63rd Chapter
Narad, who was eager to meet Indra, once went to him. He was welcomed and adulated with a lot of regard. After he took his seat, Indra asked Narad about the importance of durva grass with great reverence. Indra asked, “Muni, kindly tell us why the God of Gods Ganesh is so fond of Durvankur?” Naradmuni explained,
“Let me tell you whatever I know about the greatness of this special grass. There once lived a great sage named Kaudinya. 9.10. He was a devout worshipper of Ganesh. He possessed the power of penance. He used to live in a large, delightful abode (ashram) which was to the south of the village. It was surrounded by beautiful lakes dotted with several blossoming trees.
The lake was inhabited by a diverse fauna such as swans, cranes, eagles, ducks, turtles and watercocks. 12.13. However, Kaudinya Muni was deeply engrossed in his meditative state. He had placed a Ganesh idol in front of him and was chanting a mantra to please the Gods. He adorned that idol with durva grass and worshipped it with immense delight.
14.15. Muni’s wife, Ashraya posed a question to him,
She said, “Why do you always shower Lord Ganesh’s idol with so many durvas? Has anyone ever been satisfied with grass? If you know of any merits of using this, please enlighten me.”
Kaudinya expressed,
“My darling! Allow me to explain to you the importance of durvas and why they’re so special. There was once a huge celebration in the land of Yamadharma.
All the deities, musicians, dancers, holy men, demigods and even the demons had graced the occasion. While Tilottama was dancing, the top portion of her clothing came off exposing her body. Yamraj happened to see this. His lustful desire awoke and he was extremely aroused by this. He got up from his seat and went towards her to embrace and kiss her. He was embarrassed and walked out of the assembly after he couldn’t contain his emotions and therefore ejaculated. From his semen on the ground, an evil man with a deformed face and devilish teeth suddenly appeared. His body was filled in flames. He was out to set the Earth ablaze and his fiery tresses were so long they could touch the sky. His voice sent shivers down everyone’s spine in Trilok. 23.24. Then, all the deities in the assembly diverted their paths to Lord Vishnu. They prayed to him with different hymns and chants and pleaded him to save the world from collapsing. Lord Vishnu took all of them to the ever affable and radiant Lord Ganesh.
They understood and agreed that the destruction of this demon was indeed at the hands of Lord Ganpati and sang praises for him. The deities and sages together said, “Salutations to the God who is the remover of all obstacles and who takes all burdens of his devotees away!”
“The omnipresent Lord, the beginning of this universe, we bow down to you! You are the creator and operator of this universe; you eliminate darkness and bring prosperity into everyone’s lives, please accept our prayers. The only place we seek refuge in, sweet Lord, the giver of all our blessings, we acknowledge your presence in our lives. You are the very origin of all vedas. Oh, wise Lord, who else would we go to with our troubles?” How did this unfortunate catastrophe dawn upon us? Why did we get plagued with this destruction? Please, Lord, tell us how! 32. All our lives are in danger. Dear Lord, show us your mercy!” Hearing these words, the magnanimous Gajanan, the destroyer of all evil, appeared in front of them in the form of a little child. His eyes seemed like lotus buds and his face had the glow of a hundred moons.
He looked like a dream and it was hard to take one’s eyes off of him. He appeared other-worldly, radiant and absolutely invincible. He had a sharp nose, attractive eyes and brows, arched neck, rounded shoulders thumping chest and strong, slender arms. From the navel on his stomach to the knees and his legs, every inch of his body was as though carved out with precision. That little child who was adorned with many ornaments and attractive clothing looked attractive as ever. The deities and sages were baffled to see the most beautiful form of God and hailed him with every honour.
The sages and deities bowed to him and asked him in amazement- “Oh majestic Lord, who are you and what brings you here?” 40. 41. We have been told that the destroyer of evil is going to metamorphose into a young child and arrive here to save our land and our tribe. Is that true?” Listening to the deities and sages, little Gajanan expressed: you seem very informed and knowledgeable already, whatever you’ve heard is true.”
“My dear ones! I transformed myself into a child and came here as fast as I could to put an end to all the unworldly havoc being caused by that malicious demon. I have just the right solution that will finish him once and for all. I will show you the way but you all must cooperate with me.
You’ve already witnessed his destructive might but you’ll know be a spectator of how I bring him down with my power.” Everyone was happy and relieved to hear these words of reassurance. 45.46. They were overcome with emotions and waited with bated breaths to see the magic of God unfold.
Just then, the blazing demon arrived there leaving trails of fire wherever he touched. People were terrified to see him there and they ran helter- skelter leading to a massive pandemonium amongst everyone. Some of the sages managed to escape the scene. 50 .51. They even begged Lord Ganesh to run away. They compared the demon named Analasur to a predator like a shark or an eagle.
But, the Supreme soul Gajanan stood there in a resolute manner, unwavered by the chaos around him. However, the sages and deities abandoned the little baby (Ganesh) and fled from the scene.

(The sixty third chapter in Ganesh Purana called Durvamahatmya ends here)
64th Chapter
Narad said- “Oh Indra! Listen carefully now, I will tell you the whole story.” So, as baby Gajanan stood there steadily and unflinchingly like a rock, right then, the evil Analasur arrived. His mere presence would make all the creatures around him tremble with fear. Even the birds fell off the branches of the tree with his loud thunderous noise. His impact made the water bodies dry up and the flowers wither. Everything was a mess. In that moment, Gajanan who had taken the form of a little child captured the fiery devil Analasur.
9. Just as sage Agastya swallowed the sea, Gajanan swallowed that demon whole. However, since the demon was a walking fireball, the flames had now entered Ganesh’s body. So, everyone thought of different ways to put the fire out. Lord Indra gave Ganesh the moon to cool him down.
10. Seeing this, everyone started praising him by the name ‘Bhalchandra’, However, it hadn’t succeeded in putting the fire down.
11. 12. Meanwhile, Lord Brahma granted him his two daughters- Buddhi and Siddhi. They were both extremely beautiful and possessed the most calming and soothing qualities.
13. Lord Brahma guided Ganesh to come and embrace his two daughters in the hope that it helps in preserving him to his original state and bringing the fire down. It did help in cooling him down but only to an extent.
14. Lord Vishnu graced him with a lotus flower. Now, everyone gave him a new name and called him Padmapani with great honour.
15. Even then, the fire burning within him wasn’t let down. So, Varuna (the God of sky and water) started showering rain on him. Lord Shiva handed him a snake with a thousand heads. (Snakes are known for their cooling properties)
16. He tied that like a rope around his waist. That’s when the fire burning within him was brought down a bit more.
17.18. A group of 80 thousand sages and saints approached Lord Ganesh and they all offered him a set of 21 durvas by laying them on his forehead.
Those durvas acted like a magic potion. The burning flames were instantly put out because of the magical durvas. This made Lord Ganesh very happy and satisfied.
Upon witnessing the greatness of durva with their own eyes, everybody gathered around and worshipped the lord with more durvankurs. Lord Ganesh was extremely pleased with the gesture. He declared, “From now on, any prayer/ puja that you do, big or small will only hold value if it’s done with these durvankurs.
A puja performed without durvas will go in vain and won’t bear fruition. So, I urge my devotees to offer at least 1 or a set of 21 durvas every morning at puja/prayer. The results of offering a simple durva every day would be even more immense and wonderful than those achieved after sacrifices and penances or rigorous rituals followed by great men.”