Bharatheeyam : ( 08/11/2012. )

. Chapter 7: Lord Ganesa – The Remover of Obstacles. Part-6. Such a Master's son is Sri Ganapati, Sri Ganesa. We have endless stories about our Gods, all partly humorous and partly highly illuminating. The usual belief is that Lord Ganapati is a celibate and He never married, though there is a belief in North India that He has Siddhi and Buddhi, two consorts, behind Him. There is a humorous story about His marriage. He was about to be married and the bridegroom's procession was moving with great gusto from Mount Kailasa, evidently, to the bride's palace. We do not know who that contemplated bride was. We know only that there was a procession of the bridegroom. And His potbelly, it seems, burst on the way due to eating too much, and He took a snake, which is sometimes identified with Subrahmanya, tied it around His stomach, and again ate. It seems Chandra, or the moon, looked at this scene and laughed, saying, "Look at this man who is going fo...

Chapter 7: Lord Ganesa – The Remover of Obstacles. Part-5. You may know the interesting story as to how Panini, the originator of Sanskrit grammar, received knowledge from Lord Siva. He was supposed to be the dullest of the students in a group that was studying from a Guru in Taxila, Taksha Shila. The other boys were very intelligent. Panini was the most stupid, the least intelligent, very much belittled and made fun of by the students in the class. He was deeply hurt that he was being cowed down by other students and that he could not understand anything that the teacher said. Almost in a desperate mood of disgust with everything, he went to the forest and deeply contemplated on Lord Siva. He prayed, "O Lord! Bless me with Knowledge." It is said that Lord Siva appeared before him, danced and revolved His Dakka or Damaru fourteen times,  and the following fourteen sounds were made :- "1. Aiun, 2. Rlrk, 3. Aowng, 4. Ai ouch, 5. Ha ya va rat, ...

Chapter 7: Lord Ganesa – The Remover of Obstacles. Part-4. The fear of God is supposed to be the beginning of religion. A person who has no fear of God also has no religion, because religion is respect for God. The fear of God goes together with the acceptance of the greatness of God and His Power. Wherever there is power, we are afraid of it. An ocean, a lion, an elephant are all powerful things, and we dread the very sight of them. What is Bhagavan and what are His characteristics? 'Bhagavan' is one who has six characteristics. "1. Aisvaryasya  samagrasya 2. viryasya 3. yasasah 4. sriyah; 5&6. jnana-vairagyayoh chaiva shannam bhaga itirana" – these six characteristics mentioned are all called Bhaga. One who has Bhaga is called Bhagavan. (1) .  (a) All prosperity, (b). all wealth, (c). all treasure, (d). all glory, (e). all magnificence is Aisvarya. Entire Aisvarya is there. (2). (a) Virya is tremendous energy, (b). force and ...

Chapter 7: Lord Ganesa – The Remover of Obstacles. Part-3. We are terribly afraid of obstacles. There is no other fear in this world except of obstacles. So, we always cry, "Remove the obstacles, clear the path, cleanse the road." On the fourth day of the bright half of the lunar month of Bhadrapada (August-September) every year, the great Lord Ganapati, called the Lord of Hosts, is worshipped throughout India, and perhaps in many other parts of the world also. There is no Hindu who does not recognise the pre-eminence of the worship of this mysteriously conceived deity called Ganapati whose name occurs right in the beginning of the Rig Veda itself, the earliest of scriptures, where pointedly the name is taken in a Mantra, "Gananam tva ganapatim havamahe..." Tradition conceives this great Remover of Obstacles, Ganapati, as the son of Lord Siva, with a proboscis of an elephant and a protuberant belly, with weapons of various types and with His rig...

 Chapter 7: Lord Ganesa – The Remover of Obstacles. Part-2. The quantity, the expanse and the magnitude of the opposition which comes before us in life is such that no single individual will be able to face it. This whole world is too much for a single man, and considering the incongruous, disproportionate relationship between a single human individual and the vast world outside, there is very little hope of man's achieving anything in this world, successfully, because we cannot bail out the ocean of waters with a spoon, though our effort may be laudable. We are, no doubt, very sincerely industrious in emptying the ocean of its waters with a little spoon or a ladle. Notwithstanding the fact that this effort on our part is praiseworthy, it is not going to lead us to any success, and the expected result will not follow. The ocean cannot be emptied by any amount of bailing out with a spoon. Such seems to be the type of world into which we are born, and people who ar...

 Chapter 7: Lord Ganesa – The Remover of Obstacles-1. Part-1. Human life is beset with obstacles. We face oppositions and encounter difficulties galore, and the whole of our daily activity may, in a sense, be considered as a struggle against all odds which come in different forms as the sorrows of life. The moment we wake up in the morning, we have to face the obstacle called hunger which we try to obviate by cooking and eating food, the obstacle called thirst which we have to get rid of by drinks, and the obstacles called disease, exhaustion, fatigue, sleeplessness and the like, which we endeavour to remedy by the introduction of various types of medicines. The very presence of people around us is an obstacle and the human individual suddenly becomes restless, and both consciously and unconsciously puts on an attitude of self-defence, as if one has found oneself suddenly in a terrific war field. The difficulties of life are, to a large extent, the very substance o...

Chapter-6. Lord Sri Krishna – The Purna-Avataram Part-11.  A total transformation, a transfiguration of all values is brought about in His activity and life, and also in His teachings, so that His life and teachings are a sort of a superhuman presentation before us. And we know how difficult it is for a human being to confront a superhuman presentation of any kind. But, this is the ideal before us and this is our goal. Whether or not we are able to understand it, this is what the life of Sri Krishna tells us. The Bhagavadgita, the cream of His teaching, also conveys to us that things are not what they seem to our senses. This is what we learn from His life also. There is something quite different from what we sense, feel, think and understand as valuable. This is the Truth behind things for which His life and teachings stood and which He Himself embodied in His own life. This is the message for us today, which we should try to imbibe into our lives by invok...