Ganesha and The Old Woman's Boon

Once there lived a little girl in a village. She often went to pay on the high swings tied on large tress near the village farms.

Once she saw a group of Sages praying to Lord Ganesha in form of a stone under a massive banyan tree on the other side of the farm. She joined them and began following them in their prayers. The girl became immensely touched by the devotion and glory of Lord Ganesha. She became worshiping Lord Ganesha everyday. She learned chants, hymns of Lord Ganesha.  She collected red flowes and 'Durva everyday and offered to the stone idol of Lord Ganesha everyday.

Days passed by. Years rolled by. The girl continued worshiping Lord Ganesha.  When she was in teens, she was married away in a nearby village. She continued her prayers and her faith was unbending. She was blessed with a son.

Years passed by. Her son was happily married. One day the woman's husband died due to old age. The woman was equally wrecked by age. However, she made prayers and offerings to Lord Ganesha everyday.

One year, the weather went bad. The winters became extremely chilly after unseasonal downpour. The woman was too old to bear the cold. She fell extremely sick. While she ailed, she remembered Lord Ganesha all the time, seeking forgiveness for not offering flowers and 'Durva to him.

Lord Ganesha was pleased by the old woman's devotion. That night as the old woman struggled against the wrath of weather, Lord Ganesha appeared before her. She woke up mesmerized by His divine presence.
Lord Ganesha said, "I am pleased by your selfless devotion. Ask me for a boon".

The old woman had spend all her life remebering Ganesha. She had no materialistic desires. She said, " O Great Ganesha, my life has succeeded by your divine appearance. However, I have no wishes to make".

Lord Ganesha smiled back and said, "Your devotion deserves a reward. Think and make a wish. Ask your son and daughter in law. Make a wish for them. I shall come back to you again".

Next day the old woman called her son and daugher-in-law. She told them about the miraculous appearance of Lord Ganesha and His desire to bless her with a boon. "Son, I have no wishes to make for myself. I have no clue what to ask Ganesha for. Tell me if I can ask for something for you".
The son replied, "Mother, ask Ganesha to bless our family with wealth and prosperity".

The daughter-in-law insisted, "Mother, ask Ganesha to bless you with a  grandson".

After his son went away, the ekman thought to herself, "Can I ask Ganesha for something better?" Her decided to see her neighbour and tell her about the appearance of Ganesha.

When the neighbour head the entire story from the old woman she said, "Your are old and ailing. Seek a boon that supports you in this age". The woman nodded thoughtfully and returned home.

The woman kept thinking about it a day through. It finally occurred to her, "I shall ask Ganesha sometimes which brings happiness to all - my son, my daughter-in-law, myself and even my neighbour".

Few days passed by. Lord Ganesha once again appeared before the old woman and asked her to express her wish.

The old thanked the benevolent God for reappearing and said, "O  Ganesha, grant me a long life, undiseased body, good sight, balance of mind and soul, great grandsons, wealth amounting to nine million, happiness and satisfaction to my family and salvation to me after I die".

Hearing this, the God raised his large trunk in blessing. He said, "O woman, you have robbed most of what I had brought today for you. Stay blessed". Lord Ganesha disappeared and the woman had all her wishes fulfilled in no time. She recovered from her illness soon. She came to be  blessed with a grandson and thus climbed the golden stair. The family was blessed with immense riches. They came to have large amount of gold, silver and money.

Ganesha and The Rice Pudding

In a far village there lived an old woman. She was weak and wrinkled. The woman lived with her daughter in law while her son lived in city to earn a living. The family was downtrodden and lived hand to mouth.  

The old woman was wrecked by her age. However she helped the family in chorus such as winnowing rice, harvesting crop, fetching water, feeding the lean cow the family domesticated, moulding and drying cow dung and so on. She was an ardent devotee of Lord Ganesha. She visited the Ganesha Temple everyday and offered prayers to the God. Her faith was unbending though her family faced hardships for sustaining. 

It is said that Lord Ganesha always takes care of her devotees.

One year on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi, Lord Ganesha was invited by the villagers for festivities and His blessings. The village people carried idols of Ganapati to their homes. They began worshiping Lord Ganesha. They offered various sweets to the loving diety and sang in His glory. 

Up in his abode Ganesha watched the people sing and pray. Ganesha was pleased to see them. He was elated as people sang 'Morya re, Bappa Morya re...'.

Now Ganesha is not just Intelligent, he is tricky too. So He decided to come to the Earth and bestow a boon to one who pleases Him in face! Indeed, Ganesha came to people in guise.

Here is what happened -

A little paunchy boy walked in the narrow lanes of the village. He wore a cotton garments and his head was draped with a lean cloth  tapestry. He carried some whole rice grains in one hand and a thimbleful of raw milk in the other.

He started his journey across the village from the most decorated house of the village which belonged to a wealthy merchant. The family had been offering rice pudding to Lord Ganesha as a part of ritualtistic worship. The boy stood before their door and called 'Mata, Mata, ...' (meaning respected mother).

The eldest female of the house came out hearing the voice. She asked the boy, "What do you want?".

The boy said, "Mata, here is some rice and raw milk please take these and prepare pudding for me using sugar from your house".

The woman said, "How can I prepare pudding from this much milk and countable number of rice? My family is busy in worshiping Ganesha and I have to be with them". Saying this the woman went inside.  

The boy went ahead. He kept going door to door asking people to prepare pudding for him. However no one bothered to take him seriously.

"Alas! This little boy is for keen to have the pudding made from his own rice", thought the old woman. She had been windowing wheat in her front yard while the boy went door to door asking people to prepare pudding. The old woman was allured by the innocence voice of the boy and smiled to herself. She finished with the winnowing and called the boy, "Come here little boy. I will prepare pudding with your milk and rice".

The boy was very happy. The old woman offered a small plate and a pot to the boy to place the rice and milk. But the paunchy boy argued, "Mata, this won't suffice. Get a big vessel".

The old woman thought that the boy was too innocent in understanding the real requirements. She smiled back and fetched a big plate and a large pot. However, the boy once again refused to place rice and milk in the plate and pit. He asked for bigger ones. The old woman who had been working since the early hours of the day was tired. She was got puzzled by the boy's 'tantrums'. However, she fetched the biggest vessel they had in the house. 
This time the boy gauzed woman's irritability and inspire of himself placed the rice in the bigger plate. He poured the milk in the larger pot only to let  a large about of it to overflow. SimilarlyThelarge amount of rice fell down the plate.

"O boy! How can your little palms carry so much ?", the woman asked in amazement. The boy smiled and said, "Mother, before I take the pudding meal, I have to take bath. Please prepare the pudding while I go to the river to take bath. I shall return and take the meal".
Before the old woman could respond, the boy rushed out of her muddy home and ran towards the riverside.

The woman took the rice and milk inside. She called her daughter-in-law Aabha and asked her to prepare the pudding from the milk and rice. She told her daughter in law, "Aabha, this pudding preparation is very unique. Donot taste it before the boy comes to eat it". The daughter agreed in principle.

She began preparing the pudding in a large vessel. After sometime, the milk began boiling. The fumes of milk mixed with rice and jaggery began spreading around. Aabha who had been sitting nearby was tempted. She took a small part of preparation in a spoon to taste it. 

The day passed by. It was twilight when the boy came bustling and jingling with joy. Seeing him back, he is woman cheered, "Son, where were you. The entire day has passed. The pudding has cooled down. Now come and eat the pudding".

The boy smiled and said, "Mata, I ate the pudding in the noon itself when Aabha tasted it".

The old woman was taken aback. She could hardly say anything. The boy said, "Mata, I ave come from a very far village. I cannot travel back during night. I am in fact too tired and want to sleep".

The old woman said in a low tone, "Son, my house has no bedroom. We sleep and cook in the same four walls. The jute strangled bed is old and tattered. However, it you want I can lay it for your to sleep".

The boy agreed. The old woman fetched the cot and laid it. Soon the boy fell asleep. His big belly laid against the bed as he snored. The woman also went inside and fell asleep.

In the middle of night, the boy woke up and cried, "Mataa, mother I got to pee. Where should I go?"

The old woman replied in the middle of her sleep, "There is no loo in the house. You can pee besides the yard wall".

The boy peed and went back to sleep. After some time the boy woke up again and called the old woman, "Mataa, I got to poo".

The old woman was distracted. She replied, "Son, house has no loo. You can poo in the courtyard. I shall clean it tommoriw morning".

The little boy pooed all over the place.

The night passed by. Next morning when the old woman woke up, she first went out to see the boy's well-being. However, she was taken aback to see the courtyard. The entire place glittered with gold bricks heaped up in uncountable number. There was a blissful environment all around. The air was filled with pleasing smell of fresh flowers. The flowers blossomed in different hues in the arms of leaves in various shades of green. There was no poo around!

The old woman was now sure that the boy was God Himself in disguise. She gratified Ganesha saying, "O Ganesha, I am so fortunate that you came to my house. I am fortunate that you gave me a chance to please me".

The old woman was reciprocated or her benevolence and generosity. She called her daughter-in-law to gratify Ganesha. They collected the gold believing it to be God's blessing. They became rich and prosperous. The old woman was soon blessed with a son. 

The Lifting of Sky

Long back in time, the Earth and Sky were married to each other. They lived very close to each other and the heads of creatures on the Earth touched the sky. There was no sun then. The moon gave the Earth light and heat. It helped life to sustain on the Earth.

The human beings were miniscule creatures then. They used rats for ploughing the fields. They grew vegetables and stood up on stones to reach them for plucking. But their heads kept banging on the low hanging sky as they walked and worked around.

The humans were very frustrated by this. It continued until one day the sky received a lasting kick from an old woman. Here is what happened.

It was fine morning. The moon shined and its silvery light spread all around. The birds were chirping on the tree. People woke from their sleep and began the chorus work.

An old woman lived in a small hut near the banks of the forest river. She was an ascetic and began her day by meditation and prayers. Before she began meditation, she cleaned her hut and then took bath. That day when the woman began cleaning, her hand hit the sky as she was sweeping. As she straightened up from stoop, her back hit the sky and then her head dashed the sky. The old woman who was already troubled by her age, was utterly frustrated. She could not contain her anger anymore. She gathered with all her strenght and powers, and gave a push to the sky. The sky flung away far from the Earth.

The humans were relieved a lot. They celebrated the change. But soon, the Earth began missing the sky. So she curved herself and met sky far away. Therefore we see the sky and Earth meeting far away.

A Pleasing Truth

Once Lakshmi, the Goddess of weath and her sister Jyeshthadevi, who is the Goddess of poverty had an argument over their appearances. Each of them claimed to be more furtherful than the other.

While the sisters were arguing, they saw a merchant coming their way. They paused and Goddess Lakshmi said, "Lets ask this merchant who is more beautiful". Her sister Jyeshthadevi agreed. 

When the merchant came across them the sisters stopped him and Lakshmi told him, "We are two sisters. My name is Lakshmi and I am the Goddess of wealth. She is my sister, Jyeshthadevi, the Goddess of poverty. My sister feels she more beautiful and adorable than I am. Can you tell who among us is more beautiful?"

The merchant knew that Lakshmi was far more beautiful and adorable than her sister. But he was stuck. He turned pale with fear - "How can I speak the truth !...?", he thought to himself. 

"If I tell Lakshmi is more beautiful than Jyeshthadevi, the later's fury would reduce me to poverty!", the merchant said to himself. He gathered his wits and thought further. 

After a short while, the man turned to Lakshmi and replied, "O Goddess Lakshmi, you appear adorable and beautiful than any other woman when you enter a house". 

Then the mn turned to Jyesthadevi and said, "O Great Jyeshthadevi, you appear so graceful and magnificent when you are leaving a house".

The Goddesses were pleased by the merchant's diplomatic reply. Both of them felt special and victorious. They both blessed the merchant. The Goddess of wealth said, " I shall always come to your home and remain adorable".

The Goddess Jyeshthadevi said, "I shall leave your home and remain adorable this way".

The merchant took a breath of relief as the Goddesses disappeared. He returned home happily and grew rich and prosperous in due course of time.