Significance of Ganesha, Meaning of his creation

In her childhood,my sister once asked my mother why we worship such a strange god Ganesha. She was asking about elephant headed, pot-bellied, broken-tusked god who travels on a mouse. It sounds bit funny. But as strange it looks, this little peculiarity of Lord Ganesha has a deep spiritual meaning. It has a great significance when we connect this strangeness to our life. The symbolic representation of Ganesha has an easy to understand connotation. His image represents how one should see life and world around. With each of his body part, he teaches us how to live life blissfully. I read about it recently and here I am sharing it with you all.

• Lord Ganesha's elephant head symbolizes the immense wisdom of a person of Perfection. Wisdom is something that comes out of thinking big, without being influenced. This cognition can happen only when one has willingness to listen to others. 
• Lord Ganesha's large ears signify that we should be good listener. It also symbolizes that even the wisest people are always open to hear fresh ideas and opinions. In other words, the wise are those who always keep an open mind. 

• Emerging from the Lord's head is the elephant trunk. This trunk visually depicts a well-developed intellect that arises out of wisdom, the elephant head. It stands for being adaptive and being efficient. As elephant uses this trunk for doing various things, similarly Lord Ganesha's trunk tells us to use our mind wisely and be well organized.                                           
• Small eyes of Lord Ganesha instructs us to be focused in what we are doing. Avoid anything which is coming under your path to joy.

One of the key attributes of people who are self-realized is that they rise above their likes/dislikes and the pairs of opposites ( joys/sorrows, victory/losing) that world presents before them. This supremacy over the pairs of opposites (two tusks) in a person is indicated beautifully by Lord Ganesha's broken tusk.

•  The tusk tells us to take life as a sportsperson. Giving their best at every juncture, yet understanding that, in ultimate analysis, it is only a game. And when we have risen above the play of opposites then only we can stomach the challenges that life throws at us. This idea is depicted by Lord Ganesha's large stomach.                                                                                      
• Lord Ganesha's large stomach instructs us to peacefully digest good and bad things of life. We should have mental strength to brush aside the greatest setbacks while keeping our heads in the midst of immensely joyous experience.

The Lord's posture with one foot on the ground and the other folded up conveys to us that while we must operate in the world, there must also be a constant alignment with our new thoughts and what we have experienced in the past. We should think carefully in adapting new things with comparing them what is suitable for us. You must have noticed Prashad near the foot of Lord Ganesha. It actually symbolizes material wealth and power. Through this, the Lord subtly indicates that the world rewards those who lives a life of truth. This wealth and power is not the greatest concern of life but inner peace is what we should look for.

• In his four hands, Lord Ganesha holds an axe, a rope, a modak and a lotus. The axe represents the annihilation of desire with the axe of positivity. The rope is spiritual knowledge which helps us to remove ourselves from this material world, that we are entrenched in. The modak symbolizes the happiness and joy a seeker derives from the peace of mind. And the lotus stands for that state of self-realization that every human being aspires for, consciously or unconsciously. The lotus sustains itself in dirty ponds but yet is above it all. Similarly, we should live in the world, enjoy life and yet be above it all by believing in Self.                             
• And every kid's favorite The mouse as the Lord's mode of transport magnifies the challenge that a person faces when controlling his desires. The mouse depicts that we should keep our desires under control and don’t allow it to take you to a ride. Rather you keep your wishes and thoughts under check. His colorful cloths says about being vivid and full of energy.     

Amazingly this depicts that his creation is to tell humanity how to live happily in this world. Although above explanation has touch of spirituality but understanding its essence is not difficult. So this Ganesh Utsav, let’s try to be a Ganesha. Live life brightly being a Ganesha !!

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