It is believed that when Sage Vyasa conceived the Mahabharata, he knew that it was too good a story to be written by an ordinary scribe. He searched near and far for someone who could write the Mahabharata for him but to no avail. Then it occurred to him that he could tell Lord Ganesha to write the Mahabharata for him. He approached Lord Ganesha and Lord Ganesha agreed to write the Mahabharata but he had one condition.

Lord Ganesha revealed his condition by saying that he would write the Mahabharata only if Sage Vyasa would recite it to him non-stop without a pause. Sage Vyasa agreed to Lord Ganesha’s condition but he also had a counter-condition. He stated that Lord Ganesha would not write anything without fully understanding the sentence or the plot. Lord Ganesha agreed to Sage Vyasa’s condition and so the writing of the Mahabharata began.

Lord Ganesha was very quick at writing and hence he wrote at a great speed. This is where the wisdom of Sage Vyasa prevailed. He would purposely put some complex sentences in between which would take Lord Ganesha time to understand before he could write it down. This allowed Vyasa to catch a breath and also think in his head as to how the next sentences would be framed.

It is also believed that while writing at a very fast speed, Lord Ganesha broke the stylus with which he was writing the epic. But since he could not stop, he broke a piece of his tusk and continued. That is one of the stories that describe why Lord Ganesha is known as ‘Ekadanta’ (One who has one tusk). This selfless act of Lord Ganesha also tells us that when it comes to gaining knowledge, no amount of sacrifice is enough.