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There are many mythological anecdotes of Ganesha. Ganesha's elephant head makes him easy to identify.〔Martin-Dubost, p. 2.〕 He is worshipped as the lord of beginnings and as the lord of removing obstacles,〔These ideas are so common that Courtright uses them in the title of his book, '': Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings''.〕 the patron of arts and sciences, and the god of intellect and wisdom.〔Heras, p. 58.〕 In his survey of Ganesha's rise to prominence in Sanskrit literature, Ludo Rocher notes that: Above all, one cannot help being struck by the fact that the numerous stories surrounding concentrate on an unexpectedly limited number of incidents. These incidents are mainly three: his birth and parenthood, his elephant head, and his single tusk. Other incidents are touched on in the texts, but to a far lesser extent.〔Brown, p. 73.〕 Puranic myths about the birth of Ganesha are found in the later Puranas, composed from about 600 CE onwards. References to Ganesha in the earlier Puranas, such as the Vayu and Brahmanda Purnasa are considered to be later interpolations made during the 7th to 10th centuries.〔Krishan, p. 103.〕 == Birth and childhood == While Ganesha is popularly considered to be the son of Shiva and Parvati, the Puranic myths relate several different versions of his birth.〔For a summary of Puranic variants of birth stories, see Nagar, pp. 7-14.〕〔Martin-Dubost, pp. 41-82.〕 These include versions in which he is created by Shiva,〔''Linga Purana''.〕 by Parvati,〔''Shiva Purana'' IV. 17.47-57 and ''Matsya Purana'' 154.547.〕 by Shiva and Parvati,〔''Varāha Purana'' 23.18-59.〕 or in a mysterious manner that is later discovered by Shiva and Parvati.〔''Brahmavaivarta Purana, Ganesha Khanda'', 10.8-37.〕 The family includes his brother Skanda, kartikeya.〔For a summary of variant names for Skanda, see Thapan, p. 300 and Brown, p. 355.〕 Regional differences dictate the order of their births. In North India, Skanda is generally said to be the elder brother while in the South, Ganesha is considered the first born.〔Khokar and Saraswati, p.4.〕 Prior to the emergence of Ganesha, Skanda had a long and glorious history as an important martial deity from about 500 BCE to about 600 CE, when his worship declined significantly in North India. The period of this decline is concurrent with the rise of Ganesha. Several stories relate episodes of sibling rivalry between Ganesha and Skanda〔Brown, pp. 4, 79.〕 and may reflect historical tensions between the respective sects.〔Gupta, p. 38.〕 Once there was a competition between Ganesha and his brother as to see who could circumambulate the three worlds faster and hence win the fruit of knowledge. Skanda went off on a journey to cover the three worlds while Ganesha simply circumambulated his parents. When asked why he did so, he answered that his parents Shiva and Parvati constituted the three worlds and was thus given the fruit of knowledge. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mythological anecdotes of Ganesha」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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