Lord Ganesha is the most favoured Lord of the Hindu Pantheon and no worship is deemed to be of any value unless He is worshipped initially. Lord Ganesha is the remover of all obstacles and overcomes all challenges in life.
In Hindu mythological literature Lord Ganesha is described as having a human form with an elephant head. One tusk is broken and the stomach is conspicuously large. He sits with one leg crossed. A variety of food is spread at his feet. A rat sits near the food and looks at him. Lord Ganesha represents the supreme state of human perfection and also represents the practical path to achieve this state.
Sravana or listening and manana or independent reflection are the first criteria for spiritual education. The large ears and head indicate this achievement. An elephant’s head represents supreme wisdom.
The trunk represents intellect which is the faculty of discrimination and arises out of spiritual wisdom. A person of realization like Lord Ganesha is one who has fully developed both the gross and subtle intellects. He has perfect understanding and knowledge of the terrestrial and transcendent worlds.
Perfection in man is embedded in the supreme wisdom. He is not affected by likes and dislikes or agreeable and disagreeable circumstances, pleasant or unpleasant happenings, good or bad environment. The pair of opposites does not affect a man of perfection. This is well represented in Lord Ganesha having a tusk broken. Man must therefore not merely act by his likes and dislikes. The large belly conveys that a man of perfection can consume and digest any kind of experiences he undergoes. He maintains unaffected grace in and through all fluctuations of the world.
Lord Ganesha sits with one leg resting on the floor and one folded up indicating that He is simultaneously in touch with the terrestrial world and the supreme reality.
At the feet of the Lord appears an abundance of food which represents wealth, power and prosperity. If one lives on high spiritual principles one can achieve material gain through one that has an attitude of indifference.
Besides the food is a rat. The rat represents desire. A rat causes a great deal of destruction out of uncontrolled greed. Similarly uncontrolled desires can destroy all one’s material and spiritual wealth acquired over many years.
The four arms of Lord Ganesha represent the mind, intellect, ego, and conditioned consciousness which enables these four equipments to function harmoniously in one.
The axe and the rope are held in both upper hands. The axe symbolizes the destruction of all desires and attachments whereas the rope is meant to pull the seeker out of his worldly entanglements (thereby enjoying bliss in his own self).
In the third hand, He holds a rice ball representing joyous rewards for spiritual seeking. The fourth hand holds a lotus indicating that supreme state that each one can aspire to and reach through proper spiritual practices.
God is everybody’s inspirer. God-inspired people work spontaneously for the welfare of all. They find their highest delight in such work. They always stay above theological and sectarian barriers and fights. Their hearts embrace all with divine love for they “see the Lord in all and all in the Lord”.
May Lord Ganesha grant us strength, courage and guidance to pursue that spiritual path which ultimately allows one to discover one’s innerself, one’s atma, that supreme State of Reality.
ISSUE 9 SUTRA™
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