Ayurveda Living

Lord Ganesh

Ganesh, the elephant-headed god, son of Siva and Parvati, is one of the most invoked god of the Hindu Pantheon. There are as many legends about him advent on earth as  popular imagination can fancy and as many representations as artistic creativity can elaborate.

Ganesh is revered and loved because he is the Lord of Commencement and the Remover of Obstacles.  Ganesh, in fact, represents all the tools of the soul  (virtues) necessary to success.  It is how man represents divine qualities present in us and perhaps dormant.  It is to enliven these qualities that we pray to him at the onset of every undertaking be hit studies, marriage, business, etc.  

Every sunrise is a  step in the history of mankind, every morning is a new endeavour when one emerges from the veils of sleep ready to face the day, every step is the beginning of a journey and every thought is a commencement,

Ganesh is patience, courage, determination, humility, tenacity, gratitude, love, compassion and brings great solace at all moments.  It is probably the first deity that one meets at a first contact with India.  It is comforting to travel through life with Ganesh.

Ganesh may not appear very handsome at first but getting to know him, one finds him immensely attractive. And how he appears, it is how man can perceive the qualities that are so necessary for spiritual progress as well as material.

While scholars debate the finer points of Hindu theology,  ordinary people call on deities like Ganesh to help them with the daily challenges of their livelihood.  Next we will meet Laxmi or Lakshmi who is so often pictured with Ganesh.