The First to be Worshipped – Prathampujya Ganesh

The First to be Worshipped – Prathampujya Ganesh

A story of how Ganesh, through his wisdom, creativity, and selflessness, became the first to be worshipped among all the gods.

The Decision to Choose the First One to be Worshipped

Goddess Parvati had told Ganesh that in order to control his hunger, he must meditate and worship his father daily before eating his food. Ganesh did so regularly. Once, all the gods decided that they had to appoint a god who would be Prathampujya – the one who would be worshipped first before everybody else.

But who among them should be chosen for the position? Should it be Indra, the king of gods, or Surya, the brightest among them, or Vayu Dev, the Wind God, or Varun Dev, the God of Water, or Kartikeya, the Commander of the divine forces, or Ganesh, the God of Intelligence and the most auspicious of them all?

To decide the matter, all the gods went to Lord Shiva. It was decided that all the gods would undertake a trip around the entire universe. The god who came back first from the trip would be declared the 'first one to be worshipped' – Prathampujya.

The Race Around the Universe

All the gods lined up to begin the race – Indra on his elephant, Kartikeya on his peacock, Ganesh on his mouse, and other gods on their various mounts. When the race began, all the gods raced ahead on their respective mounts. However, since Ganesh's mount was a mouse, he couldn't catch up with the others. Soon, Ganesh and his mount were lagging behind. His mount gave up trying to race ahead.

Ganesh Maintains the Balance

Ganesh realized that since Vayu Dev, Surya Dev, Chandra Dev, and all the other gods were out on the trip, the balance of the universe had been disturbed, as none of the gods had thought about who would carry out their work during their absence. Ganesh decided to do something about it. He went about maintaining the balance in the universe.

The Return of the Gods

Just as he had put it into place, both Lord Shiva and Parvati came up to him and asked him what he was doing there. Ganesh replied that he was maintaining the balance of the universe in the absence of the gods. He then asked Lord Shiva and Parvati to be seated at their place. Then he began his worship of Lord Shiva.

The Surprise Announcement

When all the gods had returned, a hot debate began among them as to who had reached first. Kartikeya arrived first, followed closely by Indra. To everyone's surprise, Lord Shiva declared Ganesh the winner of the competition.

Pearls of Wisdom

1. Why did Lord Shiva say that Ganesh was first? What were the two other reasons?

Lord Shiva had smiled when Ganesh had gone around Him and Parvati. He knew that Ganesh was doing so because for him, his parents were the whole universe. Thus, Ganesh was the first to finish his trip around the universe. Secondly, Ganesh also did two important things:

• In the absence of the gods, he went beyond the call of duty and maintained the balance of the universe.
• Obeying what his mother had told him, he had completed his worship of his father too.

2. What is the moral of this story?

Unlike the other gods, Ganesh was not power-hungry. He was creative and intelligent. Through his actions, he achieved three things at the same time. With creativity, intelligence, and prudence, all problems in the world can be solved.

🌟 Moral of the Story: With creativity, intelligence, and prudence, all problems in the world can be solved. 🌟

Disclaimer: This story is based on Indian mythology and is shared for moral education and value-based learning. All content rights belong to their respective sources. Please contact us for any concerns.