How Lord #Ganesha hoodwinks the mighty #Ravana #ChildrensStories

 

Ravana was the mighty king of Lanka. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Once his mother wanted him to pray to Mahadev and procure the Atmalingam for worship in Lanka.

Ravana at once set out to Kailas. He prayed fervently and performed great penance. Lord Shiva was very pleased with his devotion. He appeared before him to bless him and grant him a boon.

Ravana said, “Mahadev, please give me the Atmalingam to take with me to Lanka.”

Shiva was taken aback, but since he was pleased with his devotee and had promised to grant him a boon, he said, “Ravana, I will give you the Atmalingam on one condition. You have to walk your way to Lanka and not place the Lingam on the ground even for a few seconds on the ground. If, by any chance, you do keep it down anywhere on the way, the Atmalingam will get rooted to the earth there.”

Ravana agreed to the condition. He was quite confident that he could carry the lingam all the way to Lanka.

He accepted the Atmalingam from Mahadev and walked away. Seeing the mighty Lankesh with the powerful Atmalingam held close to his chest, the Devas were scared. They knew that if Ravana succeeded in his mission of installing the Atmalingam in Lanka, he would become almost invincible.

They rushed to Mahavishnu praying for a solution. Mahavishnu knew that only the wise Lord Ganapati was capable of handling this situation. He accompanied the Devas and narrated the sequence of events. He and the Devas then humbly requested Lord Ganesha to find a solution.

Ganesha thought for a moment. He said, “Don’t worry. I know the importance and power of the Atmalingam. And also I know that the mighty King of Lanka can misuse its power. So I will find a way to prevent him from taking the lingam to Lanka.”

The Devas were relieved. Lord Ganesha took the form of a Brahmin boy and appeared on the shore of the sea with a few cows. As per their plan, Mahavishnu shut the rays of the sun with his Sudharshana Chakra to make it seen as though it was sunset.

Now, Ravana was a devout Brahmin and would not skip his prayer rituals at any cost. Thinking that the sun had almost set, Ravana arrived at the sea shore wanting to perform his Sandhyavandhanam. He could not do sandhyavandhanam with the Atmalingam in his hands. And he could not place it on the floor too.

He was in a dilemma. At that moment he saw the Brahmin boy with his cows. Thanking his stars, he approached the boy and requested him to hold the lingam for a few minutes while Ravana performed his ritual.

The boy agreed but said, “Oh Mighty King, I will hold the lingam in my hands for a little while, but as you can see, I am a little boy. If I feel its weight to be too much for me to hold, I will call you three times. You have to come immediately and take it from me. Otherwise I will keep it down.

Ravana agreed. As soon as he went into the sea to bathe and perform Sandhyavandhanam, the Brahmin boy, who was actually Ganesha in disguise, called out his name thrice in quick succession. Before Ravana could come out of the water and reach him, he had already placed the Shivalingam down.

Ravana was furious. He tried to lift it from the ground but it did not move. He turned angrily towards the boy but the boy had already vanished taking the cows along with him. Just then, Mahavishnu removed the Sudarshana Chakra and the sun's rays fell again on earth. Ravana understood that he had been tricked. Deeply aggrieved, he tried his best to lift the Atmalingam, but he failed miserably. In frustration, he threw the pieces of outer covering in three different places. The lingam was now in the shape of the ear of a cow. 

Realising that his efforts were futile, Ravana prayed to Lord Shiva and named the Atmalingam as Mahabaleshwara , the all powerful God. He then proceeded to his kingdom. The Devas were all in praise for Lord Ganesha, who had wisely hoodwinked the mighty King of Lanka, Ravana.

Even today, the Atmalingam is worshipped as Mahabaleshwara at Gokarna in Karnataka. Gokarna incidently means the ear of the cow.

The pieces of the covering of the Atmalingam which were flung away by Ravana in fury turned into Lingams instantaneously and are worshipped as  Dhareshwara, Gunavanteshwara, Murdeshwara and Shejjeshwara. These five holy places are together called the Pancha Kshetra.