When he went to see the infant, it appeared headless!
This at once created a sensation, and all the Devas were at their wits'
end. At last Saturn himself approached Mahadeva with folded hands and
reminded him that it was due to his presence, and the child having been
kept in a bed with its head to the north. For such was the law. Then
the Devas consulted together and sent out messengers to find out who
else was sleeping with the head to the north. At last they discovered
an elephant in that position. Its head was immediately cut off and
placed on the shoulders of Ganesha. It need not be said that Ganesha
became afterwards so learned and wise that if he had not had an
elephant's head, a human head would never have been sufficient to hold
all he knew. This advantage he owed to the circumstance of his sleeping
with head to the north, and the blessing of the Devas. To the elephant,
the same position but minus the blessing of the Devas proved absolute
death.
--Nobin K. Bannerji
Reading Mr. Seeta Nath Ghose's paper on "Medical Magnetism" and having
studied long ago Baron von Reichenbach's "Researches in Magnetism," I am
sorely puzzled, inasmuch as these two authorities appear to clash with
each other most completely--the one asserting "head to north never,
under no circumstances," the other "head to north ever and under all
circumstances.
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