Week 11 Storytelling: The Tale of Ganesha's Head

Long ago...there were two gods, Shiva and Parvati. One day Parvati went to Mt. Kailesh for a bath and didn't want to be disturbed. She ordered Nandi to guard the doors and not let intruders inside. Shiva returned home and demanded Nandi to open the doors. Obediently, Nandi let her in and Shiva was furious because Nandi was more loyal to Parvati, so they decided to create a son (Ganesha) to guard the doors. However, Shiva decapitated Ganesha's head by mistake when she realized that he was not an intruder. In order to fix the mistake, she sent people out to look for a head facing north. From there they sacrificed an elephant's head and replaced it on Ganesha...

"Oh my goodness, what have I done?! My poor son, why didn't he speak up?! I had made such a terrible mistake... I ripped my son's head off and he is not breathing!" said Shiva.

"Parvati! Parvati! Please go and send people out and look for a new head! NOW! Poor Ganesha is not breathing and he must live!" said Shiva.

"It is you who made this mistake. How could you thought our son was an intruder?! Were you blind?! Did you not check to see who it was before slaughtering someone's head off? Is your bath THAT important that you can't have any distractions? I am telling you right now Shiva... you make this mistake again and Ganesha and I will leave you." said Parvati.

"I am sorry my love, I had made this horrible mistake but we must go and save our son now. Lets send our army out and sacrifice a new head for our boy!" said Shiva. 

"No, our army is too weak. We will send out Brahma, for he is the powerful creator and will surely help us find a head for our son!" said Parvati.

Shiva, Parvati, and Brahma searched far and wide for the perfect head. The head must be special and face north. They searched far and wide but still there was not a perfect head. Brahma continued his journey to find a head. While Parvati and Shiva rested under a tree. There Brahma spotted an elephant facing north. 

"This is perfect! I will cut that elephant's head off and give it to Shiva and Parvati!" said Brahma.

Brahma slowly approached the elephant. The elephant woke up from his nap and realized Brahma was staring at him. Then Brahma started to attack the elephant. The elephant made a loud noise and started to stop everywhere. Brahma dodging away from the elephant finally climbed up to a tree and used his bow and arrow to shoot at its back. The elephant shrieked and he climbed down from the tree and onto the elephant and used his knife to stab its heart. The elephant cried and fell on the ground. Brahma began to cut the elephant's head and rushed back to Parvati and Shiva.

"I've got the head now! Let's go and bring Ganesha back to life!" said Brahma.

The three gods rushed back and found Ganesha's body on his bed. They placed the head back on Ganesha and waited...All of a sudden Ganesha opened his eyes and gasped for air. Ganesha had finally come back to life!

Shiva and Ganesha: Ganesha's new head

Author's Note: The topic I chose for the story is about how Ganesha got his head. I thought that was an interesting part of Buck's version of the Mahabharata. The first paragraph I did a short summary of how Ganesha was born and the why Shiva decapitated Ganesha's head off. This time I did not write the story in anyone's perspective but how the story went. I emphasized how sorry Shiva was for cutting her own son's head off. As a parent she felt horrible for her mistake. So Shiva and Parvati asked Brahma for help. I also stated how angry Parvati was with Shiva and threatened to leave her if she made the same mistake again. I'm not quite sure if that was true in the actual myth but I decided to make it more dramatic that way. In the end, Brahma was able to find the perfect head for Ganesha and everyone was happy again that Ganesha came back to life.

Bibliography: William Buck, Mahabharata