Shree Ganesh | Ganesh Chaturthi | Lord Ganesha

LORD GANESHA’S MARRIAGE

2020-05-19T18:57:00.000+05:30

According to one tradition, Ganesha was a brahmacarin, that is, unmarried. This pattern is primarily popular in southern India. This tradition was linked to Hindu concepts of the relationship between celibacy and the development of spiritual power.

In the north of India, on the other hand, Ganesha is often portrayed as married to the two daughters of Brahma: Buddhi ((also called Riddhi) intellect) and Siddhi (spiritual power).

As a child Lord Ganesh was once playing with a cat. He pulled its tail and rolled it on the ground. Later, tired of this game, He decided to spend time with His mother, Parvati. He found her covered in dirt and with bruises. Surprised, He asked, “What happened, Mother?” “Remember the cat you were playing with… that was me. I am the Divine power that exists in all beings.” Lord Ganesh realized that all women are extensions of His mother and decided never to marry.

Another interpretation is that His devotion towards His mother is the reason why He is considered as a celibate bachelor. To Him, she was the most beautiful and perfect woman. He vowed that He could marry the girl who would match up to His mother’s beauty and divine qualities. It is said that Lord Ganesh was unable to find a suitable mate because of His unique appearance. This bothered Him and He summoned the rats to burrow deep holes in the path of any God who was on their way to get married. The potholes made the journey of the grooms and their marriage processions extremely difficult. Frustrated, they went to Lord Brahma to complain.

Lord Brahma created two beautiful girls Riddhi (Abundance. Opulence, Wealth) and Siddhi / Buddhi (Intellectual and Spiritual Prowess) and they were married to Him. His two consorts, He had sons Shubha (Auspiciousness) and Labha (Profit) and a daughter named Santoshi (Goddess of Satisfaction / Contentment). The Shiva Purana states that King Prajapati had two daughters – Riddhi and Siddhi. He approached Shiva and Parvati for the marriage of his girls to Lord Ganesh and Lord Kartikeyan / Karthikeyan (Lord Ganesh’s younger brother). But both these girls wished that Lord Ganesh should be their husband and so they were married. It is said that if one has Riddhi but doesn’t have Siddhi / Buddhi then it is worthless.

Possessing only Siddhi without Riddhi is also futile. Lord Ganesh bestows both these blessings to His ardent devotees. If we delve into ourselves we will realize that we are all Ganapati’s (Gana is our body made of the Pancha-Mahabhuta (Five elements), Pati stands for master or owner). Thus He shows us the way to achieve both intellect and wealth to enjoy a rewarding life.

MOON DIETY CURSED BY GANESHA

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It was on Ganesha Chaturthi. Ganesha was riding on his little rat and suddenly a snake crossed his path. The rat was terrified and ran off in fright due to which Ganesha fell down in a thorny bush.

The Moon was looking at this from the sky. The Moon laughed loudly at the funny sight of Ganesha’s falling down, It annoyed Ganesha so much so that he decided to punish the Moon. Angrily he broke one of his tusks and threw it at the Moon.

As it struck the Moon, Moon lost the brightness. Then the moon went off. The world became dark. People were scared and they screamed and wept.

All the Gods in heaven were worried by this confusion. They prayed to Ganesha,” please give back the Moon the brightness, “The Moon also repented. The Moon fell at Ganesh’s feet and prayed to be forgiven.

Ganesha relented but he wanted to teach Moon a lesson. So he said, “the first fifteen days of every month, you will get bigger and then the next fifteen days, you will become smaller and smaller. At the end of the month, you will look like my tusk. And on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi, the person who looks at the Moon will have an allegation of theft on him.

WHY GANESHA HAS ELEPHANT FACE

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Lord Shiva and Parvati lived on the mountain Kailasa. Many times Shiva used to go to the forest and stayed there doing penance for months. Meanwhile, Parvati had to stay alone at home. One day, as usual, lord shiva went to the forest, leaving Parvati alone at home. Parvati then wanted to take a bath. However, there was no one else to look after the house.

So, Parvati was worried. But soon she had an idea. Parvati removed the sandal paste from her body and created a boy from the paste. Parvati then made the boy stand at the door and instructed him not to let anyone enter the house till she finishes her bath. The boy stood at the door and stopped everyone who visited the house.

Soon lord Shiva returned home and was surprised to see a boy who stopped him from entering in.” you can not enter the house , the mother is taking bath”, said the boy He got annoyed and asked the boy to move aside. But the boy did not move but stopped Lord Shiva from entering the house. Shiva lost his temper and he chopped off the head of the boy with his trishula. Later, Parvati finished her bath and to her surprise, she saw the headless body of the boy. So Parvati started weeping. Oh my lord ! what have you done! you have killed my son!

Lord Shiva felt very sorry for his short-tempered act. Lord Shiva wished to bring back the boy to his life and he started searching for the chopped head of the boy. But surprisingly the head got vanished and the search was in vain. So he called servants, called “Ganas” and told them, to go to the forest and get the head of the first living being you come across. The ganas immediately rushed to the jungle and came across an elephant. They immediately cut off his head and brought it to lord shiva. Lord Shiva put the head on the body of the boy and brought him to life. Parvati was overjoyed to get back her son. The Ganas had helped to bring back the life of the boy, so he was named as “Ganapati”