Reinvent The Self!

This God is perhaps the most adorable, friendliest and kindest of all Gods. Kids love him. They want to play with him. The young love him. They want to share everything that comes in their mind with him first. And elderly also love him. With sheer gratitude!

He is very famous and celebrated God in my state Maharashtra. There’s unparalleled excitement to welcome Him, to be with Him, and offering love to Him by performing numerous arts, expressing knowledge. An extravaganza of dancing and music. The whole 10 days leave us totally spellbound by His loving presence. On Anant Chaturdashi, people literally cry while bidding farewell to Him. They ask Him to come soon next year! 10 days full of emotions, social gatherings, economic activity, happiness, exhibiting unique enthusiasm, energy and joy abound! Words are scanty in describing the omnipresent jubilance.

Everyone knows the story of Lord Ganesha’s birth. Like Ramayana, I would like to offer just another interpretation.

Goddess Parvati is Adi Maya. She is Bhavani, a source of creative energy. She is Nature, a Prakriti. Also She is a consort of Lord Shiva. He is Purusha. All pervading. A substratum on which Prakriti bases her Dance of Creation, Sustenance and Destruction. Both Shiva and Parvati have no beginning and no end.

Parvati creates Ganesha out of her body’s scum/perspiration: We are naturally born with impurities. We are bound to Maya. ‘I’ (Self ) am never born. ‘I’ will never die. However, the egoic identity or little self  (impurity, scum, perspiration) which is the result of influence of Maya, makes me think that I am born. This veil or covering of ignorance is the scum or perspiration.

Parvati orders Ganesha not to let anyone in. Maya instructs me to entertain no one. Such is her influence upon me that I also “obediently” follow Her instruction. I am dissolved in Nature. My mind sees, senses, perceives only Nature. My mind (Head) is not able to go beyond “thinking”. Thought is also a part of Nature as Samkhyas tell us.

Shiva sends His troops and Ganesha fights them and wins: Nothing surprising here. Shiva, Self, Purusha gives me so many signals of His existence, knowledge and bliss. But I never pay any heed to the divine experiences, divine providence, divine interventions, syncronicites, serendipities (All His troops). I remain “happy” in my own misery. My sense/mind organs always win by making me their slave.

Shiva cuts Ganesha’s head: The loving Shiva, who is also the power of discrimination and dispassion, finally assaults all my illusions (sense) and delusions (mind). For me to go beyond thinking and sensing, He cuts my head. This means he cuts my illusions that “I am body. I am mind”. Because He is beyond body, beyond thinking, that is, beyond mind.

Why trident? To let me go beyond 3 gunas, that is, sattwa, rajas, tamas (Gunatrayateetah), beyond 3 states, that is, sthoola, sookshma, kaarana (dehatrayateetah), beyond time, that is, past, present, future (kalatrayateetah). Shiva is beyond 3.

Ganesha becomes Elephant headed immortal God: Then after the final blow of dispassion (As mentioned in Gita 15th Ch., Asanga Shastrena), the Ashvattha tree, my head, mind made delusions fall. Then I become Aware. I become Present. Wisdom comes to me symbolised by Elephant head. Long trunk indicates my empowered senses. Big stomach indicates forgiveness. Big ears indicate patience, tolerance. I patiently listen. And so on. In short, I get transformed from Jiva to Shiva.

The key: 

We should practise presence as far as and as long as possible. Shiva is helping me in so many ways. I should pay attention to my divine experiences. One fine day, I will get a blow of dispassion by His Grace. And this will start an irrevocable transformation within me to attain immortality by realising my true nature! Then as Jesus says, I will continue “to Be in the World but Not of the World!” Shivoham!

I wish Lord Ganesha blesses everyone with the wisdom and takes them beyond the misery.