This artwork depicts one of the most important stories associated with Lord Ganesh — the writing of the Mahabharata.
According to tradition, sage Vyasa composed the Mahabharata and asked Ganesh to act as his scribe. Ganesh agreed on the condition that Vyasa would dictate continuously without stopping. Vyasa, in turn, asked that Ganesh understand every verse before writing it down.
Here, Ganesh is shown seated with the manuscript open before him, writing the great epic. His multiple arms hold sacred attributes, while the lotus represents purity and spiritual knowledge.
The story is also connected to Ganesh’s broken tusk. When his writing instrument is said to have broken during the dictation, Ganesh broke off one of his own tusks and continued writing with it rather than interrupting the work. This is one explanation for his name Ekadanta — “the one with a single tusk.”
So this is not simply a portrait of Ganesh. It represents him as a patron of knowledge, writing, learning and intellect — which is why Ganesh is traditionally invoked before beginning something new.