“VINAYAKI!!!!!”
Vinayaki’s ears extended, her hand stopped mid-air as she was reaching for another modak.
“It is Mata Parvati’s call. I hear some major trouble in her voice.” Vinayaki sprung up from her relaxed cross-legged posture. Her pot-belly falling on the feet of her vermillion coloured body. She blew a conch held in her left hand to assure Parvati that she was on her way.
As she reached the spot, she saw Mata Parvati in a perplexed state.
“What is the matter, Mata? What can be the cause of worry to a Supreme Shakti like you?” inquired Vinayaki, bowing down to pay her reverence.
Speechless, Parvati’s head turned towards the left, eyes 45 degrees. Just then, standing akimbo, with hands-on her toned hips, Vinayaki saw Shiva appear in his gigantic form. In his outstretched right arm, he held his Trident like a trophy with an impaled Asura Andhak on it, nearly touching the sky. The drooping body was oozing blood drops like rain. Vinayaki let out a burst of satisfactory laughter to warn everyone against laying their lustful eyes on Mata Parvati, anyone doing so
deserved no other death than this.
Andhak had misused his blessing of immortality bestowed by Lord Brahma, forgetting Brahma’s words, “Anyone born has to die. If ever he harboured lustful feelings towards a motherly figure, his death will be inevitable.” Having become immortal, Andhak had expanded his empire by inflicting cruelty on asuras and devas as well. And now that as he had tried to abduct Parvati to marry her, he
rightly deserved a bloody death.
“Now that the beast is dead, why is Mata Parvati still worried?” Vinayaki thought as she ambled around.
Squeezing her eyes, she bent a little and immediately stamped on an ant-like creature crawling on the ground. It wasn’t an ant, but a tiny replica of Andhak. Furthermore, to her astonishment, she noticed every drop of Andhak’s blood falling on the ground birthing another Andhak. Vinayaki, swift yet steady, with the weight of her heavy body began stamping on Andhak’s miniatures. Being the goddess of wisdom, she could assess that the situation couldn’t be dealt with alone.
“Mata! Please call for the other sister Shaktis,” she requested Parvati.
By now she had also figured out that the only way to stop the birth of more Andhaks was to stop the blood drops from falling on the ground. Swinging down her Parshu, she axed these numerous creatures, crushed them under her feet, and simultaneously rolled, twisted and extended her trunk to quickly suck in the blood drops.
“No, don’t Vinayaki! What if the blood of this brute infects you?” Parvati tried to stop her.
“I am the feminine energy of Lord Ganesh. He is a Dev Mata. Birthed by you. These little bad-blood drops cannot harm me. You please don’t worry. Immediately summon the other Shaktis.” In a flash, Indrani emerged as Indra’s Shakti, Vaishavi as Vishnu’s Shakti and Brahmini as Brahma’s Shakti. Watching Vinayaki in her courageous deed, they exchanged a look of pride. Vinayaki, the Vighanharta (remover of obstacles) had yet again wisely resolved the problem. Following her, all the Shaktis swirled like a cyclone around Shiva, and in no time, drank every blood droplet until the Asura ran out of blood. At last, Vinayaki blew aloud the trumpet of victory.
“Har Har Mahadev!”
Known by the names of Ganeshani, Gajanani, Ganeshwari, Gajamukhi, and Vigneshwari. Vinayaki is an elephant-headed goddess. Her iconography and mythology are not very clear due to the lack of written scriptures. Though associated with the name of Lord Ganesh, she is not his consort but an independent Shakti herself. The feminine energy of the lord of wisdom. Vinayaki is also seen as a part of the 64 yoginis or the Matrika goddess in various Puranas. Every month, the fourth day after the new moon is observed as ‘Vinayaki Chaturthi’. Since her stories were mostly oral, they were lost over time. Her birth and origin are also unknown. The artist Mahen Chanmugan who focuses on paintings of Lord Ganesh says that “the earliest evidence of a female Ganesh or Vinayaki is a weathered terracotta plaque from Rairh in Rajasthan, which dates back to the first century.” Various other temples in Karnataka, Orissa, Kanyakumari and the East also have sculpture representing the female avatar of Ganesha.
Written By Monica Gupta
