The story of Ganesha’s birth is among the most beloved in Hindu tradition. The goddess Parvati, desiring a guardian while she bathed, fashioned a boy from the clay of her own body and breathed life into him. She instructed him to stand guard and allow no one to enter.

When Shiva, her husband, returned and attempted to pass, the boy—faithful to his mother’s command—refused him entry. Enraged, Shiva struck off the boy’s head. When Parvati emerged and beheld her lifeless son, she was overcome with grief. To restore him, Shiva commanded that the head of the first living creature found be brought. This happened to be an elephant. Thus the boy was revived as Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, thereafter honored as the remover of obstacles and the lord of beginnings.

For the yogi, this story serves as an allegory. An example of how truth is expressed through symbolism and narrative. In The Bhagavad Gita, it is suggested that we must look beyond the surface, to “pierce the outer covering… and find beyond that the esoteric teachings.” The story itself is not the final point, it’s the tool used to get to the point.