Guest guest Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 Om Namah Sivaya By Sri Swami Krishnananda Human mind is elated and enthused by hearing stories. Image, painting, music, idols, dance, any kind of picturesque presentation of religion and spirituality or philosophy is generally more appealing than cut and dry logic, as you know very well. So the Puranas and the Epics bring home to us the idea of the necessity to accept the power of God as the only medium by which obstacles can be removed. So, He is called Vighnesvara, the God who is not merely the Ganapati or the ruler of the hosts or Ganas, but also a Remover of all impediments on alt paths. I have heard a story when I was a small boy told by a neighbour. There was a person who never believed in Gods and when his daughter's marriage was to be performed, someone said, "First of all you must worship Ganesa. Do not be in a hurry." He replied, "Let him be Ganesa or his grandfather, I do not care for anybody." He took the Murti of Ganesa and threw it into the tank. And suddenly, they say, there was a fire and the whole marriage Pandal was aflame. People bet their breasts, cried, ran to the tank and brought back the image. And then, it is said, there was rain, after Ganesa was worshipped. These are all stories and we have to take them for what they are worth. But there is something mysterious about things. Everything is not clear to the minds of men. There are great secrets. And as I began by saying, the spiritual path is itself a great secret. The little Japa that you do, the scriptures that you read, the audience that you hold and whatever you appear to be doing, is only an outer crust of the mystery of life. The mystery is finally in yourself. You yourself do not know who is goading you to think in this manner. That goading principle is the mystery. If you recognise this mystery within you which mystifies even your intelligence and your efforts, you will be humble, simple and small before God, because spiritual Sadhana is an art of becoming smaller and smaller. It is not to become bigger and bigger. A person becomes smaller and smaller as he approaches God, just as a candle flame becomes dimmer and dimmer as it goes nearer and nearer to the sun; and just before the sun, it is not there? You cannot see even its existence. It vanishes. Likewise, when we approach God, we become smaller and smaller, humbler and humbler, littler and littler, until we become nothing. In this nothingness, we will find God Himself filling us. When there is total emptiness created by an abolition of ourselves, in this emptiness or vacuum created, God fills Himself. The Mahaganapati Purana, the Ganapati Atharvasirsha Upanishad, the Ganesa Gita and several anecdotes occurring in the Mahabharata and the other Puranas glorify this aspect of the Supreme Almighty which requires our submission at His feet, and expects us to recognise Him as the sole power that can remove all obstacles on the path of the spiritual seeker towards the attainment of Godhead. This seems to be a part of the meaning hidden behind the holy worship of Bhagavan Ganapati or Sri Ganesa or Mahaganapati. A dread enters our minds when we think of His Name on account of the feeling that any displeasure on His part may be a doom to us. People are afraid even to forget taking the holy Prasada of Sri Satyanarayana Puja because of the story behind it. Do you know what will happen to you if you do not take the Prasada? It is mentioned in the story that the whole thing will be finished--all your wealth, property, wife, children, etc., will go to dogs in one second. The fear of it makes you bow down and wait for the Prasada even if it is late in the night. These stories are not meaningless narrations of cock and bull incidents. They instil into our minds a divine urge and a fear of the Divine Presence. After all we are human beings who are ruled more by sentiments and feelings than by our reason or our so-called understanding. This psychology of the human being is taken advantage of by the writers of the Epics and the Puranas to instil faith in our hearts through these stories. Thus is a little tribute to the glory of Maha Ganapati. Sivaya Namah All new Mail "The new Interface is stunning in its simplicity and ease of use." - PC Magazine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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