this unknown boy. Shiva asked him to step aside. Ganesha refused, explaining that his mother had commanded him to allow no one through. The attendants of Shiva — the ganas — tried to remove the boy, but Ganesha fought them all back with great courage and strength. One by one, Brahma and Vishnu came and urged Ganesha to step aside, but he refused them all too, for he knew only his duty.

At last, in the battle that followed, Shiva severed the boy's head with his trishul. When Parvati emerged and saw her son lying lifeless on the ground, her grief was beyond measure. She revealed the truth of Ganesha's origin to Shiva. Overcome with remorse, Shiva commanded his ganas to go north and bring back the head of the first living creature they found sleeping with its head facing north. They returned with the head of a strong single-tusked elephant.

Shiva himself placed the elephant head onto Ganesha's body and restored him to life. He embraced Ganesha as his own son, declared him Pratham Pujya — the first to be worshipped before all other gods — and conferred upon him the leadership of all the ganas, making him Ganapati, the lord of hosts. From that day forward, no auspicious work begins without first worshipping Lord Ganesha.

On the auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturthi, Lord Ganesha was riding his vehicle — the small mouse — returning from the feast of the great sage Kubera. He had eaten so many modaks and sweet offerings that his large belly swayed from side to side as the mouse trotted along. Suddenly, in the darkness, the mouse stumbled and Ganesha fell to the ground. As he fell, his belly split open and all the modaks he had eaten spilled out. Calmly, Ganesha gathered them all back, placed them in his belly, and used the serpent Vasuki as a belt to hold his belly together.

The Moon, Chandra, who was watching all this from the sky, burst into open laughter at this sight — the mighty elephant-headed god tumbling from his little mouse, his belly splitting, and composedly tying himself up with a snake. He laughed long and mockingly, amused by what he considered an undignified spectacle.

Ganesha, whose divine wisdom saw through the ego of the Moon's vanity and pride, was displeased. He pointed at the Moon and declared: "You who are filled with pride over your own beauty and radiance have laughed at one who is worthy of reverence. You shall be cursed — whoever looks at the Moon on Ganesh Chaturthi night shall be falsely accused of a crime they did not commit."

The Moon, immediately realising his error, fell to the ground in repentance and begged forgiveness. Gods and sages interceded on the Moon's behalf. Ganesha, who is Vignaharta — the remover of obstacles — is also compassionate. He modified the curse: the Moon would wax and wane eternally, never remaining at his full brilliance. And the one antidote to the curse of seeing the Moon on Chaturthi night is to recite or hear the story of the Syamantaka jewel from the Bhagavata Purana, which narrates how even Lord Krishna was falsely accused — and was eventually exonerated.

One day on Mount Kailash, a magnificent divine fruit arrived — a single fruit of supreme quality, said to bestow all knowledge, eternal youth, and immortality upon whoever ate it. Both sons of Shiva and Parvati — the swift Kartikeya and the wise Ganesha — both desired it. Their parents, unable to decide whom to give it to, decided to hold a contest. Whoever could circle the entire universe three times and return first would receive the fruit.

Kartikeya, proud of his magnificent peacock vahana which could fly with the speed of thought, immediately set off at tremendous speed, circling the three worlds — the heavens, the earth, and the underworld — with great swiftness.

Ganesha, riding his humble mouse, sat quietly and thought deeply. Then he rose, walked to his parents Shiva and Parvati who sat together, and with great reverence and devotion, circumambulated them three times, bowed at their feet, and stood smiling before them.

When the judges asked what he had done, Ganesha replied: "You, my parents, are the universe. You contain all the worlds within you. My father Shiva is the lord of all creation and dissolution, and my mother Parvati is the primordial energy that animates all existence. One who contains the universe is greater than the universe itself. By circumambulating you three times with love and reverence, I have circled the universe completely."

The sages and gods assembled there were struck speechless by the wisdom of this answer. Shiva and Parvati were overwhelmed with love. They awarded the divine fruit to Ganesha. When Kartikeya returned, breathless from his journey through all the worlds, he found his younger brother had already won. At first he was angry. But when he heard the explanation, even he could not deny the profound truth in his brother's answer.

After the Kurukshetra war, the great sage Veda Vyasa possessed within his mind the complete knowledge of the Mahabharat — the greatest epic ever conceived, containing eighteen Parvas and one hundred thousand shlokas. But the task of writing it down was immense. No ordinary scribe could keep pace with Vyasa's divine speech, for his mind moved faster than any hand could write.

Brahma, the creator, appeared to Vyasa and advised him: "Only Lord Ganesha, whose mind is as swift as thought itself and whose hand never tires, can write what you dictate. Seek his aid." Vyasa meditated on Ganesha with great devotion. Pleased, Lord Ganesha appeared before him.

Vyasa asked Ganesha to be his scribe for the Mahabharat. Ganesha agreed, but on one condition — that Vyasa must dictate without pause. If the sage stopped even for a moment, Ganesha would put down his pen and the composition would end there forever. Vyasa accepted, but added his own condition — Ganesha must understand the meaning of every verse before writing it, and must not write what he did not understand.

Thus began the great writing. Vyasa dictated swiftly but whenever he needed a moment to compose his thoughts, he would speak a complex or profound verse with many layers of meaning — which Ganesha would pause to contemplate, giving Vyasa the time he needed. In this way, the Mahabharat was composed and written together by the divine wisdom of Vyasa and the divine swiftness of Ganesha.

During the writing, Ganesha's pen suddenly broke. Realising that if he stopped to find another pen, Vyasa's dictation would pause and the condition would be broken, Ganesha without hesitation broke off his own right tusk and used it as a pen to continue writing without a moment's interruption. This is why Lord Ganesha is known as Ekadanta — the one-tusked — and why his broken tusk is always depicted in his hand or placed before him.

Kubera, the lord of wealth and treasurer of the gods, was filled with pride over his immense riches and his status as the wealthiest being in all the three worlds. To display his generosity, and perhaps also his power and magnificence, he invited all the gods to a great feast in his magnificent golden city of Alakapuri. Lord Shiva declined but sent his son Ganesha in his place.

When Ganesha arrived, Kubera was initially pleased — he had prepared the finest foods of all the three worlds. But as Ganesha began to eat, something extraordinary happened. He ate everything on the table. Then everything in the kitchen. Then the entire feast that had been prepared for all the assembled gods. Then he began eating the vessels and furniture of the palace itself. Still hungry, he started eating the walls and pillars of the palace. Kubera watched in horror as his magnificent palace began to disappear into the stomach of this child-like god. Ganesha then looked at Kubera with calm, mild eyes and said, "I am still a little hungry. Perhaps you have some more?"

Kubera fled in panic to Mount Kailash and prostrated before Lord Shiva. "Ganesha is eating everything," he cried. "What have I done wrong?" Shiva smiled gently and said, "Kubera, you prepared that great feast out of pride and to show your wealth — not out of love and devotion. Ganesha, who is the embodiment of divine consciousness, was not satisfied because there was no love in the food. Return to him with a small bowl of simple rice cooked with love and devotion, and offer it with a humble heart." Kubera returned, with tears of genuine understanding, and offered Ganesha a simple bowl of pongal — a simple rice porridge. Ganesha ate it and was immediately satisfied. His hunger was completely gone.