On Mount Kailash, where the snow never melts and the air hums with the silence of eternity, Parvati sat alone.
Shiva, her husband, had gone into the mountains for meditation. He had been gone for many years — or perhaps only moments. Time moves differently for the gods. But Parvati felt the absence keenly.
She had no companion, no one to guard her door when she wished for privacy. The ganas — Shiva's attendants — answered only to him. When she bathed or rested, she had no one to ensure she would not be disturbed.
"I will create my own companion," she decided. "One who belongs to me alone."
From the sandalwood paste on her own skin, Parvati shaped a figure. She gave him strong arms and a gentle face. She breathed life into him, and he opened his eyes — bright and loyal and full of love for the one who had made him.
"You are my son," Parvati said. "Your name is Ganesha."
The boy bowed. "What would you have me do, Mother?"
"Guard this door," she said. "Let no one enter while I bathe. No one at all."
Ganesha took his post. He did not know who might come. He did not know what lay ahead. He knew only that his mother had given him a task, and he would not fail her.
He stood at the door, and he waited.