Do Not Laugh At Other People's Miseries

One day Kubera invited Ganesha for a feast. Ganesha accepted the offer. After having a sumptuous meal, Ganesha went for a ride on his vahana(vehicle), a mouse. It was a clear sky and the moon was out in all his splendor. Suddenly, a snake crossed their path and the mouse got frightened and ran for safety. Ganesha lost his balance, his stomach broke open and all the modaks (a type of sweet) that he was carrying fell on the ground! The snake apologized for his behaviour. Ganesha forgave the snake, stuffed all the modaks back and tied the snake around his belly to keep the modaks in tact. The moon who saw all this laughed loudly at Ganesha. Ganesha got really angry! He took one of his tusks, broke it and threw at the moon slashing his luminous face. He cursed the moon to vanish from the universe. There was darkness everywhere. All the people in the three worlds wondered what had happened. Then the moon apologized to Ganesha and asked him to take back the curse. Ganesha told he cannot take back the curse but he can soften it. He said that the moon will wax and wane from one bright forthnight to one dark fortnight alternatively and only once a month he will be full. The moon bowed down before Ganesha and went to his place in the sky.

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