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The
Hindu God Lord
Ganesha the Remover of Obstacles
"In heaven Lord Ganesha will establish the predominance of
gods, on earth that of people, in the nether world that of serpents and
anti-gods"
~A Hymn from Sri Bhagavat-Tathva~
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The
chubby, gentle, wise, elephant-headed Ganesha, or
Ganesh,
is one of Hinduisms most popular deities. He is the remover of
obstacles, the deity whom worshippers first acknowledge when they
visit a temple. He is also patron of letters and of learning; he
is the legendary scribe who, using his broken tusk, which he often
holds, wrote down parts of the
Mahabharata epic. Ganesha is usually depicted colored red; he
is pot bellied, has one tusk broken, and has four arms that may
hold a pasam, a goad, and a pot of rice or sweetmeats. The
sweet meats are held in a type of bowl known as a laddus.
His appetite for these sweets is legendary and offerings of them
are often left at his shrine.
Statues of
Ganesha
can be found in most Indian towns. his image is placed where new
houses are to be built; he is honored at the start of a journey or
business venture, and poets traditionally invoke him at the start
of a book.
Click here to see
all Lotus Sculpture's Statues of Ganesha
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A
pasam is a triple twine weapon. Each of the three twines
represent 1. Arrogance and conceit, 2. Maya - the illusory nature
of the real world 3. and Ignorance.
In Hindu ideology
weapons are a viewed as symbolic tools to destroy the ego rather
than to cause any type of bloodshed.
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all Lotus Sculpture's Statues of Ganesha
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Goads (or elephant prods) are typically used to direct
elephants.
Goads are
symbolic of how one should steer the soul away from the ignorance
and illusions of this earthly world just as a mahout would steer
an elephant away from any treacherous path.
Ganesha's
characteristic pot belly is usually bound around with a cobra.
The cobra is an animal usually associated with Shiva, a reminder
that Ganesha is his son.
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all Lotus Sculpture's Statues of Ganesha
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Ganesha is usually
shown in sculpture accompanied by or riding a rat. Since rats are
seen as being capable of gnawing their way through most things,
the rat symbolizes Ganesha's ability to destroy every obstacle.
Ganesha's name
literally means "Lord of Gana." Ganesha was entrusted by
Shiva with the leadership of the ganas, Shiva's dwarfish,
rowdy retinue, in compensation for the loss of his human head.
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In
sculpture the position of Lord Ganesha's trunk has a symbolic
meaning. If the trunk turns to the Ganesha's left, that is the
direction for success in the world. It is a position associated
with grihastas, or householders. To his right, the trunk
represents moksha, good for renouncing the world. When one chooses
a Ganesha sculpture that is proper for their own spiritual path the
trunk position is one thing that is good to keep in mind. |
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How
Ganesha came to have the head of an elephant is explained in
various stories. One account of his birth is that Parvati formed
him from the rubbings of her body so that he might stand guard at
the door while she bathed. When Siva approached, unaware this was
his son, he was enraged at being kept away from his wife and
proceeded to lop off the head of Ganesha. To ease Parvati's grief,
Shiva promised to cut off the head of the first living thing he
saw and attach it to the body. That creature was an elephant.
Ganesha was thus restored to life and rewarded for his courage by
being made lord of new beginnings and guardian of entrances. A
prayer to Ganesha is invariably accompanied by smashing a coconut,
symbolic of smashing the undesirable forces inherent in oneself.
Click here to see all
Lotus Sculpture's Statues of Ganesha |
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