Legend of Ganesha

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Ganesha, also known as Vinayaka (the prominent leader), is the

elephant-headed Hindu god of wisdom, literature and worldly success. He is

thought to derive from an animistic deity, possibly a Dravidian (aboriginal)

sun god. Ganesha is a propitious god, promising success, prosperity, and

peace and is invoked before any sort of enterprise. It is his responsibility

to decide between success and failure, to remove obstacles or create them as

necessary. His pot-belly symbolizes a pitcher full of prosperity, a sort of

abdominal cornucopia.

 

Ganesha has many names. The main ones are Ganapati (Lord of the tribe or

attendants), Vighnesvara (controller of all obstacles), Gajanana

(elephant-faced), Gajadhipati (Lord of elephants), Lambkarn (long-eared),

Lambodar (pendant-bellied) and Ekadant (having one tusk).

Ganesha is said to have been the son of Parvati and Shiva. His task in life

was to guard his mother and once while doing so he foolishly failed to

recognize Shiva himself who had come seeking his consort. Trying to defend

his mother's bath, Ganesha was beheaded by Shiva who later was persuaded by

Parvati to revive him. He promised Ganesha that he should have the head of

the first creature who happened along. An elephant, the wisest of animals,

appeared and became the involuntary donor in the first successful head

transplant in history.

 

Ganesha was a glutton. One evening, having stuffed himself to capacity, he

decided to take a post-prandial ride on his favored mount, Mooshika, a rat

or shrew. Along the moonlit road they chanced upon a large snake and the

startled rat bolted, throwing the gross Ganesha. Ganesha fell heavily; he

hit the ground so hard that his stomach burst open. Gathering up the remains

of his self-esteem, his ample guts and the snake, Ganesha wittily used the

reptile as a belt and tied himself up together again. Howls of derision

shattered the peaceful scene; it was the moon who had witnessed the whole

incident with great relish. Ganesha lost his temper and angrily looked about

for something to throw at his tormentor. Finding nothing suitable, he ripped

off one of his own tusks and hurled it at the moon. He added a vindictive

curse that every so often the moon would lose its power of giving light.

 

Another explanation of his missing tusk is that he plucked it out in his

enthusiasm to write down the Mahabharata, the Hindu religious epic, at the

dictation of sage Vyasa. He was after all the Hindu god of learning and the

patron of letters. Would that all in the literary world were as kind, gentle

and well-meaning as Ganesha.

 

Ganesha is depicted with having four arms. These symbolize him as the

universal ruler establishing four categories of beings -- firstly those who

can live only in water, secondly those who can live in water and earth,

thirdly those who can live only on earth and lastly those who can fly in the

air. Moreover it is also Ganesha who instituted the four castes and four

Vedas. One hymn in Sri Bhagavat Tathva, an ancient scripture, says:

 

"In heaven this child will establish the predominance of gods,

on earth that of men, in the nether world that of the anti-gods

and serpents. He causes the four principles of the elements to

move and is therefore four-armed. In one hand he is shown to

have a shell, in another a discus, in the third a club or a sweet

cake and in the fourth a water lily."

 

The vehicle of Ganesha is a mouse. As rats generally succeed in gnawing

their way through every obstruction, the rat symbolizes this god's ability

to destroy every obstacle. Being an elephant he passes through the thickest

of wild growth in a forest, uproots and tears to smithereens the thickest

trees hindering his path and fells out whatever comes in his way. While

drilling holes like a mouse he can also slip through the narrowest of spaces

and thickest of the walls. Moreover, the mouse is deemed to be the master of

inside everything. The all-pervading Atman (soul) is the mouse that lives in

the hole called Intellect, within the heart of every being. It hides itself

behind the inscrutable shape of illusion.

 

The legend about Ganesha having preference over all other gods establishes

his sharpness of intellect. There was a keen competition amongst all gods to

gain the first place of worship amongst the laity. It was decided that the

god who would return first after traversing the whole universe shall be

declared the winner. All gods and goddesses ran on their fast vehicles.

Ganesh with his pot-bellied body and mouse's vehicle could never hope to

compete. He took a round of his parents, Shiva and Parvati, and just sat

there at the starting point. He was declared the winner because one who goes

round his parents and touches their feet traverses the whole universe. Since

then Ganesha is always worshipped first and every other god takes a back

seat. Another legend says that when Parvati saw an elephant's head being

fixed on her son's body, she burst into tears and could not be soothed. To

pacify her Brahma announced that amongst the worship of all the gods, that

of Ganesha should forever bear the first preference.

 

Ganesha has two wives, one named Siddhi (Success) and the other named Riddhi

(Prosperity). Of course one who pleases the Lord automatically comes into

the good books of his two wives!

 

As the Lord of Obstacles and the personification of those qualities which

surmount all difficulties, Ganesha is often honored at the outset of any

project or test and consequently has become particularly popular with modern

businessmen and students. He is the typical lord of success in life and its

accompaniments of good living, prosperity and peace. In all ceremonies

(except funeral rites) Ganesha is first involked. He is revered by most

Hindus, whether followers of Shiva or Vishnu.

 

Ganesha represents the unity of the Small Being, the man, with the Great

Being, the elephant. It is the blending of the microcosm with macrocosm, of

drop of water with the ocean and of individual soul with divinity.

 

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