Note 121 — Chapter II · HEROIC GODLINGS

Ganpati or Ganesh, about whose origin the traditional legends prevail, is represented with four hands, in one of which he holds a kamandalu (a gourd), in the second a lādu (or a sweet-ball), in the third a parashu (or an axe), and in the fourth a jap-māl (or a rosary). He is sometimes called Dundalo (lit., big-bellied) because of his having a protuberant belly. He puts on a yellow garment and rides a mouse. His brother is Kārtik-swāmī who rides a peacock. His favourite dish consists of lādus or sweet-balls of wheat-flour fried in ghi and sweetened with molasses. Siddhi and Buddhi are the two wives of Ganpati. Before their marriage their father Vishwarupa had made a promise that he would bestow the hands of both on whomsoever circumambulated the whole Earth within one day. Ganpati reasoned that a cow and a mother are equal in merit to the Earth and by passing round the former, he got the hands of both. Ganpati is said to be the fastest writer of all, so that the sage Vyāsa secured his services as a scribe, at the instance of Brahmā, in writing the Mahābhārat. When Rāvan had conquered all the gods and made them serve in his household, Ganpati had to become a cowherd and to look after cows and goats.121