Lord Ganesha, A Symbolism

In mythology, there are different gods and goddess. In Hinduism, it is considered that there are 330 millions gods and goddesses. The elephant headed god, Lord Ganesha is one of them. The mythology is not merely an allegory but contains a very strong message in it. The idol of gods and goddesses are not  just a mental concoction but carries an ethereal divine narrative.

      

The Rishis of yore, the sage, had so profound understanding of the divinity that they chose to express the divinity in terms of symbols than words. In ancient, the maximum population was illiterate, and also the strong media were not available what we have today. We can see two prominent reasons for symbols and images. First, they wanted to disseminate the divinity to the masses through symbolism and second, words changes over time, but symbols remain unchanged.



Lord Ganesh - A Symbolism



Lord Ganesha, the elephant headed god, contains an ethereal symbolism. Big head is for big thought and the symbol of sensuality and sensory control. Urdha-mark (Tilak) on his head represents his active energy. He is actively participated in the world. In contrast, Lord Shiva has horizontal marks on his head represents passive energy, the detachment. The elephant`s small eyes indicate the concentration, also it represents to see others equivalent to you or bigger. Scientifically, the image on the eyes of the elephant becomes larger than the object, so elephant sees the other object equivalent to his own image or bigger. Large ears signify to listen to everyone. Small mouth is for talk less. Single tusk represents to retain good and throw out the bad, and be out of duality, and also, it is the symbolism of the oneness of God. Ankusa (Axe) in his hand contains two hooks, one for pull and one for push. It is used to control the elephant. When elephant deviates, he is pulled to the right direction and push to harness him to reach the goal. The sharp part of the Ankusa is to cut off all the bonds of negative attachments of the devotees. Rope “Paasa” in his hand signifies the control. He uses his Paasa to keep his devotees to adhere to the highest goal. Thus, the Ankusa signifies awakening and Paasa signifies control.  Trunk represents the intellectuality. The trunk is so powerful that it can yank even the strong tree in a single attempt. The trunk is very sensible too. Even a small ant can take the life of a strong elephant by entering into his nostrils. It signifies that the bigger and smaller should be valued with the same greatness. Hence, the trunk represents high efficiency and adaptability. Modak in Ganesha’s hand is essentially a sweet mixture crammed in a conical pack made using steamed flour. It looks like a bag of money, is the rewards of Sadhana. The blessing hand, the “Abhay Mudra”, means, “Fear not - I am with you,” and it also indicates his openness to all.

      

He has the pot belly, very much like the Laughing Buddha. It is the symbol of prosperity. The snake wrapped around it, protects the prosperity and ensures its renewal, much as the snake renews its skin at regular interval. Ganesha’s rat is a bandicoot, a formidable pest that is hard to control. Ganesha is shown seated on a rat. It will keep nibbling at whatever is available, eating everything it can. Scientifically, too, the rat's teeth keep growing and it has to keep chewing on something to keep these within limits. The rat is a symbol of our senses, which are never satisfied. They crave new experiences, new tastes. Left unbridled, they keep growing forever. The snakes are the protector of the wealth. The snakes have the sense of the hidden treasure in the earth. The snake`s hole can be found near the treasure. The rat is the destroyer of the wealth. The snakes eat rats; if latter want to destroy the wealth and goes near the treasury. It symbolizes the problems of our lives that only Ganesha, lord of the threshold, the remover of obstacles, can keep out.

      

He put his right leg over the left lag. We have two parts of brain left and right. Left brain is logical and intellectual and right brain is emotional. The right side of the body is controlled by the left side of the brain and vice-versa. Put his right leg over left leg is the herald of the intellectual over emotional. Ganesha is the son of Shiva (Soul) and Parvati (Matter) .When Ganesha’s trunk points to his heart; he is closer to his mother, the sensual Goddess, who embraces material reality. But when it points to the right, he is closer to his father, the intellectual mendicant who wants to shut his eyes to the world.

    

The sacred thread represents that he is  well versed in Vedas. His form unites worldly wealth (pot-belly) and divine power (elephant). It enhances wealth generation (serpents) and stops wealth decay (rats). In the dense forest, the elephant make the way out for other animals by removing the obstacles like bushes and branches .Lord Ganesha removes the obstacles in our life and make way to economic and intellectual growth. Prasadam signifies the whole world is at your feet and there for asking.