Meaning of Lord Ganesha
Get
Always
New
Energy
Spirit
Happiness
At all times
The festival of Ganesha Chaturthi is celebrated on the fourth day of the month of Bhadarva (11th month in the Hindu calendar). All the Hindus celebrate this day to mark the birthday of Ganesha. The day is celebrated with lots of pomp and pageantry in the State of Maharashtra in India. People make a status of Ganesha out of soil and make offering with sweetmeats (ladu). Puja is performed with the use of water, flowers, incense, etc. and a ‘diya’ is also lighted. People in the State of Maharashtra celebrate the day with a big procession. The procession passes through villages, bazaars and the statue of Ganesha is finally immersed in a lake, river or sea.
We give importance to this day. There is a legend about this festival. It is said the once Parvitiji was taking her bath. She made a statue of Ganesha, put vital life force in it and put it as a guard outside the door so that no one would enter the bath-room. At that time Lord Shiva arrived there. Ganesha refused him entry. Lord Shiva cut off his head in rage. Parvati became very angry because of this action. She was very unhappy. Lord Shiva asked Parvati for her forgiveness. He ordered his men to cut out the head of the first one he met. His men met an elephant first and so they chopped his head off. This elephant head was placed on the headless body of Ganesha. Ganesha became alive again. Lord Shiva gave a promise to Parvati: “Your son, Ganesha, will be the first one to be worshipped among all the Devas from today”. And so even today we worship or do Ganpati’s puja first whenever we start an auspicious work. Ganapati is worshipped as the Deva of Knowledge and achievement. Hindus perform his puja even today without fail in order that nothing goes wrong in any work and all that is begun may end well.
Ganpati has four hands; one has ‘Ankush’, second has ‘pash’, third has ‘modak’ and fourth has ‘aashirvad’ (blessings). ‘Ankush’ signifies that it is necessary to have check or control over passions. ‘Pash’ signifies that it can punish a wrong doer if necessary. ‘Modak’ signifies happiness. The fourth hand signifies prosperity by showering blessings. Ganpati’s small elephant like eyes inspire man to have sharp vision in one’s life. His large stomach signifies that on should keep secrets or all that one hears should be buried in a big stomach! The Elephant’s big nose is capable of smelling things far off. Man should also be far sighted. He should also get a smell or come to know of all things first. Ganpati’s symbol is a mouse. It signifies that it is not only capable to move about the doorsteps of the house but that it can also move inside the house through this vehicle. It is because of this very reason that Ganapati or Ganesha should have foremost place in every Hindu home.
Language or Puranas written by our rishis are full of deep meanings and metaphors. Talks written in the form of stories about how to keep our society strong give us the darshan of life. Wise people practise it in their life by understanding its deeper meanings. At the same time readers get a lot of pleasure by reading these stories. That is quite an achievement. We bow reverently to Shree Ganesha.
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