Grass for Ganesha

Ganesha is the god of beginnings. This elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati is the most lovable of all the gods in the Hindu pantheon. The devout invoke his name before they begin anything—a journey, an exam, a new home. He is also the remover of obstacles—Vigneswara, the one who solves all the knotty problems of humankind.

Unlike the other gods, Ganesha is easy to please and will come to the aid of his devotees without much ado. All you need to do is offer him a bit of durva grass every day. Want to know why? Then read this story.

In the abode of Yama, the god of dharma and death, there was born a demon by the name of Analasura. When he stood up his head touched the sky, when he spoke the world trembled, and when he opened his eyes, they emitted a fire that burned everything he looked at.

Analasura, like all wicked asuras, went about wreaking havoc and destruction everywhere—the earth and the heavens. In Indian mythology, asuras are divine beings who tend to be evil, while devas are divine beings who tend to be good. But remember, there are always exceptions to any rule!

Indra, the king of devas and god of the heavens, tried to battle Analasura several times but he was no match for the powerful asura. Along with the sages, and the other gods, Indra then went to Mount Kailash to seek the help of Shiva who listened to them patiently and called his son Ganesha, who was playing nearby. ‘Son, these people need your help. There’s an asura who is up to no good and you alone can defeat him.’

‘Yes, Father,’ said Ganesha and immediately set out to find the wicked asura. When Analsura saw the chubby, little boy with the elephant’s head approach, he roared with laughter. What were these fools thinking sending a tubby boy? With that villainous laugh, the ground shook and Analsura’s eyes shot fireballs burning everything around him.

A smiling Ganesha, walking towards him, began to grow in size and soon, he towered over the surprised asura who was, as you know, a very tall fellow. Then in one gulp, Ganesha swallowed the asura whole!

No sooner did he swallow the asura than Ganesha’s stomach began to burn as if he had eaten a whole plate of very hot chillies. Hot, hot, hot! Poor Ganesha was in great discomfort and could neither sit nor stand.

The gods became anxious too. After all, it was their fault that the poor boy was in this mess! Varuna, the god of water, rained down all the waters from the oceans to cool the fire but it didn’t help. Indra then got the moon to adorn the sweating forehead of the hapless Ganesha but that didn’t help much either.

A worried Shiva tied a thousand-headed serpent around his son’s tummy to offer comfort, much like a cold compress, but that didn’t make a difference either. Then a group of sages arrived with twenty-one blades of durva grass each, which they had collected from the Kailash Mountains, and offered them to Ganesha. As soon as he ate the grass, the burning in his stomach stopped.

‘Ahhh . . . That feels much better!’ Ganesha’s face broke into a smile. ‘Thank you so much, wise rishis! Know that from now on, nothing in the world will please me more than a blade of this durva grass.’ The sages were indeed wise. Do you know that this grass is actually used as a cure for indigestion in Ayurveda?