Guruji speaks on the Elephant God: Ganesha

The Origin Of Lord Ganesha

We are all aware of the story of Ganesha's birth. Ganesha was born out of the collection of dirt from Parvati's body. Parvati is the high energy of a celebration or festival, and there is always some aspect of negativity in this high energy. This is symbolised by the dirt. When this body of dirt encountered the 'Shiva element', the 'Advait Tatva', its head, that is the Ego fell apart and was replaced by the head of an elephant. Lord Shiva himself blessed Ganesha that he would be worshipped and his blessings sought at the start of any auspicious occasion.

Unraveling Ganesha

Shiva and Parvati(this is where the word 'power' comes from; Parvati represents power) had been celebrating with great enthusiasm and Parvati had become dirty- signifying that celebration can easily become rajasic or feverish and take you away from your centre. So she removed all the dirt(symbolic of ignorance) from her body and created a boy-doll from this. She gave the doll life and asked him to keep guard at the door while she bathed. When Shiva(representing Supreme innocence, peace and knowledge) returned to Kailasha, the boy could not recognise him and so obstructed his passage, preventing him from entering. This signifies that ignorance(dirt) does not recognise wisdom or innocence. However, truth can eliminate ignorance. And so Shiva chopped off the boy's head- the head of ignorance and entered but when Parvati realised what had happened, she explained to Shiva that the boy was their son and Shiva had to save him. So he instructed his helpers to go and find someone with his head pointing to the north, someone in tune with the natural flow of energy and to bring back his head. They searched far and wide and were only able to find an elephant in such a state. So they brought back the head of the elephant and fitted it to the the body of the boy. This became Ganesha!

Now Ganesha is always depicted with a big belly, it represents GENEROSITY & TOTAL ACCEPTANCE. The enormous belly has a snake tied around it which stands for ACCEPTANCE with AWARENESS. Also we surrender all our dreams of woe and distress to Ganesha in the form of the 'Durva' grass. The story goes that one day Ganesha drank so much milk that his belly burst, so he grabbed a cobra and tied it around his stomach. This signifies that acceptance of people and situations(big belly) without deep awareness is of no great value(akin to accepting people when we are sleeping, which is easy!) However, when there is awareness- the cobra is symbolic of great alertness- then there is true acceptance and love. Ganesha's upraised hand( in 'abhaya' mudra, depicting protection) means "Fear not- I am with you" and his lowered hand, palm facing outwards(in 'varada' mudra, symbolic of giving boons) means unending giving as well as an invitation to bow down. Bowing down signifies merging with earth again, recognising the truth that we will return to the earth. In the womb, our position is one where our heads are bowed, our body is in a circle. Even at birth we come into the world head down. It is our nature to bow down. Ganesha also has a single tusk that implies single-pointedness. One also sees very often, the pasteurisation of the moon laughing at Ganesha as he tries to do the 'Saastanga Danda Pranaam' to his parents. Here the moon signifies the mind- the mind laughs at wisdom. Ganesha is mostly seen sitting on a lotus. Now an elephant being supported on a lotus is a kind of odd! This signifies that he is very sensitive. We are often struck by the question as to 'why does a big Ganesha sit on a small mouse?' This is because the mouse is LOGIC & KNOWLEDGE OF SELF and over it sits the symbol of SUPREME KNOWLEDGE. Ganesha is always seen riding on a mouse. This is the most unexpected mode of travel- an elephant on a mouse!

However, the significance runs deeper, the mouse keeps nibbling away at the ropes that bind it. The mouse who gradually nibbles through things is like a mantra which can cut through sheets and sheets of ignorance and carry even an elephant. There can be nothing but absolute darkness and all that is required is a single tiny ray of light that can illuminate us, free us from our ignorance. Not much is required at all- just this tiny persistent awareness. Even the implements that Ganesha wields, are symbolic. He carries in his hands, the 'Ankusha'(the goad or stick that is used to prod an elephant awake, this signifies 'awakening') and the 'Paasa' (the noose which signifies control). Now with awakening a lot of energy is released, which without proper guidance can go haywire.

"If you meditate on Ganesha, who has the head of an elephant you will get the qualities of an elephant. You will overcome all obstacles."