Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Ganesha: The Elephant God of success, Destroyer of Obstacles

Ganesha has won himself a place of honor on my desk. Why? Because Ganesha understands writing.



"Ganesha's head symbolizes the Atman or the soul, which is the ultimate supreme reality of human existence, and his human body signifies Maya or the earthly existence of human beings. The elephant head denotes wisdom and its trunk represents Om, the sound symbol of cosmic reality. In his upper right hand Ganesha holds a goad, which helps him propel mankind forward on the eternal path and remove obstacles from the way. The noose in Ganesha's left hand is a gentle implement to capture all difficulties.

The broken tusk that Ganesha holds like a pen in his lower right hand is a symbol of sacrifice, which he broke for writing the Mahabharata. The rosary in his other hand suggests that the pursuit of knowledge should be continuous. The laddoo (sweet) he holds in his trunk indicates that one must discover the sweetness of the Atman. His fan-like ears convey that he is all ears to our petition. The snake that runs round his waist represents energy in all forms. And he is humble enough to ride the lowest of creatures, a mouse."
(http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa083000a.htm)


I especially like the explanation of the goad (to help "propel mankind forward on the eternal path and remove obstacles from the way") and noose ("a gentle implement to capture all difficulties."), the pen ("a symbol of sacrifice") that he broke for writing the Mahabharata (he's a writer himself!), and the ladoo (reminding us that one must discover the sweetness of the soul). These are important aspects of the writing life. It's good to have a god on your side. I'll leave offerings.

Ok...back to work!

2 comments:

Froyd said...

technically, Vyasa wrote the mahabharata, Ganesha just wrote it down.

sorry, my mythology nerd is coming out in full bloom this week as I get these papers done...

Jessie said...

Ohhhh yeah--so that's what I need... someone to tell me what to write.

Thanks for the tip. :)-