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Hinduism
The Significance of Lord
Ganesha
– The God for All Reasons
by Rajgopal Nidamboor
 Everybody
knows the story of Lord Ganesha – perhaps, the most-favored, or
favorite, of our gods. Yet, there’s more to the fascinating
elephant-headed god’s tale than what meets our mind.
The Ganesha legend is a blessing – and, for all the good reasons.
Because, unlike many fairy-tales, or myths – be it Indian, or Western –
with their sometimes tragic results, everybody in the story is happy.
Most of us know the story of how Ganesha celestially “evolved,” thanks
to Parvati’s grace – Her little guard on duty as She goes for a bath.
Her diktat: do not allow anyone, whosoever the visitor maybe.
When Shiva Himself comes, He is stopped by Ganesha, who remains
rock-solid even in the light of Shiva’s all-encompassing powerful
presence. The rest is history.
The best part – all is well as Shiva, Ganesha’s father, gets him the
famous elephant-head, and continues with His contemplation, Parvati, the
mother, maintains Her sovereignty, and the son, Ganesha, lives on,
“restored,” as scholar A K Ramanujan, put it, “to proximity with His
mother.” In so doing, the Ganesha narrative also brings a fresh
structure to the amazingly divine event – a new model of father-son and
mother-son relationship for our contemporary society.
It goes without saying that Parvati used Her great powers to declare
that Ganesha be raised to the level of God, and given very important
tasks. Hence, Ganesha became the God in charge of removing obstacles,
and also categories – a God, who plays a big part in lending a helping
hand to all human endeavors. Besides, He also facilitates us in all
beginnings – the beginning of a journey, a business, a job, a project,
or think of what you may.
What appeals most to every devotee – from kids to grown-ups – is
Ganesha’s lovely paunch. It tells us why He’s so fond of sweets! Not why
He has four arms – each with a special power for an especial “favor!”
The elephant in Him represents the greater Cosmos, or the macrocosm –
or, all that is beyond the Moon and stars. His human body mirrors the
small Cosmos, or the microcosm.
A Ganesha idol – an indispensable element of every home – depicts a
human being having in one’s persona the entire Cosmos, with all its
spiritual energies and authority.
Interestingly, there are other parallels to the Ganesha divinity. The
closest Western “chronicle” that is analogous to the Ganesha story is
Penelope and her son, Telemachus, while Odysseus is away. Telemachus is
his mother’s guardian. He is her only male ally. Penelope puts her
suitors – who think that Odysseus is most likely lost – off by tricking
them. And, when Odysseus finally arrives, after triumphing over
dangerous forces, we have a likeness to the moment of Shiva’s unexpected
return to Parvati.
However this maybe, there’s a novel dimension to the Ganesha legend than
any other. Ganesha stands as a doorkeeper when His mother takes bath.
But, He also reflects a mother’s grieving, in the aftermath of Shiva’s
homecoming. More so, because, every mother wants her son to receive a
“new head,” not in the literal sense, but when what was sweet and
delicious in their past together, is gone, as a “new head” is placed.
Hence, when the little boy, Ganesha, receives a new elephant head, He
becomes somehow a part of the Universe in a much deeper sense than
before. He has, quite simply, transformed, or shifted, from the maternal
realm to the social, and spiritual, world.
In a purely Indian context, Ganesha’s head symbolizes the Atman [soul]
-- the ultimate, or the supreme, reality of human existence. His human
body signifies maya, or illusion – the earthly existence of human
beings. The elephant head signifies wisdom, and the trunk epitomizes Om
– the sound emblem of cosmic reality. Ganesha also holds a goad, in His
upper right hand, which helps Him to thrust mankind forward on the
eternal path, and eliminate impediments on the way. What about the strap
in His left hand? It is but a gentle tool to arrest all difficulties –
surmountable and insurmountable.
As far as the broken tusk Ganesha holds like a “pen” is concerned, it is
a symbol of sacrifice – one that He split for scripting the
Mahabharata. The rosary suggests that the quest for knowledge should
be constant. The sweets He holds in His trunk indicate that one must
discover the everlasting sweetness of the eternal Atman. Also, Ganesha’s
fan-like ears convey that He is all ears to our pleas. This is not all.
The snake “encapsulating” His waist represents energy in all forms,
albeit Ganesha is Himself modest enough to navigate the world astride
the humble mouse.
The Ganesha story brings home an original message: that we must all do
our own deeds out of inclination in our own world, and for our own
reasons. Also, we must firmly hold to our own centre, without pulling
our gods far out of their centre, or asking them for special “gifts”
like a new car, or winning a lottery!
Reason: it’s only when devotion is observed without any ulterior motive
can we purify our mind and receive God’s – in Ganesh Chaturthi’s
perspective, Lord Ganesha’s – Grace.
September 9, 2007
Image under license with
Gettyimages.com
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