Another common icon associated with Ganesh is that of the snake. According to one Purana, Ganesha simply wrapped the serpent king Vasuki around his neck. Ganesh may also be portrayed using the snake as a sacred thread, aloft in both hands, coiled at his ankles or as a throne. However the best known story of all concerns Ganesh wrapping the snake around his stomach as a belt. According to the legend, on one of his birthdays, Ganesh went from house to house accepting offerings of sweet puddings (in one version of the story the offerings are cakes made by a baker, who wishes to thank Ganesh for his good fortune in business). Out on the road his mount the mouse stumbles, having seen a snake and become frightened, with the result that Ganesh tumbles off. His stomach bursts open and all the sweet puddings fall out. Unwilling to leave them on the ground for all to see (or in the second version, for the baker to see on his way home from the bakery), Ganesh stuffs them back into his stomach and, catching hold of the snake, ties it around his belly. In some versions, the story simply stops there. But in others, the moon in the sky, on seeing this, has a hearty laugh at his expense. Annoyed, Ganesh pulls off one of his tusks and hurls it at the moon. Once again, the symbology behind the mouse, snake, Ganesh's belly and its relationship to the moon on his birthday is highly significant, his belly representing as it does the entire cosmos which is held together by the cosmic energy of the snake kundalini.
Another common icon associated with Ganesh is that of the snake. According to one Purana, Ganesha simply wrapped the serpent king Vasuki around his neck. Ganesh may also be portrayed using the snake as a sacred thread, aloft in both hands, coiled at his ankles or as a throne. However the best known story of all concerns Ganesh wrapping the snake around his stomach as a belt. According to the legend, on one of his birthdays, Ganesh went from house to house accepting offerings of sweet puddings (in one version of the story the offerings are cakes made by a baker, who wishes to thank Ganesh for his good fortune in business). Out on the road his mount the mouse stumbles, having seen a snake and become frightened, with the result that Ganesh tumbles off. His stomach bursts open and all the sweet puddings fall out. Unwilling to leave them on the ground for all to see (or in the second version, for the baker to see on his way home from the bakery), Ganesh stuffs them back into his stomach and, catching hold of the snake, ties it around his belly. In some versions, the story simply stops there. But in others, the moon in the sky, on seeing this, has a hearty laugh at his expense. Annoyed, Ganesh pulls off one of his tusks and hurls it at the moon. Once again, the symbology behind the mouse, snake, Ganesh's belly and its relationship to the moon on his birthday is highly significant, his belly representing as it does the entire cosmos which is held together by the cosmic energy of the snake kundalini.