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The Story of Shiva and the Goddess Ganga

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Shiva bronze statue

Bronze statue of Lord Shiva bringing the Goddess Ganga down to the earth in his matted hair

Most of the images and sculpture of Lord Shiva depict the River Ganga flowing from his matted hair. As with all symbols within Hindu iconography there is an interesting tale behind Shiva and the Hindu goddess Ganga. According to Hindu mythology, there was a powerful king in India named Sagar. He decided to conduct Ashwamedha Yagya, a horse sacrifice, to declare his supremacy over the gods. The king of Heaven, Indra grew jealous of King Sagar and decided to steal the ritual horse. Indra successfully abducted the horse and tied him in the ashram of Sage Kapil, who was silently meditating for many years. King Sagar ordered his 60,000 sons to search and find his sacrificial horse. After a long search they found the horse tied at the ashram and began assaulting the great sage thinking he was the culprit who stole the horse. The sage awoke from his trance and in his anger started to destroy all the sons of king Sagar who were accosting him. Anshuman, the grandson of King Sagar, pleaded for forgiveness. The sage told him that he could save his life by bringing the sacred river Ganga down from the heavens to purify the souls of him and his ancestors and help them to attain nirvana.

King Dilip, son of Anshuman pleaded with Lord Brahma to help them bring the Ganga to earth. He failed to appease Brahma so he passed the task to his son, Bhagiratha. Bhagiratha was able to please Brahma, who ordered Ganga to descent to Earth. The furious Ganga felt this as an insult and decided to destroy Earth with her force while descending from heaven. Bhagiratha was warned by Brahma that earth will not be able to hold Ganga while descending from heaven, so he must seek the help of Lord Shiva, the only one who can withstand the power of Ganga. Bhagiratha pleaded with Lord Shiva to help him and Shiva agreed to receive Ganga in his matted locks. Ganga was arrogant and tried to drown Shiva by pushing him to the core of the earth, but the mighty Shiva easily held her in his locks.   Shiva’s tie was so strong that Ganga became helpless.

Lord Shiva wanted to teach Ganga a lesson, but instead released her in seven streams as he was satisfied with the prayers of Bhagiratha. The seven streams of Ganga are Bhagirathi, Janhvi, Bhilangana, Mandakini, Rishiganga, Saraswati and Alaknanda. Ganga became calm and followed Bhagiratha, who lead her to his ancestors and with her purity, released their souls.
There are a number of legends associated with Ganga and the different names she has at different places. This is but one.

Ganga is considered to be the most sacred river in India and it originates from the depths of Gangotri glacier. Ganga, otherwise known as Ganges, brings purity to human life. By bathing in her sacred waters one is purified to the core of their being.

Bhagiratha’s great effort in bringing Ganga to earth is known as “Bhagiratha Prayatna”. What would you consider to be the noble quality of Bhagiratha – his strong affection to his ancestors or his determination to meet any challenges to attain the ultimate goal?

Quotes about the Hindu God Ganesh

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Hindu God Ganesh quotes
“O, Elephant Faced One!
You are so near
and we are far from You.
You are in and we are out;
You are at home, while I’m a stranger.
Yet, You have destroyed my egoity.
I shall sing Your Praise forever
and lay my garland of songs at Your feet.”
Saint Nambiandiyadigal

“His four arms stand for His immense power in helping humanity.  The noose and goad borne in two of His hands stand for His all-pervasiveness and grace.  The broken tusk held in the right hand shows that He is the refuge for all.  His huge belly is indicative of His tolerance and also signifies that all things, the entire Universe, are contained in Him.  His feet stand for the bestowal of siddhi and buddhi, attainment of desires and knowledge.  The modaka (sweet goody) in His hand is symbolic of jnana, conferring bliss.  His mount, the shrew, represents the worldly desires which are to be overcome.”
M. Arunachalam, Festivals of Tamil Nadu

“He is worshiped with red flowers.
 Unfailing, merciful, the origin of the worlds,
 He appears at the beginning of creation, alone, beyond Nature, beyond the Cosmic Person.
 He who meditates on His form
 becomes great among the yogis”
Ganapati Upanishad

In sculpture the position of Lord Ganesh’s trunk has a symbolic meaning.  If the trunk turns to the Ganesh’s left, that is the direction for success in the world.  It is a position associated with grihastas, or householders.  To his right, the trunk represents moksha, good for renouncing the world.  When one chooses a Ganesh sculpture that is proper for their own spiritual path the trunk position is one thing that is good to keep in mind.

“In heaven Lord Ganesh will establish the predominance of gods, on earth that of people, in the nether world that of serpents and anti-gods”
~A Hymn from Sri Bhagavat-Tathva~

“Shiva asked his two sons, Kartikeya and Ganesh to circle the world and return.  Kartikeya hurried off on his peacock but Ganesh simply walked around Shiva and Parvati.  He explained that for him, his parents constituted the world.  Shiva granted him a boon, saying that before undertaking any important task people would pray to Ganesh.”

“If you take home a stone and worship it in full faith, over a course of time you are bound to see the image of Ganesh.”

In the comments section below you are welcome to add any other prayers, quotes or sayings about Lord Ganesh that you may know.  We will add them to the page as they are posted.