Seated with his right leg slightly pendent, and holding the goad, noose, ‘modak,’ and his own tooth, Ganesha here is presented in a highly ornate manner riding his ‘vahana’ or mount, Mooshika. It is a curious and interesting proposition that Ganesha, the ‘Mangala Murti’ God of auspicious starts and the remover of obstacles, be associated with an animal that festers on dirt and disease.
However, as with every mythological Indic tradition, their relation is poetic, and Mooshika is symbolic – of the pest that plagues our lives. Mooshika’s stylised long snout is symbolic of the way rats keep on devouring the filth they come across. Therefore, in Ganesha’s riding of his ‘vahana,’ the auspicious lord here takes care of controlling that spread of toxicity. Moreover, Ganesha’s mount here is symbolic of fertility.
There are several instances in the Matsya Purana, Brahmananda Purana, and Ganesha Purana that detail how Ganesha came to have Mooshika as his mount – for example, how the celestial musician Krauncha was cursed to be a mouse after angering the sage Vamadeva, but then was given the boon that one day he shall be worshipped himself. The prophecy was fulfilled when Krauncha, now as Mooshika, became Ganesha’s ‘vahana.’
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