Ganesha...power of the Supreme Being...

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font-family:Arial">Namaste all,

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font-family:Arial">From http://ikashmir.org/Gods/God8.html

Something on

the symbolism found within the murti of Lord Ganesh.

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12.0pt;font-family:Arial">Om Shanti,

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font-family:Arial">Neil

 

 

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Lord

Ganesha

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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.

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Verdana;color:#000099;font-weight:bold">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.

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Verdana;color:#000099;font-weight:bold">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.

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Verdana;color:#000099;font-weight:bold">Elephant eyes:

font-family:Verdana;color:#000099"> 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.

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Verdana;color:#000099;font-weight:bold">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.

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Verdana;color:#000099;font-weight:bold">A human body with a big belly:

font-family:Verdana;color:#000099"> 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.

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Verdana;color:#000099;font-weight:bold">A mouse sitting near the feet of

Ganesha and gazing at the tray of Laddus:

font-family:Verdana;color:#000099"> a mouse symbolizes 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.

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Verdana;color:#000099;font-weight:bold">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.

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Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;color:#000099;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">-

Verdana;color:#000099;font-weight:bold">Bansi

Verdana;color:#000099;font-weight:bold"> Pandit

 

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