Vinayaka Chaturthi

Each month of the year has two Chaturthi Tithi. The Chaturthi that falls in the Shukla Paksha (waxing phase of the moon) after Amavasya is celebrated as Vinayaka Chaturthi. Thus, Vinayaka Chaturthi occurs every month, but the most significant Vinayaka Chaturthi, known as Ganesh Chaturthi, falls on the Chaturthi Tithi of the Shukla Paksha in the month of Bhadrapada, as this is the auspicious day on which Lord Ganesha was born. Additionally, the Chaturthi in the Shukla Paksha of the month of Magha is observed as Ganesh Jayanti.

Lord Ganesha is Siddhi Vinayaka, the bestower of success. He has many forms, but his most iconic form is the one with an elephant head, a single tusk, and ears as beautiful as winnowing fans, holding a noose and goad in his hands. Anyone who worships or observes a fast for this form with true devotion receives the fulfilment of all righteous desires.

Lord Shiva himself has stated in the Shiva Purana that Lord Ganesha is the first to be worshipped. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva declared that any person who worships them before worshipping Lord Ganesha will not receive the fruits of their worship.

Story of the birth of Ganesh ji: -

According to Ganesh Purana, when Shaunak ji asked about the character of Ganesh ji, Sut ji while describing him said – Mata Parvati ji had two friends. Jaya and Vijaya. Both of them were very beautiful, intelligent, virtuous and sweet-spoken. Mata Parvati respected him a lot. One day those friends requested Mata Parvati ji and said - Friend! There is no devotee of our own, hence there should must be one of our own devotee .

When her friends said this, Mata Parvati said with surprise - What are you saying, friend? We have crores of devotees, who are ready to immediately follow orders. Then what is the need for any other devotee.

The friends said- All the devotees belong to Lord Shiva. They consider his orders as the most important. Nandi, Bhrungi etc. who are called ours, they also consider God's orders as supreme. If you give any order and Lord Shiva disobeys that order, then no one will follow your order. If you ask, they will definitely be told some pretext or the other.

Parvati ji thought for a while and then said - 'Can any of these first ganas disobey my orders?

While explaining to Parvati ji, her friends said - 'No one among the first group of ganas is ours, they all are soldiers of Lord Mahadev ji. By the order of Lord Shiva, they have been appointed to protect us and take care of all our work, so please create a personal devotee for yourself.

Mata Parvati accepted the advice of her friends but had not yet implemented this suggestion. That thing remained there, and over the course of a few days, she gradually forgot it.

One day early in the morning, Mata Parvati was going to the bathroom to take bath. He ordered Nandi, " If anyone comes, stop him." And then she went inside. Then Lord Shankar came from somewhere and started entering inside. Nandishwar stopped him and prayed, “ Mata” is taking bath, so please stay here.

On this Shiv ji said- Hey, let her take a bath. I have very important work. Thus, ignoring Nandi's words, Lord Shiva went straight to the bathroom.

On the sudden arrival of Lord Shiva, Mata Parvati, who was taking bath, became extremely shy. Shiv ji also went away silently without saying anything. Then, after taking bath, Parvati started wearing clothes and started thinking that Jaya and Vijaya's suggestion was right. I ignored him in vain. If any of my personal devotee were present at the door, he would not have allowed Shiv ji to enter the bathroom easily.

Nandi disrespected my orders. Now it seems that I do not have complete authority over all the devotees, therefore there should be such a devotee over which I have complete authority, which never ignores my orders, which will be my own. Those who are members of Lord Shiva, obey me only on the orders of Lord Shiva, but my personal devotee will obey only on my orders.

By thinking like this in her mind, she removed the turmeric paste from her extremely pure body and created a conscious man from it. Which was well equipped with all the auspicious characteristics. He was flawless in all aspects, possessed of exemplary beauty, his appearance was unique and shining, he was extremely powerful and mighty.

Mata Parvati gave him many types of clothes, many types of jewellery and many wonderful blessings and said – ' You are my son. Be my own. There is no one else as lovely as you here. ' When Parvati said this, the child greeted her and said.

Ganesh said- ' Mother! What work has come to you today? I will complete it as per your order. ' When Ganesh asked this, Parvati ji said while answering her son.

Parvati ji said - Tat! You are my son, my own. So, you listen to me. From today you become my Guard. Son! No one should enter my palace without my order, no matter where he comes from or who he is.

Saying this, Parvati gave a very strong stick in Ganesha's hand. At that time Parvati was filled with joy after seeing his beautiful form. She kissed her son's face with utmost affection and hugged him to her chest. After this, Parvati ji installed Ganesha with a stick at the door. Then Parvati Nandan Mahavir Ganesh started guarding the door of the house with a stick in his hand as per the orders of Mother Parvati. On the other hand, Parvati appointed her son Ganesha at her door and started bathing herself with her friends. At the same time, Lord Shiva, who is very adept at creating many types of pastimes, arrived at the door.

Ganesh did not recognize Shivji, hence he said – ' Dev! You cannot go inside right now without mother's permission. Mother has sat down to take bath. Saying this, Ganesh took the stick in his hand to stop them. Seeing him doing this, Lord Shiva said - ' Fool! To whom are you stopping? Don't you know me? I am Shiva only and no one else.

Then Mahadev's followers came there to convince him and remove him and said to Ganesha - Listen, we are the main guards of Lord Shiva and have come here to remove you on the orders of the omnipresent Lord Shankar. We did not kill you considering you to be a Guard, otherwise you would have been killed long ago. Now the smart thing is to move away yourself. Why are you unnecessarily inviting your death? Even after saying this, Ganesh ji remained standing there without any fear. He rebuked the Shiva's guard and did not leave the door. Then all those Shiva's guard went to Lord Shiva and narrated the whole situation to him. Hearing all these things from them, Mahadev, the wonderful Leela vihari Mahadev, who is the creator of the world, started scolding and reprimanding those guards of his.

Maheshwar said- 'Guards! Who is this? Who is being so arbitrary and talking like an enemy? Drive this new guard away. Why are you people standing like cowards and telling me his news? ' On being told by Lord Shankar, the creator of strange pastimes, the Guards returned there again. Thereafter, when stopped again by Ganesha, Lord Shiva ordered the Guards to find out, who is he and why is he doing this ? The Guards found out and told that ' He is the son of Shri Parvati Mata and is sitting as a gatekeeper. ' Then Leela-Roop Shankar wanted to perform a unique Leela and also wanted to spoil the pride of his Guards. Therefore, he called the Guards and the deities and made him fight a fierce battle with Ganesh ji. But none of them could defeat Ganesha. Then Maheshwar himself came holding a prong in his hand. Ganesh ji remembered the feet of Mother, then Shakti gave him strength. All the deities came in favour of Lord Shiva and a fierce battle took place. At last Mahadev ji himself came and cut off the head of Ganesh ji with a trident. When Mata Parvati ji received this message, she was filled with anger and by manifesting many powers, she ordered to cause destruction without thinking anything. Then the powers started creating havoc. That blazing light of those powers ignites all directions. Seeing him, all the devotees of Shiva got scared and ran away and stood away.

At the same time Devarshi Narad reached there. The deities were very happy with Narad ji's arrival there. Then Narad ji bowed to Shankar ji along with Brahma and other deities and said that everyone should think together on this matter. Then all those deities started consulting Narad ji as to how this sorrow could be reduced. Then he decided that unless Mata Parvati blesses him, he would not be able to attain happiness. Now it is useless to think further in this matter. With such faith, all the deities and sages including Narad went to deity to appease her anger and started pleasing her. Lovingly pleasing him, he praised him with many hymns and repeatedly paid obeisance at his feet.

Devarshis said- Jagadambe! Greetings to you. Shivpali! I salute you. Chandike! May you receive our greetings. Kalyani! I salute you again and again. Ambe! You are the original power. You are the creator, maintainer and destroyer of the virtuous world. deity! Your anger is troubling the whole world, so now be happy and calm down the anger. deity! We bow our heads at your feet.

stood in front of Chandika very politely and restlessly with folded hands. Chandika (Parvati) became happy after hearing such words from him. Her heart was filled with compassion. Then she said to the sages, O sages! If my son comes alive and is considered revered among you, then there will be no massacre. There can be peace in the world only when you all together give him the post of 'Sarvaadhyashya’, otherwise you cannot get happiness.

Hearing this from Parvati, all the sages came to those deities and told them the whole news. Hearing this, sadness appeared on the faces of all the deities with Indra.

He went to Shankar ji, bowed at his feet with folded hands and requested for all the news. After listening to the deities, Lord Shiva said - ' Okay, we should also do the same, so that all the worlds get happiness. Saying this, Lord Shiva ordered the deities to go towards the north and cut off the head of the first creature they found and attach it to the torso of this child. After this, the deities who followed the orders of Lord Shiva completed the entire work. They washed and wiped the child's body and worshiped it duly. Then they went towards north. There he first found a tusk elephant. They brought his head and attached it to the boy's torso.

After connecting that head of the elephant, all the deities bowed to Lord Shiva and said that we have completed our work. Now whatever is left to be done, you guys should complete it. Then all the deities and councillors were very happy to hear such words from the deities regarding the observance of Shiva. Thereafter, all the gods like Brahma, Vishnu etc. bowed to their Lord Shankar in formless form and said - ' Swami! May the same glory of the Mahatma from whose womb we all were born enter into this child with the recitation of the Veda mantra.

In this way, all the deities together blessed the water with Vedic mantras, then remembering Lord Shiva, sprinkled that pure water on the child's body. As soon as the water touched the child, he voluntarily became conscious and came alive and sat up as if he was sleeping. That lucky boy was very handsome. His face is like that of an elephant. The colour of the body was green red. Happiness was playing on his face. His figure was very beautiful, and the glow of his beauty was spreading. Seeing that child alive, everyone presents there became happy and all their sorrows went away. Then everyone became very happy and showed the child to Parvati ji. Parvati ji was very happy to see her son alive. This is how Lord Ganesha appeared. One who listens or reads this character of Shri Ganesh ji, Shri Ganesh removes the obstacles coming in his auspicious works and both the listener and the speaker get success in their works.

Method of worship: -

On the Chaturthi of Shukla Paksha each month, one should take a bath in the morning and resolve to observe the fast by making a vow to a deserving Brahmin or a suitable person. If possible, one should make an idol from metal, coral, or white clay and perform its consecration. If this is not feasible, then one can worship the idol regularly used at home with various divine fragrances, modak (sweet dumplings), sandalwood, and flowers with devotion.

After this, perform the worship of Lord Ganesha with incense, lamps, various offerings, betel leaves, arghya (offering of water), and other sacred substances. Praise Lord Ganesha and pray for the fulfilment of your desires. By performing Lord Ganesha's worship in this manner and then giving charity to the needy with full devotion, a person’s wishes are completely fulfilled.

Importance of fasting: -

In this way, those who complete this fast attain their desired results. Those who worship Lord Ganesha daily with devotion, according to their capacity, see all their wishes fulfilled. People should worship Ganesha with offerings like vermilion, sandalwood, rice, and Ketaki flowers, among other items. Those who worship with such various offerings and devotion are freed from obstacles forever and their endeavours are always successful.

All people, especially women, should certainly perform this worship. This fast is also essential for kings who seek prosperity. Whatever a person desires, they are sure to attain it through this fast. Therefore, anyone who has a specific desire should definitely observe this fast. Due to the power of this fast, the childless receive children, the poor gain wealth, the unmarried find a spouse, the ruler gains subjects, the sick attain health, and the unfortunate gain good fortune.