Parvati and Shiva - Worst Couple Dispute in Creation



Hindu Mythology is full of colourful characters, all of which have some crazy stories to tell from epic quests to your average household adventure. Today’s story belongs to the latter as you will discover the origin story of the elephant-headed god Ganesha, better known as Ganesh, patron of wisdom and endeavors.

Everything started with one of the most polarizing couples in mythology, as well as one of the most powerful. Parvati was the daughter of the Himalayas, because having normal parents was probably to base, and goodness of motherhood and compassion, under normal circumstances. Meanwhile Shiva was a warlike deity who was tasked with destroying the universe at the end of its cycle of life, paving the way for a new one. However, their marriage seemed to be one of the healthiest among the deivines, and the two tend to get along well. However just like all couples, disputes were bound to happen from time to time.

During one of Shiva’s meditations, Parvati decided to draw herself a bath and relax for a bit. Not wanting to be disturbed, she tasked Nandi with guarding the entrance of her bathhouse. Now choosing Nandi for such a task was not a bad choice to say, as the sacred white bull was the strongest of the guardian animals. On the other hand, he was also the bull towing Shiva’s chariot as well as his personal creation, and while he was more than happy to help Parvati, her husband still had supreme authority over Nandi. This became a problem when said husband, having finished his mediation early, decided to show up and bother his relaxing wife, and there was nothing Nandi could do to stop him.

Undeterred by this failure, Parvati kept looking for a new solution to keep unwanted guest out while bathing. Learning from her mistake with Nandi, she decided to create her own guardian who would answer her only. Taking a bit of clay, she molded it into a young boy before breathing life into it and thus Ganesha was born, well the first iteration. Satisfied with her work, Parvati went on to take another relaxing bath, this time tasking Ganesha with guarding the entrance. Shiva, who probably didn’t read the room like last time, showed up again to cut the session short, but this time there was Ganesha to block the way.

Frustrated to be kept out of his own house by what he saw as a mere child, Shiva did the most logical thing ever and sent some of his warriors to kill him. And despite Ganesha looking like a 10-year-old kid, being a divine construct meant that he was more than capable of handling mortal soldiers and so he routed the force. Shiva meanwhile, realizing he misjudged the situation, awoken his inner Thanos, potentially saying ‘fine I’ll do it myself’, faced the divine being himself. And despite Ganesha being a creation of Parvati to guard her door, he was still no match for the destroyer god and was rapidly decapitated. Parvati, alerted by the comotion rushed out of her bath to see what was going on and discovered her dead creation with her husband as the culprit. Distraught at first, the goddess of motherhood then got mad, really, REALLY mad.

Set to teach her husband a lesson, Parvati summoned her two most destructive alternate forms, yeah she got a bunch of these. First came Durga, the lion-riding warrior queen defenders of the people and Kali, the blood-lusting goddes destroyer of evil came forth for this divine rumble. Before the two sides could throw hands, Brahma the supreme Hindu god of creation showed up worried that two of the strongest deities of his pantheon going at each other. While Shiva did deserve a good trashing, he wasn’t going to let creation become the collateral damage and so negotiated with Parvati to see what would calm her down. Parvati agreed to let the whole thing go if Ganesha was resurrected and elevated to the statue of divine icon so no one could ever harm him again. Meanwhile with Shiva, he had come to the realization that killing a divine being because he wouldn’t let him bother his wife while she was bathing was not his best decision ever (and GOOD GOD this level of self-awareness from deities tend to be rare). As such, he agreed with the terms with no complaints and even offered to help the best he could.  

There was still one teeny tiny problem with all of this, his weapon was not your average divine tools, and as such Ganesha’s original head had been completely destroyed in the incident. Still not wanting to further induce his wife’s wrath, Shiva asked Brahma with a new head he could work with. Brahma, not wanting to deal with Parvati’s wrath either, obliged and came back with the head of a baby elephant... wait what?

Shiva put the new head on the boy’s body, and after breathing life into it created the elephant head figure we all know and love today. Shiva then proclaimed him as the highest standing deity of the realm and that he should be venerated alongside all. He also adopted him as his son as well, as an added bonus to go back with Parvati’s good graces.


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