The Clash of Parashuram and Ganesh: The Tale of the Broken Tusk

Goddess Parvati instructed her son, the elephant-headed god Ganesh, not to allow anyone to disturb Lord Shiv's meditation. Just then, Parashuram arrived at Mount Kailash to meet his former teacher, Shiv. He ran into Ganesh, who did not allow him to proceed further. Ganesh told Parashuram, "I am Shiv and Parvati's son," but Parashuram did not believe him because of his elephant head.

Parashuram and Ganesh began to fight. They were evenly matched, shooting arrows at each other. The omniscient Lord Shiv knew that his son and former pupil were fighting but chose not to intervene. Finally, Parashuram flung his axe at Ganesh. Out of respect for the axe, which had been presented to Parashuram by none other than Lord Shiv, Ganesh did not try to defend himself; therefore, the axe broke his left tusk.

Ganesh howled in pain, drawing Parvati to the battlefield. Seeing Ganesh's broken tusk on the ground, she threatened to punish Parashuram for injuring her son. When Parashuram realized that Ganesh was indeed the son of Shiv and Parvati, he profusely apologized. Shiv arrived at the scene and advised Parvati to forgive Parashuram. He also said that Ganesh would henceforth be worshipped as Ekdant, meaning "the single-tusked one."