Shri ganesha is one of the most beloved deities of the Indians. Let us see what makes this deity, and, His festival so special……..
Of all the Indian deities, Shri Ganesha is the one who is prayed the first and foremost. There are lots of hidden secrets about this God which are unveiled in the Devi Mahatmyam. I read the Devi Mahatmyam and understood the following facts about Shri Ganesha.
Let us start with the story of the beginning of the universe. When the universe was first created by the Divine (the Aadishakti) She wanted to create a principle on the basis of which She could create the whole world. The Shakti who had finished Her long penance of Shri Shiva scrubbed the dirt which had accumulated on Her body and created a very wonderful child with it, Who had just one charka (energy centre) within him. This charka is called as the Mooladhara charka. This charka when enlightened within a person invokes the quality of innocence in him. The other quality which comes as a blessing from this charka is wisdom. It is this same wisdom which guides the conscience inside a man and gives him the power of discriminating between the right and the wrong. This charka is usually active inside a child. Thus it can be said that the person who has a very good Mooladhara charka has all the qualities of a wise child within him. That is why children are referred to as next to God in our country. As this deity was the first one to be created by the divine, He is always prayed first. No auspicious work or ceremony or Puja can be started without Him. It is on his basis and principle that we all are created.
There is no specific form of Shri Ganesha. There are various forms of Him praised in India. A few very well known forms are:
1. Buddhi Ganapati- the Ganapati with an excellent brain
2. Vidya Ganapati- the Ganapati of knowledge
3. Rudrapriya Ganapati- the Ganapati who likes Rudraksha (a natural decorating substance used by Male Deities), which is adored by His Father- Shri Shiva who is one of the eleven Rudras (Rudras are the fierce Gods who bring about destruction throughout the universe when in a very fierce fit of anger).
4. Vighneshwara Ganapati- the Ganapati who destroys all the obstacles of His devotees.
5. Riddhi Ganapati- the Ganapati who gives Riddhi (wealth).
6. Siddhi Ganapati- the Ganapati who gives Siddhi (achievements in penances).
7. Bal Ganapati- the Ganapati who bestows the qualities of a child upon His devotees. And so on…………….
The list is very huge, but the above ones are the most widely known ones. Shri Ganesha has four hands. One of his hands holds a Goad, and the other three have a snake, a bowl filled with modak (sweets) and a Pot. He is also shown having a pink lotus in one of His hands. This pink lotus signifies the quality of love which is free of lust as found in a child.
The pot in the hand of Ganesha is nothing but the Ghata (Pitcher) which is filled with the creative desires of God. The snake represents the Kundalini- a coiled serpent of energy, which resides in our sacrum bone. The goad is His weapon. And, as he is a very sweet child, He is very fond of sweets. His large head symbolizes wisdom, understanding and a discriminating intellect. The wide mouth represents the natural human desire to enjoy life. The large ears signify that a perfect person is someone who has a capacity to listen to others and assimilate the ideas. The trunk relates to the power of the human mind which must be strong enough to face the ups and downs in ones life and yet be delicate enough to explore the subtle realms of the inner spirit. The two tusks denote the two aspects of human personality- wisdom and emotion. The right tusk (the larger one) represents wisdom and the left one (the broken one) represents emotion. When we sync these we understand that we have to overcome our emotions using our wisdom. The eyes are blue, which is the color of witness. i.e. we have to look at the things around us as a witness without reacting towards them. This helps us maintain inner peace and balance. Also elephant eyes makes the things around them appear a bit larger than what they actually are. This teaches us that no matter however big we are, in terms of wealth and wisdom, we should never underestimate the smaller people and perceive them to be bigger than what they actually are. That is, one should surrender ones pride and attain humility.
Such is the significance of this elephant faced God who is an eternal child of the Aadishkti. Another very good quality of Shri Ganesha is that He is not afraid of anybody as he is just a child. And as he is a very surrendered child, He respects and follows everything that His mother says. He is very obedient and sees all the deities in this world inside His mother. It is on this same Ganesha principle that the human beings are created. That is why a newly born child is considered to be next to divine. The shine in their loving eyes denote the love of a child towards His mother. It is the same reason why children always do small-small things so as to grab the attention of their mothers. Also during the festival of Ganesha Chaturthi observing fast isn’t a very good idea. As this beautiful deity is a child, and has a fat stomach which denotes satisfaction and happiness, it is better to eat sufficient food and stay happy. Imagine a God coming to your house and seeing that you are staying hungry in His name! He will definitely not like it. Eat snacks but eat till you are completely satisfied. God likes to see his devotees happy and filled with joy.
Hope that the above article will make clear the significance of this great deity in our very own lives. Have a nice day. Jay Ganesh………
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