The story behind Angaraki Sankashti

The Angarika Chaturthi (angarak in Sanskrit means "red like burning coal embers") devotees believe their wishes will be fulfilled if they pray on this auspicious day. The fast of Sankashti Chaturthi is generally started from the day "Angarika Sankashti Chaturthi". Significance: Angarika Chaturth (???????? ???????) is a Sankashti Chaturthi falling on on the fourth day of the Krishna Paksha (the dark lunar phase or the waning fortnight of the Moon), is considered highly auspicious among all Sankashti Chaturthi days. Sankashti Chaturthi (??????? ???????), also known as Sankatahara Chaturthi, is an auspicious day dedicated to Lord Ganesha.

What is the story behind it? According to the legend, Angarak, the son of Mother Earth (Bhu or Bhooma Devi) and Bharadwaj Rishi, an accomplished Rishi and a great devotee of Lord Ganesha. He worshipped Lord Ganesha and sought his blessings. On Magh Krishna Chaturthi (a Tuesday), Lord Ganesha blessed him and asked him for a wish. Angarak expressed that his only wish was to be associated with Lord Ganesha’s name forever. The Lord granted his wish and proclaimed that whoever worships Lord Ganesha on Angarika Chaturthi will be granted all that he/she prays for. From that day onwards, Magh Krishna Chaturthi came to be known as Angaraka Chaturthi.

Angaraka (Mars) is one of the Navagrahas. He is also called Mangal or Kuja. He is a planet of martial aspect, and the equivalent of Mars in Roman Mythology or Ares in Greek. He is red coloured and is said to be a descendant of Bharadwaja. According to the Padma Purana, once a drop of perspiration from Lord Vishnu's brow fell on the earth, and from it sprang a red colored child, who was called Lohitanga, for his red color. Lohitanga performed many penances and won a boon from Brahma to become one of the Navagrahas, with the name of Angaraka.

He is also sometimes equated to Skanda, the commander of the Deva army. His vehicle is the goat. Tuesday is his sacred day, red his favorite colour. On the day of Angarika Sankashti Chaturthi, the devotees observe a strict fast from morning till evening. They break the fast at night after having a darshan/auspicious sighting of the moon, preceded by prayers and a pooja for Lord Ganesha. The Angarika Chaturthi (angarak in Sanskrit means red like burning coal embers) devotees believe their wishes will be fulfilled if they pray on this auspicious day. The fast of Sankashti Chaturthi is generally started from the day "Angarika Sankashti Chaturthi". Also Angarika Sankashti means deliverance during troubled times, hence observing this fast is believed to reduce a person's problems, as Lord Ganesha is the remover of all obstacles and the supreme lord of intelligence. Before moonlight, the Ganapati Atharvashirsh is recited to summon the blessings of Lord Ganesha.

Once, Sage Durvasa was travelling from Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Vishnu to the abode of Lord Shiva, i.e., Kailash. He came upon Lord Indra, who was spending time with the Apsara Rambha. Lord Indra bowed before Sage Durvasa in reverence, and Sage Durvasa, who was pleased, handed him a Parijat flower, and spoke the following words: “O Indra, this is a flower given by the lord which removes all the obstructions and the person whose head it will be placed will be victorious all around. He will be adored by the people first of all and will be the foremost of all gods. Mahalakshmi will not part company from him and follow him like a shadow. He will equate himself with Lord Vishnu in knowledge, wisdom, prowess. He will be more powerful than all gods and will be valorous like Vishnu.”

Sage Durvasa left after this, and Lord Indra, still intoxicated by the presence of Rambha, placed the flower on the head of his elephant. The elephant thus got all the qualities that were ordained by the flower. The elephant then fought and defeated all other elephants and left Lord Indra. Thus destiny resulted in the elephant getting all the advantages associated with the blessings of the Parijat flower. If Indra had accepted the flower, he would have got all its qualities. But destiny, which was also a play of Vishnu, had other plans, and it waited for the birth of Ganesha.

?The second part of this story is the occasion of the birth of Lord Ganesha and the conversation between Lady Parvati and Lord Shani. On the birth of Lord Ganesha, all the other gods visited Kailash to see him and bless him. Lord Shani also came to Kailash and requested Lady Parvati to let him see Lord Ganesha. She granted him permission, and Lord Shani stood there, casting his gaze downwards. He did not look at the child and was satisfied with just standing near Lord Ganesha. Lady Parvati enquired about the reason why he wasn’t looking at Lord Ganesha, and Lord Shani replied with the following: "O chaste lady, all the people have to face the results of their deeds.

Whatever good or bad deeds are done, they cannot be washed away even after completion of crores of kalpas. The jiva is born as Brahma, Indra and Surya because of his deeds, and he is reborn as an animal because of his deeds." "One achieves hell because of his deeds and also heaven because of his deeds. He becomes a great king because of his own deeds and an ordinary servant because of his own deeds. He is born beautiful because of his own deeds, and he becomes sick the same way. O mother, because of his own deeds, he indulges in vices, and by his own deeds, he becomes detached from the world."

"The people become rich because of their own deeds, and it is due to their own deeds that they become paupers. One gets a loving family because of his own deeds, and one gets a bad family because of his own deeds. Because of his own deeds, one gets the best spouse and kids, and because of his own deeds, he remains unmarried, or gets a wicked spouse or remains childless. O beloved of Shiva, I will tell you a secret story. In my childhood, I was a great devotee of Lord Krishna, and I was always devoted to him. I always recited his name. My father married me to the daughter of Chitraratha, but I was always devoted to tapas.

Once, when I was engrossed in meditation on Lord Krishna, she came to me seeking attention. I was unaware of her presence, being engrossed in meditation, and hence, I kept on performing tapas. She became annoyed and pronounced a curse in anger that whatever I cast my glance on would be destroyed. Thereafter after getting out of meditation, I calmed her and she repented. O mother, because of the curse, I cannot cast my gaze at anything, and in order to save creatures from destruction, I always cast my glance downwards." On hearing the words of Lord Shani, Lady Parvati laughed, and all the goddesses present also laughed.

Lady Parvati replied, "The entire universe moves according to the wishes of the Lord, more than the moves of destiny. You look at me and my child." Lord Shani was in a fix whether to look at the son of Parvati or not; he did not want to offend Lady Parvati, and at the same time, he did not want to cause any unintended harm. Finally, so as not to offend Lady Parvati, he looked only at Lord Ganesha and not the Lady. His mind was disturbed, and his throat, lips and palate were dried up. With the corner of his right eye, he glanced at the child’s face. At his gaze, the head of the child was cut off, and Lord Shani closed his eyes at once, looking downwards and stood there. The severed head of the child went to Gokul and entered the body of Lord Krishna. Lady Parvati started lamenting and fainted.

All the Gods and Goddesses panicked at this turn of events. Therefore, Lord Vishnu mounted on Garuda, went north, and reached the bank of the Pushpabhadra river. There, he found Indra's elephant, who was all powerful by virtue of the flower given by Sage Durvasa. Lord Vishnu cut off the head of the elephant by using the Sudarshan chakra. Lord Vishnu then brought the dead elephant back to life and returned him to Lord Indra. Lord Vishnu then lifted the elephant's head, which had been cut off and had special powers. He came back and joined the head of the elephant to the body of Lord Ganesha using his divine knowledge and brought the child back to life.

The Brahmavaivarat Purana states that Lord Ganesha is an ansh (manifestation) of the supreme consciousness. It was destined for an ansh to manifest as remover of obstacles for men and gods, and he became the god of intellect and wisdom. When we read the purana, we are amazed at how all incidents in the past come together and lead towards a chosen destiny. The flower was presented to Indra by Sage Durvasa, but it was not utilized by the king of the gods. The elephant temporarily benefited from the powers of the Parijat flower, but it was Lord Ganesha who was destined to be the foremost among gods and men and become known as the remover of obstacles. Thus, destiny worked in such a way that the attributes of the flower, which were accumulated by the austerities of Sage Durvasa, came to Lord Ganesha, and that is the reason he has an elephant head.

Long ago there was an emperor named Mahendravarmā in Ujjayinī. His son Mahāsena did penance for a long time to get a wife and a sword. At last Devī appeared and granted the boon: "My son! take this extraordinary sword. So long as you have this sword, your enemies will not prevail against you. A?gāravatī, the renowned beauty of the three worlds, who is the daughter of the Asura A?gāraka, will become your wife in due course. As you do horrible deeds, you will be called Cha??amahāsena". He was given the sword and a tusker called Na?āgiri.

One day Mahāsena went to the forest for hunting. He saw a very large pig. The King used his arrows. But they did little harm to the pig. Moreover it turned the chariot of the King over to one side and ran to a cave. The King followed it with fury. On the way he sat on the bank of a lake with wonder, for a lady of exquisite beauty was walking along the mossy turf in the midst of some maids. Slowly she approached the King and talked with him. The young lady had entirely captured the heart of the King, who told her everything. She began to weep. "Who are you? Why do you weep?" The King asked her.

She replied with a deep sigh. "The pig you saw, is my father A?gārakāsura. His body is as hard as diamond and not vulnerable to any sort of weapon. These maids have been caught by him from various royal houses and brought here for my help. My name is A?gāravatī. My father was changed to a giant by a curse. Now he is asleep discarding the form of pig. When he wakes up, filled with hunger and thirst, he will do you harm. My tears flowed out in the form of heated life-breaths, when I thought of these things." The King said, "Go and sit by him and cry when he wakes up. He will ask the reason. Then tell him that you had been crying, when you thought how forlorn you would be without a mate, in case your father was killed by somebody".

A?gāravatī did as she was told. Hearing her words A?gāraka said, "My daughter! No body can kill me. My body is made of diamond. There is only one vulnerable point in my body which is on my left forearm and it is always covered with my bow." The king hid himself closely and heard everything. He fought with the Asura and hitting at the vulnerable point killed him. The king married A?gāravatī and took her to his palace. Two sons were born to him. They were called Gopālaka and Pālaka. By the grace of Indra a daughter also was born to him by her and she was Vāsavadattā, the wife of the famous Udayana. (Kathāsaritsāgara, Kathāmukhalambaka, Tara?ga 3).

Now, let’s turn our attention to Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, or which is the Festival celebrating the arrival of Lord Ganesh to Earth, along with his Mother, Parvathi Devi, from Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva. The main festivities began on 31st August 2022 and went on till 9th of this month, which is being observed as “Anant Chaturdashi”, also known as Ganesh Visarjan Day. At the conclusion of the festival, the idols are carried to local rivers in huge processions accompanied by drumbeats, devotional singing, and dancing. There they are immersed, a ritual symbolising Ganesha's homeward journey to Mount Kailas—the abode of his parents, Shiva and Parvati. This year first time after the prevalent pandemic, there was usual enthusiasm and fervour in the festivities as the threat of Covid-19 is now over people rejoiced and celebrated with full charm and happiness. Ganpati Bappa Morya