~*~ Lord Ganesha * For Ganesh Chaturthi ~*~

[Guest guest]

Ganesh Chaturthi is back, and with it the most lovable deity of contemporary

Hinduism, larger and more beautiful year after year. The public celebration of

the festival has spread to the whole country.

 

Huge Ganesha images are installed on street corners, highways and in remote

villages. "All obstacles, whatever they may be, are rooted out by worshipping

Ganesha," is the blessing necessary to any society.

 

Ganesha derives all his qualities from the elephant. The elephant is huge and

strong yet gentle, qualities of Ganesha. The elephant is known to be wise:

Ganesha symbolises wisdom and knowledge. The elephant's sharp hearing translates

into Ganesha's ability to listen and acquire knowledge.

 

The elephant has a long trunk (nose) and a keen sense of smell: Lord Ganesha's

trunk can sniff out good and evil. The trunk can hold objects, making Ganesha a

great scribe. His mouse vehicle represents the speed with which the elephant can

move. The elephant clears every obstacle, making him Vighneswara, dispeller of

obstacles. The elephant is attached to his mother till he is a teenager: Ganesha

is always a young boy (Tamil: pillai), attached to his mother Parvati.

 

 

....

 

[but] as we pray to our Beloved Lord Ganesha, spare a thought for the precious

tortured and murdered elephants. Are we being kind to them?

 

The elephant goad and noose in Ganesha's hands must remind us of human cruelty

to this noble creature who once roamed most of the Mother Earth. We worship and

adore the elephant-headed God. Let us treat the elephant with the same love we

shower on Ganesha.

 

~*~ OM Ganeshaya Namah: ! ~*~

 

~*~ Beloved Lord Ganesha! How can the cruel humans be stopped!? ~*~

 

Excerpted from "Elephantine Irony" by Nanditha Krishna