In the mean time, the pen He used for writing down the verses, began to wear away. Aware of His earlier condition, and not finding out any other alternative, the Lord pulled out his left tusk and used it to complete writing the great epic Mahabharata.
It was a full moon that night. As he was riding, his mouse saw a snake and ran behind the bush. Ganpati fell to the ground and his stomach broke open.
Ganpati started to put the food back in his stomach. The moon god saw him and started laughing loudly. Angered by this, Ganpati pronounced a curse on the moon God and before cursing moon theew his one tusk on Him and broke Him in two pieces. Frightened by the curse, the moon God started pleading for mercy. Also if anyone sees the moon on my birthday, he or she shall not attain moksha liberation. The moon God kept quiet. After Ganpati had finished putting the food in his stomach, he took the snake and tied it around his belly.
Then he continued going back home. We tend to think that we end when our bodies end in the material world. We are the first person. All else is different. This duality is created by the mind which creates the ego to help us survive in this world. But he used one trick against Lord Ganesha. After few shlokas, Veda Vyasa used to say a very tough one that Lord Ganesha would take some time to understand.
Due to this Veda Vyasa would get some time and would make new shlokas. Lord Ganesha was writing the story so fast that the pen broke suddenly.
As per his agreement with Veda Vyasa, he could not pause, and neither could ask him to pause. How was he to continue writing without a pen? But Lord found a quick solution; he broke off one of his tusks and start writing again with his tusk.
This was the written story of Mahabharat and Lord Ganesha also came to be known as Ekadanta — The Lord with the single tusk! That is the reason Lord Ganesha is seen in most of the pictures with only one tusk and the broken tusk in his hand. There is also another story behind the broken tusk that is of Parshurama. From the excerpts of Upogatha Pada of Brahmanda Purana, Parashurama, the axe-wielding incarnation of Vishnu, had sucessfully defeated his enemy Kartavirya Arjuna and the kings allied with him, and so he wanted to thank Shiva for giving him the power to fight these enemies.
Parashurama was enraged that he was being prevented from seeing Shiva, and so he started fighting Ganesha. This legend was a popular teaching story to inspire focus and concentration; and its iconic reminder in daily life was the broken tusk on all Ganesha idols. Another myth about the tusk that I saw danced out in Thailand in December occurs in the Brahmanda Purana.
It was taught to the young to instil absolute obedience. Parashurama or Rama of the Axe was Lord Vishnu's sixth avatar, believed to have never really gone away but to still be meditating on Earth in a secret cave in the mountains.
Lord Shiva had given Parashurama the axe to help him complete his mission. When Parashurama's task was over, he made his way to Mount Kailash where Shiva lived, to return the axe and thank him.
But at the mystic mountain, he found his path blocked by Ganesha. Lord Shiva had ordered his son to guard Mount Kailash against all visitors, since he was about to go into a long, deep trance and did not want to be disturbed.
Parashurama, a Shiva-bhakt, was so furious at being blocked by Ganesha that he threw the axe at him. Ganesha could have easily deflected the axe. But since it belonged to his father, he did not stop it, out of respect, and let it break his tusk. It is intriguing to think how these ancient stories animated so many minds across space and time, and continue to do so.
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