Our beloved Almighty's vahanas

Dear friends,

Not only we have pets but when you look into our God, He also has many pets in the name of vahanas.
To mention a few:
Lord Muruga or Subramanya: Peacock
Lord Ganesha: Mushika
Lord Shiva: A Bull
Lord Vishnu: Garuda

and so on...
Let us share here how did they get their vahanas and the stories behind them.

I shall start with Lord Muruga:
It goes like this, when the Lord was fighting with the Asura named-- Soorapadma, He killed him in half and one half of him became his vahana -the peacock and the other half became the cock-flag ( sevarkodi).

expecting more interesting stories behind:

sriniketan

Nice thread, Sriniketan.

I just know the vahanams, but not the stories behind. Will learn more through this thread. Thanks!

I too just know the vahanams and not the related stories.........

But I like Mushika vahana......

Here Mushika symbolises the darkness of ignorance because it is in darkness that the mouse moves about. Mooshika Vahana is one who subdues ignorance and dispels darkness....

Anu

Sindhu and Anu,

• Just out of curiosity, I started this thread, which made me search for answers also.
• Below is the answer I got for 2 more vahanas;
• While Ganesh was still a child, a giant mouse began to terrorize all his friends. Ganesh trapped him with his lasso and made him his mount. Mushika was originally a gandharva, or celestial musician. After absentmindedly walking over the feet of a rishi (wise man) named Vamadeva, Mushika was cursed and transformed into a mouse. However, after the rishi recovered his temper, he promised Mushika that one day, the gods themselves would bow down before him. This came to pass when Mushika's path crossed Ganesh's.

• Before becoming the vehicle of Shiva, Nandi was a deity called Nandikeshvara, lord of joy and master of music and dance. Then, without warning, his name and his functions were transferred to the aspect of Shiva known as the deity Nataraja. From half-man, half-bull, he became simply a bull. Since that time, he has watched over each of Shiva's temples, always looking towards him.

Sriniketan

Awesome Thread !!

How did a Mouse Became God Ganesha's Vehicle.

Many would think, how can such a huge man ride a small mouse. For many it might not make sense. Ganeshapuram explains: Mouse was himself a God at one time. His name was Kroncha. There was a unfortunate situation in the palace of Lord Indra once. Kroncha, stepped on to Muni Vamadeva. It was completely unintentional. But Muni Vamadeva thought otherwise. He was so much in anger that he cursed him to turn into a mouse :( Kroncha was speechless and he begged Muni Vamadeva that it was not on purpose. Understanding him, he said that Kroncha will become the vehicle for Lord Ganesha. Kroncha was happy.. but remember he is such a huge person and he got transformed to a big rodent. So everything broke to pieces on his way. People were so scared to go out. He was making a messy place and he did not care for that at all. Hearing all this Ganesha let out one of his secret weapons (paasha) a noose kind of thing. It went all the way to the universe, and tied tightly on Kroncha. Kroncha atlast surrendered. Ganesha said, since you are in the sue of forgiveness, I will take you as my vehicle and he sat on top. Kroncha couldnt take it. It was too heavy, that he cried and begged ganesha to consider his plight and become light.. Ganesha understood and reduced in a such a way that kroncha will not suffer.

that's how the story goes.. There is another story as well that Agni was afraid of Shiva and turned to mouse to hid inside the earth.

That;s the beauty of Hinduism.. lot of morally good answers for a question and it always will leave the person thinking :)

So what does it morally mean: A giant Elephant like God sitting on top of a tiny mouse?

This small creature is our mind. It has the tendency to go out picking up all different types of fantasies, desires along the way. But Ganesha, the great God's true wisdom shows that he is able to control, rein and bring the mouse to rest at his feet. So controlling once flickering mind is the ultimate wisdom :)

Hi srini,
Lord Bairavar- Our all time fav pet - Dog
Lord Meenakshi- Parrot

Dont know the stories behind it..

Supriya,
Let me search for the answer and let you know....

sriniketan