Most pictorial and sculptural representation of Ganesha, show him in possession of a broken tusk.
Just like stories of Ganesha's birth, multiple explanations exist for how Ganesha who originally possessed two full tusks eventually broke one of his tusks. Most of these explanations place him in the center of a battle or in an act of sacrifice.
In the ancient times, the renowned sage Ved Vyasa was instructed by the Gods to script the Mahabharata. In order to complete the task assigned to him, Ved Vyasa began to search for someone who could write the epic even as he narrated it. The great sage also realized that writing the epic was not the task of a simple scribe and it would take someone extra-ordinary to finish the task. He invoked Lord Brahma through tireless penance and asked him for advice on who he should choose as his scribe in order to complete the task. After thoughtful consideration, Lord Brahma recommended that Ved Vyasa approach the most knowledgeable being in the world, i.e. Lord Ganesha, to write the Mahabharat with him.Thanking Lord Brahma for the advice, Ved Vyasa approached Lord Shiva and requested that he let his son Ganesha work on writing the Mahabharata with him. While Lord Shiva gave his permission, Ganesh put forth a condition before agreeing to work with the sage.
Ganesh demanded that Ved Vyasa would have to narrate the epic to him continuously and without pause as it was made visible to him by divine powers to make sure that the contents of the epic were not adulterated by distortions created by the sage’s human mind. Ganesh added that if the sage ever slowed his narration to a point where Ganesh had to stop writing the epic, he would immediately terminate the task and take leave forcing Ved Vyasa to look for another candidate to transcribe the epic for him. While agreeing to Ganesh’s condition, Ved Vyasa put forth another condition of his own. He told Ganesh that the latter would have to continuously and without pause transcribe the contents of the epic that he narrated to make sure that no mistakes crept into the literature. An agreement was reached basis this understanding and soon Ved Vyasa and Ganesha began working on the epic.
However, as they were half-way through the epic, Ganesh realized that his stylus had worn off and he did not have a replacement which he could use to continue writing. At this point, remembering the conditions on which his partnership with Ved Vyasa had been made, Ganesh made a spur of the moment decision to use his tusk as a pen. He immediately broke one of his tusks and dipping it in ink, used it to transcribe the rest of the Mahabharata as narrated to him by the great sage.
Another legend involves sage Parshuram (meaning ‘Rama with an axe’) who is considered to be one of the many incarnations of Lord Vishnu.Just like stories of Ganesha's birth, multiple explanations exist for how Ganesha who originally possessed two full tusks eventually broke one of his tusks. Most of these explanations place him in the center of a battle or in an act of sacrifice.
In the ancient times, the renowned sage Ved Vyasa was instructed by the Gods to script the Mahabharata. In order to complete the task assigned to him, Ved Vyasa began to search for someone who could write the epic even as he narrated it. The great sage also realized that writing the epic was not the task of a simple scribe and it would take someone extra-ordinary to finish the task. He invoked Lord Brahma through tireless penance and asked him for advice on who he should choose as his scribe in order to complete the task. After thoughtful consideration, Lord Brahma recommended that Ved Vyasa approach the most knowledgeable being in the world, i.e. Lord Ganesha, to write the Mahabharat with him.Thanking Lord Brahma for the advice, Ved Vyasa approached Lord Shiva and requested that he let his son Ganesha work on writing the Mahabharata with him. While Lord Shiva gave his permission, Ganesh put forth a condition before agreeing to work with the sage.
Ganesh demanded that Ved Vyasa would have to narrate the epic to him continuously and without pause as it was made visible to him by divine powers to make sure that the contents of the epic were not adulterated by distortions created by the sage’s human mind. Ganesh added that if the sage ever slowed his narration to a point where Ganesh had to stop writing the epic, he would immediately terminate the task and take leave forcing Ved Vyasa to look for another candidate to transcribe the epic for him. While agreeing to Ganesh’s condition, Ved Vyasa put forth another condition of his own. He told Ganesh that the latter would have to continuously and without pause transcribe the contents of the epic that he narrated to make sure that no mistakes crept into the literature. An agreement was reached basis this understanding and soon Ved Vyasa and Ganesha began working on the epic.
However, as they were half-way through the epic, Ganesh realized that his stylus had worn off and he did not have a replacement which he could use to continue writing. At this point, remembering the conditions on which his partnership with Ved Vyasa had been made, Ganesh made a spur of the moment decision to use his tusk as a pen. He immediately broke one of his tusks and dipping it in ink, used it to transcribe the rest of the Mahabharata as narrated to him by the great sage.
It is said that Parshuram had once embarked on a journey to Mount Kailash to visit and pay respect to Lord Shiva who he revered as his holy teacher. Parshuram always carried with him an axe which was a divine weapon that had been given to him by Lord Shiva. As Parshuram adamantly tried to reach Lord Shiva, his path was blocked by Ganesh who said that Lord Shiva had not given anyone permission to enter Mount Kailash.Offended by Ganesh’s actions, Parshuram angrily asked to be let through but Ganesh refused. Soon, a fight ensued between the two and Parshuram attacked Ganesh with his axe. The axe severed one of Ganesha's two teeth as he was unable to defend himself against the weapon which had been blessed by his father Lord Shiva himself.
At this point Goddess Parvati noticed her son’s severed tooth and in a fit of rage took the form of Goddess Durga to punish Parshuram. Realizing what had happened, Lord Shiva decided to intervene and restore peace between Ganesh and Parshuram while calming his wife Goddess Parvati.
