Many ages ago, Shiva's wife Parvati asked her young son, Ganesha to guard the door to the house while she took a bath inside. As fate would have it, Shiva came home from a long meditation retreat just as this moment. He'd been gone so long he wasn't aware of his wife had had a child and that Ganesha was his son. And Ganesha had never seen Shiva before and didn't realize he was his dead.
Shiva was extremely irritated at the young boy who wouldn't let him into his own house. He tried to push Ganesha aside but the boy incredibly strong. Finally Shiva cut off the boy's head and called out to Parvati, "Honey, I'm home!"
The goddess was beside herself when she saw that her husband had just killed their son. Realizing his mistake, Shiva ran up and down the mountain looking for Ganesha's head. It was long gone! Seeing the Divine Mother's grief, an elephant standing nearby volunteered its own head, which Shiva quickly cut off and replaced on his son's body, restoring Ganesha to life.
The story is about self-sacrifice. When we sacrifice our selfishness and egotism is service of the divine, as both Ganesha and the elephant did, we gain wisdom and immortality. And, like Lord Ganesha today who helps everyone who appeals to him, we gain the ability to be of service to all beings everywhere.
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