THE REMOVER OF OBSTACLES 2

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Om Namah Sivaya

 

By Sri Swami Krishnananda

 

 

 

 

 

We are terribly afraid of obstacles. There is no other fear in this world except obstacle. So, always we cry: "Remove the obstacles, clear the path, cleanse the road." On the fourth day of the bright half of the lunar month of Bhadrapada (August-September) every year, the great Lord called the Lord of Hosts, Ganapati, is worshipped throughout India, perhaps in many other parts of the world also. There is no Hindu who does not recognise the pre-eminence of the worship of this mysteriously conceived deity called Ganapati whose name occurs right in the beginning of the Rigveda itself, the earliest of scriptures, where pointedly the name is taken in a Mantra, "Gananam tva ganapatim havamahe..." The fear of God is supposed to be the beginning of religion. A person who has no fear of God has no religion also, because religion is respect for God. The fear of God goes together with the acceptance of the greatness of God and His Power. Wherever there is power, we are afraid of

it. An ocean, a lion, an elephant are all powerful things and we dread the very sight of them.

Tradition conceives this great Remover of obstacles, Ganapati, as the son of Lord Siva with a proboscis of an elephant and a protuberant belly, with weapons of various types and a benign gesture of goodwill, grace and blessing with His right hand. The family of Bhagavan Siva is of a peculiar set up. The Lord of all the worlds, lives as one possessing nothing! This manner of living in Mount Kailasa by the great Master of Yogis, Lord Siva, is perhaps a demonstration of the great definition of the glory of Bhagavan, the Supreme Being as possessed of all-knowledge, all-power and all-renunciation. What is Bhagavan and what are His characteristics? 'Bhagavan' is one who has six characteristics. "Aisvaryasya samagrasya viryasya yasasah sriyah; Jnana-Vairagyayoh chaiva shannam bhaga itirana"--these six characteristics mentioned are all called Bhaga. One who has Bhaga is called Bhagavan. All prosperity, all wealth, all treasure, all glory, all magnificence is Aisvarya. Entire

Aisvarya is there. Virya is tremendous energy, force and power. Yasas is fame and renown. Srih is prosperity. Jnana and Vairagya are the pinnacle of wisdom and the pinnacle of renunciation, respectively. Knowledge is supposed to be a benediction from Lord Siva Himself. In the Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana, at the commencement of the second Skandha, Sri Suka delineates the names of various deities who have to be adored for various purposes. "Jnanam Mahesvaradicchet--All knowledge is to be expected from the great Siva." They say that the ocean of Siva is incomprehensible; a part of it was contained in a pot by Brihaspati, and a spoon of it was taken by Panini who is the promulgator of Sanskrit grammar.

 

Sivaya Namah

 

 

 

 

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