Lord Ganesha

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Lord Ganesha

Lord Ganesha - the Hindu deity in a human form but with the head of an elephant

- represents the power of the Supreme Being that removes obstacles and ensures

success in human endeavors. For this reason, Hindus worship Ganesha first

before beginning any religious, spiritual or worldly activity. In Hindu

mythology, Lord Ganesha is the first son of Lord Shiva and the Divine Mother

Parvati. Their second son is Lord Subramanya and their daughter is Jyoti. As

explained below, the portrayal of Lord Ganesha as the blend of human and animal

parts symbolizes the ideals of perfection as conceived by Hindu sages and

illustrates some philosophical concepts of profound spiritual significance.

Elephant head, wide mouth, and large ears: the large head of an elephant

symbolizes wisdom, understanding, and a discriminating intellect that one must

possess to attain perfection in life. The wide mouth represents the natural

human desire to enjoy life in the world. The large ears signify that a perfect

person is the one who possesses a great capacity to listen to others and

assimilate ideas. The trunk and two tusks with the left tusk broken: there is

no known human instrument that has an operating range as wide as that of an

elephant's trunk. It can uproot a tree and yet lift a needle off the ground.

Likewise, the human mind must be strong enough to face the ups and downs of the

external world and yet delicate enough to explore the subtle realms of the inner

world. The two tusks denote the two aspects of the human personality, wisdom and

emotion. The right tusk represents wisdom and the left tusk represents emotion.

The broken left tusk conveys the idea that one must conquer emotions with

wisdom to attain perfection. Elephant eyes: the elephant eyes are said to

possess natural deceptiveness that allows them to perceive objects to be bigger

than what they really are. Thus the elephant eyes symbolize the idea that even

if an individual gets "bigger and bigger" in wealth and wisdom, he should

perceive others to be bigger than himself; that is, surrender one's pride and

attain humility. The four arms and various objects in the four hands: the four

arms indicate that the Lord is omnipresent and omnipotent. The left side of the

body symbolizes emotion and the right side symbolizes reason. An axe in the

upper left hand and a lotus in the upper right hand signify that in order to

attain spiritual perfection, one should cut worldly attachments and conquer

emotions. This enables one to live in the world without being affected by

earthly temptations, just as a lotus remains in water but is not affected by

it. A tray of Laddus (a popular snack) near the Lord denotes that He bestows

wealth and prosperity upon His devotees. The lower right hand is shown in a

blessing pose, which signifies that Ganesha always blesses His devotees. A

human body with a big belly: the human body possesses a human heart, which is a

symbol of kindness and compassion toward all. Ganesha's body is usually

portrayed wearing red and yellow clothes. Yellow symbolizes purity, peace and

truthfulness. Red symbolizes the activity in the world. These are the qualities

of a perfect person who perforrns all duties in the world, with purity, peace,

and truthfulness. The big belly signifies that a perfect individual must have a

large capacity to face all pleasant and unpleasant experiences of the world. A

mouse sitting near the feet of Ganesha and gazing at the tray of Laddus: a

mouse symbalizes the ego that can nibble all that is good and noble in a

person. A mouse sitting near the feet of Ganesha indicates that a perfect

person is one who has conquered his (or her) ego. A mouse gazing at the Laddus,

but not consuming them, denotes that a purified or controlled ego can live in

the world without being affected by the worldly temptations. The mouse is also

the vehicle of Ganesha, signifying that one must control ego in order for

wisdom to shine forth. Right foot dangling over the left foot: as stated above,

the left side of the body symbolizes emotion and the right side symbolizes

reason and knowledge. The right foot dangling over the left foot illustrates

that in order to live a successful life one should utilize knowledge and reason

to overcome emotions. - Bansi Pandit

Pictures

 

 

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