In Yoga & Science of Ganesha – Part 1, we went over the how the ancient Sage handed over the wisdom of Ganesha to mankind through his visual form and audio; we compared it to how Einstein handed over the wisdom of the special theory of relativity to us. Ganesha belongs to humanity and his wisdom helps us cultivate and strengthen our mental faculties. To understand Ganesha, we’ll go over the origin of Ganesha.
The Story
Before the story begins, for the benefit of readers, I’ll briefly mention the characters and locations in Ganesha’s story:
Characters & Locations
- Goddess Parvati: The Divine Mother, wife of Lord Shiva. Represents Mother Nature and creative power of the nature. Mother of Ganesha and Karthikeya
- Lord Shiva: The Divine Father, represents the Supreme Soul as — destroyer, the Universe and super consciousness. Father of Ganesha and Karthikeya
- Karthikeya: Elder brother of Ganesha. Commander-in-Chief of the army of Gods. Represents bravery, martial arts and warrior nature
- Ganesha: Other popular names of Ganesha: Vinayaka, Vigneshwara, Ekadanta, Vakratunda, Gananayaka, Lambodara,…
- Nandi: The Divine Bull. He is a great devotee of Lord Shiva and serves Lord Shiva as His vehicle
- Mount Kailasa: The Divine Himalaya Mountain where Shiva & Parvati live with their family
- Loka: Another dimension or realm of existence, where beings (Gods, or demons) with special powers reside
- Swarga Loka: The Heavenly realm, where Lord Indra, the King of Gods, resides with other Gods and Goddesses
- Lord Brahma: Son of Lord Vishnu. Represents the Supreme Soul as creator. His wife Goddess Saraswati is the goddess of wisdom, knowledge, intellect and speech
- Satya Loka: The abode of Lord Brahma and Goddess Saraswati
- Lord Vishnu: The Divine Father, represents the Supreme Soul as — preserver, the Universe and super consciousness. His wife Goddess Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity
- Vaikuntha Loka: The abode of Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi
The origin of Ganesha begins on the Earth in Mount Kailasa (also called Mount Kailash)…
Once, leaving his wife Goddess Parvati alone, Lord Shiva went away from Mount Kailasa to perform an extended solitary meditative penance. He stayed away for a very long time.
(Credit: santansociety.com)
During the same time, Parvati’s son Kartikeya was also called by the Gods for some urgent duty and he too had to leave Kailasa. Parvati felt lonely; separation from her loving husband was unbearable and, now the departure of Kartikeya has left her unsettled.
Being the Divine Mother, her motherly nature makes her yearn for an offspring that can stay with her, comfort her and also bring auspiciousness and blessings to the Universe. In this mood, one morning, while Parvati is strolling in the gardens of Kailasa, she takes some mud, pours water, makes the clay dough and creates a human form out of the dough. Then using her own power of fire, she makes the clay settle. It becomes a beautiful solid human-like structure consisting right amount of space (hollowness) inside and right amount of openings for air circulation. Then using her Divine powers, Parvati breathes in the life-force energy, called the Prana…There emerges a beautiful child shining like a full moon emerging from the dark night clouds, glittering the entire Kailasa and shining on the whole Universe. The toddler rushes to hug his mom. Parvati takes the boy in her bosom, holds him close with a tight hug, kisses and caresses him. Her compassion is overflowing, her happiness is infinite. Her wish is fulfilled. The Divine Mother names the new arrival as Vinayaka.
The happiness of Parvati and the arrival of Vinayaka brings tremendous joy and bliss to the whole world. The Gods in their own realms witness these beautiful moments. They sing and dance with joy. They shower flowers and perfumes from the above on Parvati, Vinayaka and the whole Kailasa. Down below on the Earth, there is an exuberance of joy, the nature dances with rivers gently flowing along their snake-like paths cutting through the joyful forests-falls-cities, flowers blossoming to their max spraying the aroma in the soothing breeze, which carries it all around making ecstatic the plants-animals-humans. The Sages on Earth recognize this change and immediately know what just happened. They all rush to Mount Kailasa. Nandi and other Lord’s servants, in the meantime, beautifully decorate and arrange Mount Kailasa to be in the festive mood. Lord Shiva’s abode is fully prepared to welcome its Divine guests. They arrive in hordes to greet Vinayaka. The Gods congratulate Parvati, bless Vinayaka and shower gifts on Him. Parvati feels Vinayaka has brought auspiciousness, happiness and abundance everywhere.
[The story continues in the next article…]
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