The Moon In Vedic Scriptures

One day, Gaṇeśa was given a lot of sweets by his devotees. He swallowed all the sweets, then he went back home, riding his mouse. It was sunset and in the darkness, the mouse suddenly stumbled over a snake. Gaṇeśafell to the ground.

He had so much eaten that his over-filled stomach burst and the cakes poured out.

Gaṇeśa collected and replaced them in his widely open belly. He caught the snake that had caused the disturbance and tied him around his waist. Looking at this funny occurrence, the Moon started laughing.

Gaṇeśa was very annoyed and thought she had offended him. Resentful, he removed his right tusk and threw it at the moon's face. At the same time, he put a curse on her, so that she would stop shining at night and disappear from the sky. At that time, the story says that the moon was full every night.

Since then, with the moon being missing, there was neither moonlight nor twilight. Nobody could sleep, because the sun was bright even nightly. Without the moon, the gods found heavenly life as unbearable as men found life on earth. So, they rushed to Gaṇeśa's house, supplicating him to manage the situation.

He complied with their urgent requirement, but decided the moon would not be allowed to shine brightly every night as she did before. Henceforth, she was sentenced to wax and wane, alternating a shining fortnight and a dark fortnight, with each of these periods ending either by the full moon or the new moon.