The Sankashti Ganesh Chaturthi that falls in the Ashadha month is dedicated to the Krishnapingal form of Lord Ganesha, and a well known legend tied to this day shows how devotion and the right remedy can dissolve even the deepest sorrow. The story goes back to the Dwapar Yuga, to a king who had immense wealth but no child to call his own.
A king troubled by the absence of an heir
According to the legend, King Mahijit ruled the city of Mahishmati during the Dwapar Yuga. He treated his subjects like his own children and looked after them with great care, yet he had no offspring of his own. This absence weighed on him so heavily that even his riches and royal comforts brought him no joy. Scriptures describe the life of a childless person as incomplete, and it was believed that if such a person offered water to their ancestors, the ancestors would receive it only as scalding hot water. This thought kept King Mahijit constantly restless.
The king tried many remedies in the hope of having a son, but none worked. As the years passed in this pursuit, his youth slipped away and old age set in. Eventually he summoned learned Brahmins and poured out his anguish to them, saying he had never committed a sin in his life, yet fatherhood had still eluded him, and he wondered what fate awaited him now. The Brahmins consoled the king and assured him they would together find a way to help his lineage grow.
Sage Lomesh offers a solution
To end the king's suffering, his subjects set out into the forest along with the Brahmins. There they came upon a radiant sage who was deep in penance, living without food. The sage's name was Lomesh. The people stood before him with folded hands and described their sorrow, pleading for a solution. Sage Lomesh asked them why they had come. The people explained that their king, Mahijit, was extremely generous and virtuous, that he had always raised his subjects as his own children, yet such a fine king had never been blessed with a child of his own.
The subjects begged the sage to suggest a remedy that would give the king a son and fill his life with happiness. Hearing this, sage Lomesh said he would tell them about a fast capable of destroying every kind of hardship, one believed to grant children to the childless and wealth to the poor. He advised that if the king observed a fast on the fourth day of the dark fortnight of Ashadha, worshipped Lord Ganesha with proper rituals, fed Brahmins and donated clothes to them, he would certainly be blessed with a son by Ganesha's grace. On hearing this, the people returned to the city with joyful hearts.
The fast that brought a son
Back in the city, the subjects relayed sage Lomesh's entire message to King Mahijit. Without delay, the king observed the Ganesh Chaturthi fast with full devotion and according to proper ritual. Some time later, Queen Sudakshina conceived, and by Lord Ganesha's grace she gave birth to a handsome and virtuous son. After years of longing and penance, King Mahijit's household was finally filled with the joy of a child.
Based on this legend, it is believed that anyone who observes the Ashadha Sankashti Ganesh Chaturthi fast with sincere devotion attains all worldly happiness. This is why the worship of Lord Ganesha's Krishnapingal form on this day is considered especially significant, and why this legend continues to be read and recited by devotees every year.
