Symbolism of Lord Ganesha - What does it indicates?

Generally, we find Lord Ganesha depicted as a dwarf and fatty figure with pot belly, elephant head, large ears, small eyes, long nose, mouse as vehicle etc. From an artistic angle this figure is most enchanting and blissful. But, behind this artistic symbolism hidden is, a philosophy, a moral, a management principle and a lesson for every body to learn in life. 

Big Head: Simple living and high thinking. It depicts the wisdom, knowledge (intelligence), discrimination, clear planning, and foresightedness which are very much the principles of management.

Big Ears: Listening is an art. A good listener is a good Manager (principle of lend your ear but be discriminative); quality of a good leader.

Small mouth: Talk less and work more. Productivity angle;

Small eyes: Stay focused; have a bird’s view but not a worm’s view. Be ever alert and conscious of surroundings.

Long nose and curved trunk: There is no straight path to success. Be flexible and adaptable. Long nose also indicates the reach.

Large Stomach: Ability to digest; Acceptability (accept both good and bad in life). Ganesha's large stomach is a treasure of Vedic knowledge.

Axe in the hand: Exercise proper controls in the path to success.

Mouse: 

Mouse symbolizes egoism which unless under control can cause havoc. Egoism is nothing but ignorance (darkness). You ride the ego and don’t allow it to over ride you. Always keep desires under check.  All our sufferings in the world are caused by our own ego centric misconception and consequent arrogance characterized by our ever multiplying demand for wealth and desires. Ego is the greatest enemy of human beings; one may understand the cosmos but never the ego.

Mouse symbolizes that “nothing is insignificant in this universe”. What is important is, one should know how to utilize them effectively. Don’t ignore the small. Size makes no difference. Mouse also symbolizes the darkness of night. Mouse can see well in the dark. As Lord Ganesha’s vehicle mouse signifies an object that leads man from darkness to light.

Commonsense and Problem solving skills: 

Using one of his tusks when his quill got broken while scripting Mahabharatha. Commonsense prevails in life. In fact with His presence of mind Lord Ganesha is indirectly responsible for origin of the famous temple of Sri Ranganatha Swamy at Sri Rangam (Tamilnadu) and that of Lord Shiva at Gokarna (Karnataka).

Wisdom: 

Treating parents as God (Maathru Devo Bhavah – Pithru Devo Bhavah); He is the one who has shown to the world the significance of parents by taking a circumambulation around his parents Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi that bestowed him the position of Ganaadhipathya, Lordship over the Ganas.  

Communication: 

Communication gap is the distance between the two ears. Lord Ganesha was specially chosen by Lord (Sage) Vedavyaasa to script the great epic Mahabharatha. With his listening skills, Lord Ganesha could effectively transcript narration given by Lord Vedavyaasa without any communication gap.

Strategic Management and timely decision making:

Lord Ganesha decides to take Pradakshina (circumambulation) around his parents (Lord Shiva & Goddess Parvathi Devi) during the contest with his brother Lord Kaarthikeya. Ultimately He succeeds with his time management skills and presence of mind. Timely decision making is also visible in the episodes of the origin of Sri Rangam and Gokarna temples.

Adaptability & Opportunities from constraints:

With small feet; pot belly; mouse as vehicle etc... Ganesha never ran away from constraints & obstacles. He adapted well to the circumstances. With his common sense and wisdom he converted his constraints into opportunities without any egos and went on to become Chief Lord of Ganas (Ganapathi).

Role model:

Elephant shows the path in forest which is full of obstacles and constraints. A good leader is the one who leads by example. Lord Ganesha is known as Vinaayaka (Vigathanaayaka Vinaayaka) the one who has no master over him. He is totally an independent Deity; has no overlord and is the one who leads. Lord Ganesha is a leader acceptable to all; a leader who is a role model; a path maker; the one who is there when needed by his devotees (Kshipra Prasaadi).

Lord Ganesha signifies the triumph of wisdom over ignorance and of ego-lessness over desires. Ultimate reward is only through saadhana that is Modaka in the hands of Ganesha. Lord Sri Maha Ganapathi is said to be a personification of Omkaaram (Pranava Swaroopam) which is primordial to all Veda Manthras. Thus symbolism of Lord Ganesha is embodiment of wisdom and a visible representation of the highest reality.

One should properly understand the significance of Lord Ganesha; his symbolism; messages it conveys and worship him for a hassle free life and achievement of success in endeavors without obstacles.

Sri Krishnaarpanamasthu

By nirikhi krishna bhagavan

GOOD QUOTES

BEST WAY TO SERVE GOD

Serving God will bring you closer to God and the easiest way to serve God is to serve humanity for the Divinity is present in all. Look around you;The hands that help are holier than lips that pray. Real devotion did not lie in selfish acts but in honest thinking and living and helping others in need or distress. God realization is not possible through construction of temples, great and costly charities done or reading hymns done with out a good heart but only possible through sincere and simple acts of compassion performed with a true sense of devotion.

CASE FILED AGAINST LORD KRISHNA FOR LOOSE CHARACTER

Many people have problem that Lord Krishna had 16,108 wives technically: But Missionaries,Mlecchas and even ignorant Hindus tried to portray and make fun of Sri Krishna as playboy without understanding the core essence of Hindu philosophy. Some people even joke about it and say he was the biggest playboy the earth has ever seen. I look upon Gods as role models, who led their life in such a way as to set examples for ordinary humans. I am a Hindu and, naturally, whenever people confronted me with the question, "What kind of God is your God who had so many wives?", I used to feel unhappy.

At the out set I want to give meaning of "Play Boy" which means "a wealthy man who spends his time enjoying himself,  appreciates the pleasures of the world in a selfish way only seeing his enjoyment, and his main motto is following only woman, he follows woman with out knowing one another."

But no where it is mentioned that lord krishna has the above qualitites.As per Mahabharata, Krishna had a total of 16108 wives, of which eight were his principle wives and the other 16100 were rescued from Narakasura, where they had been forcibly kept. These women were in disgrace because they had lived with the demon king and none of their families would accept them. So, Krishna gave these women the status of his wives. This marital status was not for sexual pleasure but to give them shelter and a respectful place in the society. This is the story that why Krishna had 16,108 wives.

But which society, whether past or present, would allow a person to declare, "I have 16,000 wives," and for those 16,000 wives to accept one husband? Is it really possible to have a family with so many wives? That said, all the 16108 wives unanimously declare their mutual love for Krishna. This is so unlike the playboy attitude of the conventional male who usually tends to thrive on cheating on one without letting the other know about it. And speaking numbers, 16000 is really HUGE. That is like owning a village full of wives. No playboy in the history of mankind can ever manage to achieve that feat because it is not the deceit of the playboy but the natural charm of the divine. It is not the playboy's lust but the Godhead's pure love. Only a divine incarnate can have such an overwhelming charisma, A mediocre playboy cannot. In a nutshell, reading Bhakti and judging it is really difficult. I choose to perceive it as pure love and would refrain from calling my beloved Lord Krishna a playboy

When comming to the case, with the spreading of Hinduism worldwide, a nun filed a case against ISKCON, for spreading its activities and gaining followers in Poland. She wanted ISKCON should be banned because its followers were glorifying a character called 'Krishna' " who had loose morals, having married 16,108 women. While defending the case the ISKCON defendant requested the Judge to "Ask the nun to repeat the oath she took when she was ordained as a nun, but She would not. The ISKCON man seek permission and read out the oath for the nun.  The oath declares that the nun is married to Jesus Christ. The ISKCON man said, "Your Lordship! Lord Krishna is alleged to have 'married' 16,000 women only. There are more than a million nuns who assert that they are married to Jesus Christ. Between the two, Krishna and Jesus Christ, who has a loose character? And what about the nuns?" The case was dismissed. A few years back This case was very senastional.

Last but not least I don't want to approach My beloved krishna and his activites as a cynic. I want to approach the story of God as the glory of the Lord, the choices he made and interpret it in the context of its divine way. The logical men and women can scoff for their loss is theirs and mine is a spiritual gain. My purpose in undertaking spirtual practice is and has never been material. I take pride in remaining steadfastly anchored in being spiritual.

VISION WITHOUT SIGHT?

Ancient Poet Surdas was a great and devout devotee of Lord Krishna who is the 15th century sightless saint, poet and musician, is known for his devotional songs dedicated to Lord Krishna. Surdas is said to have written and composed a hundred thousand songs in his magnum opus the 'Sur Sagar' (Ocean of Melody), out of which only about 8,000 are extant. He is considered a saint and so also known as Sant Surdas, a name which literally means the "slave of melody".

He has composed and sang number of devotional songs in praise and glorifying Lord Krishna. Surdas was blind. Whenever he sang Lord Krishna used to sit in front of him as a child and enjoy the songs and dance to the tune of the songs of Surdas. Occasionally, Surdas had the vision of Lord Krishna’s darsan and Surdas never felt sorry for being blind.

One day a doctor approached Surdas and offered to cure his blindness. Surdas replied. “You are very kind and benevolent in offering to restore my eye sight- Can you assure me the vision of the Lord Krishna which ‘am now enjoying even without sight?”.

The doctor had no answer.

Blessed and realized are those who have “vision even without sight.”

PRAYING TO GOD

A black smith, who deeply loved god, had to face lot of suffering.One of his acquaintances was an unbeliever.He said to him one day, “How can you lay your trust in God who sends suffering to you”?

Quietly answered the blacksmith, “when I have to make a tool, I take a piece of iron and put it into a fire.Then I strike it on the anvil to see if it will take temper.It it, does, I know I can make something useful out of it.If not, I toss on the scrap heap.This has made my prayer to the lord again and again Lord! Put me into fire of suffering but, pray, do not throw me on the scrap-heap.

MY KOLAMS OF PONGAL AND UGADI