Why are we advised to keep only left curled trunk image or idol of Lord Ganesha at our home?

 

Lord Ganesha is considered a god of wisdom and prosperity. He is worshipped first before the inception of any auspicious work in Hinduism. Everyone like to have wisdom and prosperity, hence everyone love to have the blessings of elephant headed lord Ganesha. But all the images of Lord Ganesha are not considered auspicious to keep at home.

The image or idol in which his trunk is inclined his right is not considered auspicious to keep at home. It is advised to keep outside or keep in certain temples. The image or idol in which his trunk is inclined left is considered auspicious and advised to keep at home and worship.

Why is the same god treated differently due to his different posture? What is the logic behind it?

As per the legends, Ganesha was created by his mother Parvati without the involvement of lord Shiva. She is known as Anapurna as well. His head was chopped off by Lord Shiva. Later, he was resurrected by lord Shiva by replacing his head with an elephant one.

Now the existence of Ganesha is due to both Shiva and Parvati. Parvati contributed his body(matter) and Shiva contributed his head(wisdom). Shiva is an ascetic who lives in a secluded place far from the materialistic world. Parvati is Annapurna, without her the existence of the world is not possible. Parvati is suited for the householders and Shiva is for hermits. Parvati forces to participate in the world and Shiva withdraws from the world. Parvati is for entanglement in "Samsara", the cycle of birth and death, and pain and pleasure. Shiva`s path is for getting rid of the "Samsara" and move to salvation.

A strict penance is required for getting the permanent rid of the duality (birth and death, pain and pleasure) of the "Samsara". Even a small mistake in the path of salvation creates a big obstruction. This is the path of the hermit, who seeks the meaning of life and death rather than perplexed by it, and gets rid of all kinds of suffering occurs due to the illusion of the world. Hermits are not controlled by the matter, rather matters are controlled by them. They are not influenced by the alluded attraction of the materialistic world.

For the householder, following strict regulations of the worship and rituals are not possible, there may be some mistakes somewhere. Small mistakes are acceptable for the householders. Householders make this world sustainable by producing the food and procreation. And they are supported by Anapurna/Parvati, the goddess of the materialistic world.

  

Scientifically, the right side of the body is controlled by the left side of the brain and vice-versa. The left brain is the logical brain and the right brain is the emotional brain. And also the side of the heart is left. Hermit acquires Yogic power, logic, and intellect by their unerring penance to understand the whole existence. Without understanding the existence as it is, the salvation of the continuous birth and death is not possible. A hermit is not allowed to do any mistake knowingly or unknowingly or driven by their emotions.

Parvati is "Vamini" of Shiva.  Vamini means who sits left side - wife. Lord Ganesha sits in the middle of his parents. If his trunk is inclining right, means he is supporting the quality of the hermit. He is on his father side blesses his devotee of the salvation. He is Siddhivinayak. If his trunk is inclining left, he is supporting the quality of the householder. Being at his mother`s side, he blesses his devotees of the prosperity to the run the wheel of this world hurdle free. He is Ikshapurti.

That is the reason - left curled trunk idol or image of Ganesha is advised for the householder, not the right curled trunk.

What is the secret of number 18 in the Mahabharata?

 

 For how many days the Mahabharata war was fought? The instant answer will come - 18 days. Not only this, there are 18 chapters in the epic Mahabharata.  A beautiful scripture that came out of the Mahabharata is Bhagawat Geeta which will keep guiding the humanity to a righteous path contains 18 chapters.  The total number of armies who fought this epic war were 18. 11 armies from Kauravas and 7 from Pandava`s side. Only 18 warriors were survived after this unprecedented war. Post-war, Pandavas ruled over Hastinapur for 36 years, which is the double of 18. Bhishma was invincible until 9 days of the war. On 10th days, he was duped and defeated which changed the direction of the war. The scribe of the Mahabharata was lord Ganesha. This epic was narrated by Ved Vyas (Krishan Daipayana) and was written by Lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesha is associated with the number 9. This is symbolized by the shape of his trunk which looks like number 9.

What is the secret of the number 18 or multiplication of 9?  Was it by chance or some intense message is hidden in it?  All the Hindu`s scripture and epics are very scientific and logical.

Let us understand its logic. Both 18 and 36 are multiples of 9.  The sum of the digits of 18 (1+8) and 36 (3+6) is 9.  Number 9 is known as the last of the base natural number, viz. 1,2,3…….9. This number is the culmination of the calculation. Apart from the base numbers, all others numbers are the combination of these base numbers. In this way, number 9 contains the highest value and place. 9 is an indestructible number.  The sum of the digits of the numbers of table 9 always results in 9.  e.g. 9, 18(1+8=9), 27(2+7=9),36(3+6=9),35(4+5=9)………… This number is the stable number which gives the constant result of the summation of the digits.

This is the number of spirituality, which is indestructible like soul. It is the highest of everything. It is the culmination, nothing can be higher or bigger than this. The rest is a combination and permutation.

You would have heard in the Mahabharata - "Na aisa yuddh hua hai, na kabhi hoga(Neither such kind of war was fought in the past nor it will be fought in the future)". Mahabharata is considered the culmination of everything - the spirituality, economics, war-skill, science and technology, politics, love, hatred, family matters, etc. It is said that there is nothing which is happening or will happen which cannot be mapped with this epic.

This is the most viable reason for the frequent occurrence of the number 18 in the Mahabharata.

भगवत गीता केवल अर्जुन को ही क्यों सुनाई दिया ?

महाभारत युद्ध में जान और माल का भारी नुकसान हुआ । इसे विश्व का सबसे बड़ा और पहला विश्व युद्ध माना जाता है। इस युद्ध में विश्व के अनेक क्षेत्र के योद्धा शामिल हुए थे। परंतु इस युद्ध से सबसे कीमती और मानवता को मार्गदर्शन हेतू  एक ग्रन्थ प्राप्त हुआ, वह है भगवत गीता । यह विश्व में सबसे ज्यादा पढ़े जाने वाला ग्रन्थ भी है । भगवत गीता किसी विशेष धर्म के लिए नहीं, बल्कि सम्पूर्ण मानवता के लिए है। इसमें १८ अध्याय और ७०० श्लोक है ।  इसे आत्मा का विज्ञान कहा जाना ज्यादा उचित होगा।  

अर्जुन ही ऐसे पहले व्यक्ति नहीं है, जिसे गीता का साक्षात् ज्ञान प्राप्त हुआ था । भगवत  गीता का ज्ञान सृष्टि के उत्पति के समय से है । सबसे पहले इसका साक्षात् ज्ञान सूर्यदेव विवस्वान हो हुआ था। उन्होंने इसे अपने पूत्र मनू को दिया, मनू ने अपने पूत्र ईक्षवु को दिया, इस तरह से यह ज्ञान चलता रहा । लेकिन धीरे- धीरे यह ज्ञान विलुप्त हो गया। इस ज्ञान को पुनः मूल रूप में प्रस्तुत करने के लिए श्री कृष्णा ने अर्जून का चयन किया । 

गीता का ज्ञान महाभारत युध्द के पहले दिन पांडवो और कौरवो के सेना के मध्य में श्री कृष्णा द्यारा अर्जून को दिया गया था । युद्ध  भूमि में सबके सामने गीता का ज्ञान दिया जा रहा है, लेकिन अर्जून के सिवाय कोई सून या श्री कृष्णा का विराट रूप देख नहीं पाया । आखिर क्यों---? 

भगवत गीता (अघ्याय ४;३) में श्रीकृष्णा कहते है -- हे अर्जून! आप मेरे प्रिय मित्र और भक्त होने के साथ-साथ आप ज्ञान प्राप्त करने के इच्क्षुक भी हो, आप यह ज्ञान प्राप्त करने का उचित पात्र है , इसीलिए यह ज्ञान मैं आपको देना चाहता हू । 

यहाँ पर अर्जून एक पवित्र आत्मा के प्रतिक है, जो की विपरीत प्रस्थिति में भी सच्चे ज्ञान के तलाश में है, हर घटित होने वाली घटना का उद्देश्य और कारण जानना चाहते है। कोई भी कार्य स्वार्थ, लालच या किसी को नुकसान पहुँचाने के मकसद से नहीं करना चाहते है। कोई भी क्रिया करने से पहले उचित और अनुचित का भेद जान जाना चाहते है। उनका ज्ञान जानने का प्रयास अहम् रहित और ईश्वर के प्रति समर्पित है। 

दूसरी तरफ युद्ध क्षेत्र में खड़ी सेना सामान्य जनसमुदाय को दर्शाता है, जिन्हें कोई भी क्रिया करने से पहले उचित या अनुचित का जानना जरूरी नहीं होता । उन्हें तात्कालिक लाभ ज्यादा लुभाता है। उनकी आत्मा घमण्ड और लालच के मजबूत दीवार में घिरा रहता है। जो व्यक्ति लालच और घमण्ड का शिकार है उसको गीता का ज्ञान, जो की आत्मा का विज्ञानं है, प्राप्त नहीं हो सकता, चाहे क्यों न स्वयं ईश्वर ही इसे प्रदान कर रहे है । सिवाय अर्जुन के उस युद्ध क्षेत्र में सारे लोग लालच या घमण्ड या बदले के भावना से एक दूसरे के समक्ष खड़े थे । यही कारण था कि गीता का ज्ञान सबके सामने प्रस्तूत होने के वावजूद भी अर्जून के सिवाय किसी को सुनाई नहीं दिया । 

सामान्तया इंसान वही देख या सून सकता है, जो वह सुनना या देखना चाहता है। अर्जून के सिवाय गीता का ज्ञान संजय और धृष्टराष्ट्र को प्राप्त हुआ था । यह दर्शाता है कि ज्ञान तीन तरीको से प्राप्त किया जा सकता है :-

१. अर्जून विधि -- प्रत्यक्ष ज्ञान 

२. संजय विधि -- पढ़ने या देखने से 

३. धृष्टराष्ट्र विधि -- श्रवण करने से, यानि सुनने से