SHREE GANESHAY NAMAHA - Lord Ganesha - The Demolisher of Obstacles
Out of many names of Lord Ganesha the second most famous name is Vighnaharta which means the destroyer of obstacles and so he is always worshipped first before any auspicious ritual or occasion. He is ever-blissful and is lovingly worshipped and prayed upon by millions of people worldwide. The son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, Shree Ganesha, is the God of Good Luck and Auspiciousness and is the dispeller of troubles and obstacles. We worship Lord Ganesha with a bunch of delicate green grass strands which is called "Darbha". Lord Ganesha is said to be the embodiment of Omkara. In Om, the upward arc (Chandra Bindu) is said to be the face of Lord Ganesha. The lower arc symbolizes his belly. The twisted arc which is on the right side of the Om is envisioned as his trunk. Thus Omkara manifests the complete physical form of Lord Ganesha. As every recital starts with an Omkara, consequently all rituals too start only after praying Lord Ganesha, otherwise it is believed that the ritual does not reach to a fruitful end. The word Ganesha is summation of two words, Gana (people) and Isha (lord). Hindus worship Lord Ganesha with different other names like Vignaharta, Ashtavinayaka, Ekadanta, Gajanana, Vakratunda and Ganpathi.
"Aum Gam Ganpatye Namah"
This is the Lord Ganesha’s mantra. This mantra is very divine and has great power.
Birth Of Lord Ganesha :
Lord Ganesha was born on the 4th day after the Amavasya (ascending phase of moon) in the month of Bhadrapada. The birth of Lord Ganesha is in Hastha Nakshatra and Kanya Rashi. The Indian Scriptures says that Lord Ganesha was created by the Goddess Parvati as a conservator of her privacy. The tale of the birth of the Lord Ganesha, as narrated in Shiv Purana, goes like this :
Once Goddess Parvati, while bathing, created an effigy of a boy out of the dirt of her body, announcing him to be her own son. He was titled as "Ganesha". She instructed Lord Ganesha to stand vigilant and guard the cave entrance while she was taking bath. Soon after that, Lord Shiva came to meet Goddess Parvati, but Ganesha blocked his way and prevented Lord Shiva from entering the Parvati kaksh. Lord Shiva, who was totally unaware about the fact that this boy was his very own son, got infuriated and decided to fight with Ganesha. In his mystical rage, Lord Shiva chopped off the head of Lord Ganesha from his body. When Goddess Parvati came to know about this incident, she was so enraged and in agony that in aggrieved anguish she decided to destroy the entire creation. Lord Shiva, little calmed down by now realized his mistake and promised to bring Ganesha back to life. He sent out his Ganas (followers) and other Devtas to bring the head of the first living being that comes across their path while travelling towards the north direction. They shortly returned with the head of strong and powerful elephant. Lord Shiva fixed the head onto Ganesha’s body. Breathing new life into him, he made a declaration that affirmed Ganesha to be his own son as well, and granted him the status of being foremost among the Gods.
Significance of Lord Ganesha’s form :
The portrayal of Lord Ganesha is the combination of human as well as animal parts, and indicates the ideals of perfection as described by Hindu sages and illustrates some philosophical concepts of profound spiritual significance :
- At very first glance our sight rests on the trunk of Lord Ganesha which is an elephant’s trunk & has the ability to uproot a tree and yet can lift a needle as well off the ground.
- The next thing we see are the big ears and broad mouth. The large head of Lord Ganesha symbolizes wisdom and understanding. The large ears signify that every human being should possess a great quality to listen to others with patience.
- Ganesha has been shown with one tusk while the other one is half broken. The two tusks denote the two facets of human personality, wisdom and emotion. The right tusk represents wisdom while the left tusk represents emotion. The broken left tusk conveys the idea that one must overrule their emotions with wisdom to attain perfection.
- The elephant eyes are said to possess natural intensity that enable the vision to identify as well as magnify so that objects appear to be bigger than what they actually are.
- Lord Ganesha has four hands and each of his hand reveals different meanings. It also confirms that the god is omnipresent and omnipotent. A hatchet in the upper left hand and a lotus in the upper right hand signify that in order to attain spiritual perfection, one should ignore the worldly attachments and get control over senses and emotions.
- Lord Ganesha has a big belly which signifies that a person should be capable of keeping all the pleasant & unpleasant experiences of the world within himself.
- The right foot resting over the left foot illustrates that in order to live a successful life one should utilize knowledge and wisdom to overcome affection.
- Lord Ganesha is observed sitting on the rat. This rat is the symbol of our senses, which are never satisfied just like a rat who never gets satisfied and keeps on nibbling everything. Similarly our senses always crave for new things & a wise man should get control over senses by following Lord Ganesha as an idol.
And finally when we chant "Om Ganeshay Namaha" before starting anything, we assure ourselves that whatever we do, let our wisdom take over us. Thus in a nut-shell, Lord Ganesha, who is the epitome of wisdom in our life is also an inseparable part of ourselves.
