Lord Ganesh

[Guest guest]

font-family:Arial">Namaste all,

font-family:Arial">

font-family:Arial">An old post from dear Ananda Yogiji,

first sent to the group over three years ago. Seemed very worthwhile

posting again.

font-family:Arial">

12.0pt;font-family:Arial">Om Shanti

font-family:Arial">Neil

font-family:Arial">

color:black">GANAH in Sanskrit means 'multitude'. Isa

means 'Lord'. Lord Ganesh

therefore literally means the 'Lord of all beings'.

Lord Ganesh is

the first son of Lord Siva. Siva represents the

supreme Reality. The

son of Siva symbolises one who has realised the

Reality. One who has

discovered the godhood in him. Such a man is said to

be the Lord of

all beings.

Lord Ganesh is known by other names as well. Ganapati, Gajanana,

Vinayaka, Vighneshwara. Ganapati has the same literal

meaning as Lord

Ganesh. Gajanana means 'elephant-faced'. Gaja=elephant, anana=ia.ce.

Vinayaka means the supreme leader, literally one who has no leader

himself. Vighneshwara is the

Lord of all obstacles, worshipped in the

initiation of Hindu rituals and ceremonies. As his

name suggests

Vighneshwara removes all obstacles, overcomes all

challenges of life.

There is a belief that no undertaking will meet with failure if the

grace of Vighneshwara is

invoked.

In Hindu mythological literature Lord Ganesh is described as having

a human form with an elephant's head. One of the tusks

in his head is

broken. He has a conspicuously large stomach. He sits

with one leg

folded in. At his feet a variety of food is spread. A

rat sits near

the food and looks up at him as if it were asking him

for sanction to

eat the food. This mystical form of Lord Lord Ganesh represents not

only the supreme state of human perfection but the

practical path to

reach that state. The details of his description

suggest deep

philosophical significance which can guide you to

reach that ultimate

state.

The first step of spiritual education is sravana

which means

listening to the eternal truths of Vedanta. The second

step is manana

which is independent reflection upon those truths. The

large ears and

head of Lord Ganesh indicate that he had gained

previous wisdom

through sravana and manana. An elephant's head on a human body in

Lord Ganesh is meant to represent supreme wisdom.

The trunk which springs from his head represents the intellect, the

faculty of discrimination which necessarily arises out

of wisdom.

Intellect is the discriminating faculty, the discerning ability or

the judging capacity in man. Man's intellect is of two

distinct

types, namely the gross and the subtle. Gross

intellect is that

aspect of his discrimination which is applicable to

the realm of the

terrestrial world, that part of the intellect which

distinguishes

between the pairs of opposites existing in this world,

distinguishes

between day and night, black and white, joy and sorrow

etc. Subtle

intellect is the other aspect of his discrimination

which

distinguishes between the infinite and the finite, the

real and the

unreal, the transcendental and the terrestrial. A man

of realisation

like Lord Ganesh is one who has fully developed both

his gross and

subtle intellects. He has perfect understanding and

knowledge of the

terrestrial as well as transcendental.

The trunk of an elephant has the unique capacity of performing both

gross and subtle activities. A trunk can uproot a

tree. It can pick

up a needle from the ground. One rarely finds gross

and subtle

operations being performed by a single instrument. A

spanner which is

used for fitting a locomotive is useless for repairing

a wrist-watch.

The elephant's trunk is an exception to this rule. It serves both

ways. So does Lord Ganesh's

intellect penetrate the realms of the

material and spiritual worlds. That is the state which

man must

aspire to reach. A man of Perfection is thus rooted in

the supreme

wisdom. He is not victimised by likes (raaga) and dislikes (dwesha).

He is not swayed by agreeable and disagreeable circumstances,

pleasant and unpleasant happenings, good and bad

environment. In

other words, he is not victimised by the pairs of

opposites existing

in this world. Heat and cold, joy and sorrow, honour

and .dishonour

do not affect him, influence him or harass him. He has

transcended

the limitations of opposites in the world. He is dwandwa-ateetha,

beyond opposites. This idea is well represented in

Lord Ganesh by

having one of his tusks broken. The common man is

tossed between the

two opposites (tusks). He should endeavour to overcome

the influence

of the pairs of opposites in him. Man ought not to act

merely by his

likes and dislikes, these are his worst enemies he has

to control and

conquer. When he has completely mastered the influence

of these pairs

in him, he becomes a Lord Ganesh.

Lord Ganesh's large belly is meant to convey that a

man of

Perfection can consume and digest whatever experiences he undergoes.

Heat or cold, war or peace, birth or death and other such trials and

tribulations do not toss him up and down. He maintains

an unaffected

grace in and through all these fluctuations of the

world.

Figuratively, he is represented as being able to stomach and digest

all types of experiences. In Hindu mythology, Kubera,

the god of

wealth offered a dinner to Lord Ganesh in his palace.

Lord Ganesh ate

all the food that was prepared for the entire

gathering of guests.

Thereafter still dissatisfied, he started eating the festive

decorations that were used for the occasion. At this

juncture his

father Lord Siva approached him and offered him a

handful of roasted

rice. Lord Ganesh consumed the roasted rice and his

hunger was

satisfied immediately. This story is a directive to

mankind that man

can never be satisfied with the joys provided by the

world of objects

represented by Kubera's

feast. Material pursuits can never give

peace, contentment or happiness to mankind. The only

way to attain

absolute fulfilment or peace is by consuming your own vasanas which

are the unmanifest desires

in you. The destruction of vasanas is

represented by the consumption of roasted rice. When

rice is roasted

it loses its capacity to germinate. The consumption of

roasted rice

indicates the destruction of vasanas

or desires in you. Thereafter

you remain in a state of absolute peace and bliss.

Lord Ganesh sits with one leg folded up and the other leg resting on

the ground. The leg on the ground indicates that one

aspect of his

personality is dealing with the world while the other

is ever-rooted

in single-pointed concentration upon the supreme

Reality. Such a man

lives in the world like anyone else, but his

concentration and

meditation are ever- rooted in the Atman within

himself. This idea is

symbolised in the above posture. At the feet of the

Lord is spread

abundance of food. Food represents material wealth,

power and

prosperity. When a man follows the high principles of

living

indicated above he achieves these material gains. He

has them always

at his command though he has an attitude of

indifference towards

them. Beside the food is a tiny rat looking up towards

Lord Ganesh.

The rat does not touch the food but waits for the master's sanction

as it were for consuming it. The rat represents

desire. A rat has a

small mouth and tiny sharp teeth. But it is the

greediest of all

animals. Its greed and acquisitiveness are so great

that it steals

more than it can eat and hoards more than it can

remember, often

abandoning burrows full of hoarded grains through

forgetfulness. This

predominant trait in a rat justifies amply its symbolism

as desire.

One little desire entering man's mind can destroy all his material

and spiritual wealth earned for many long years. The

rat looking up

therefore denotes that the desires in a perfect man

are absolutely

under control. The activities of such a man are

motivated by his

clear discrimination and judgement rather than by an

emotional

craving to enjoy the variety of sense objects of the

world.

There is a belief amongst the Hindus that it is inauspicious to see

the moon on the Vinayaka Chaturthi day, that is, the

birthday of Lord

Ganesh. The Puranic story

says that the moon saw Lord Ganesh riding

on his tiny rat and laughed at the ludicrous scene.

For this reason

the moon is condemned and people are forbidden to see

it on this day.

Lord Ganesh riding on his rat indicates a man of Perfection trying to

use his limited body, mind and intellect to convey the

illimitable

Truth. The body, mind and intellect are finite. They

cannot express

the infinite Atman. A man of Realisation finds it almost

impossible

to convey his infinite experience through his finite

equipments.

Hence we find the words and deeds of all spiritual masters are

peculiar and incomprehensible. The common man's

intellect cannot

comprehend the Truth. The moon is the presiding deity

of the mind.

The moon laughing at Ganapati riding on the rat indicates the

ignorant scoffing at the man of Realisation's attempt

to convey the

Truth. This attitude of scoffing at spiritual

preceptors and precepts

is detrimental to humanity. The generations are

therefore warned not

to laugh or scoff at the spiritual messages. If they

do, they meet

with degradation and disaster.

Lord Ganesh has four arms. The four arms represent the four inner

equipments of the subtle body, namely mind (manas), intellect

(buddhi), ego (ahamkar) and conditioned consciousness {chitta).

Lord

Ganesh represents the pure Consciousness, the Atman which enables

these four equipments to function in you. In one hand

he holds an axe

and in another a rope. The axe symbolises the destruction

of all

desires and attachments and their consequent

agitations and sorrows.

The rope is meant to pull the seeker out of his worldly entanglements

and bind him to the everlasting and enduring bliss of

his own Self.

In the third hand he holds a rice ball {modaka). Modaka represents

the joyous rewards of spiritual seeking. A seeker

gains the joy of

satisfaction and contentment as he progresses on the

path of

spiritual evolution. In the fourth hand he holds a

lotus (padma). The

lotus represents the supreme goal of human evolution.

By holding the

lotus in his hand he draws the attention of all

seekers to that

supreme state that each one of them can aspire for and

reach through

proper spiritual practices. He blesses all his

devotees to reach the

supreme state of Reality. Thus by indicating to

mankind the goal of

human evolution and the path to reach the same. Lord Ganesh

occupies a place of distinction in the Hindu pantheon.

May he give us

all the strength and courage to pursue the path which

he has led and

may we gain that supreme goal which he has reached.

12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">

font-family:Arial">