As I write this, today is an auspicious day known as Ganesh Chaturthi. It’s the 4th day of the month of Bhadra, according to the Luni-Solar Vedic calendar.
On this day, millions of people in India and other parts of the world worship Lord Ganesha, known by many names like Ganapati, Lambodara, Vakratunda, Mahakaya, Vighneshwara, Vinayaka, etc.
Lord Ganesha is a universal favourite, even among those who don’t follow the Vedic tradition. His rotund figure, his elephant head with big ears, tusks, long trunk and cheerful disposition makes him a very lovable deity.
Lord Ganesha, pictured with his Mother Parvati Devi, and Father Lord Shiva.
Lord Ganesha is the son of Mother Parvati and Lord Shiva, who are practically the parents of the material world. He is a very special deity, in charge of elimination of obstacles. Obstacles may be in many forms, and he is tasked with the service of removing them. And this is how Lord Ganesha is empowered…
yat-pāda-pallava-yugaṁ vinidhāya kumbha-
dvandve praṇāma-samaye sa gaṇādhirājaḥ
vighnān vihantum alam asya jagat-trayasya
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmiSynonyms
yat — whose; pāda-pallava — lotus feet; yugam — two; vinidhāya — having held; kumbha-dvandve — upon the pair of tumuli; praṇāma-samaye — at the time of offering obeisances; saḥ — he; gaṇa-adhirājaḥ — Gaṇeśa; vighnān — obstacles; vihantum — to destroy; alam — capable; asya — of these; jagat-trayasya — three worlds; govindam — Govinda; ādi-puruṣam — the original person; tam — Him; aham — I; bhajāmi — worship.Translation
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, whose lotus feet are always held by Gaṇeśa upon the pair of tumuli protruding from his elephant head in order to obtain power for his function of destroying all the obstacles on the path of progress of the three worlds.
There are very grand celebrations all over… attracting millions of souls. The opulence of these celebrations is hard to describe in words.
A temporary Opulent Ganesh Pandal setup in India.
Many souls undergo tremendous austerities and penances during this festival, which can span from 1 to 12 days. In return for these efforts, they ask for blessings which are often granted, depending on whether a person deserves those or not.
However, most of these blessings are temporary, like someone asking for more money, offspring, a better home, health, and so on…
Lord Ganesha accompanied by thousands of devotees, in procession
However, many of the “worshipers” also degrade themselves by indulging in low class activities like materialistic movie songs, partaking of meat, and intoxicants like tobacco, alcohol, and in these modern days, even hard drugs.
Then, in that intoxicated state, they dance for hours and hours, part of long processions.
What really saddens me though, is that most people don’t realize that the greatest blessing of Lord Ganesha are contained within the great magnum opus Mahabharata, as the 700-verse Bhagavad Gita.
Veda Vyasa recited the Mahabharata, all of 100,000 verses, and Lord Ganesha acted as His scribe… and in this way, the treatise became available to us, unfortunate conditioned souls.
Veda Vyasa Recites the Mahabharata, containing the Bhagavad Gita and Lord Ganesha serves as the scribe.
Within those 700 verses, one can learn about:
- One’s own spiritual identity
- The purpose of human life
- The cause of one’s material bondage in the cycle of birth, death, old age, disease
- The identity of the Supreme Absolute Truth, Krishna
- One’s relationship with Krishna, and
- The way to end this material tribulation once and for all
In fact, the Bhagavad Gita covers these main topics, covered in my Introduction to Bhagavad Gita series of classes, contact me to join:
- Jiva – the spirit soul
- Karma – the cycle of action and reaction
- Prakriti – this material nature we currently inhabit
- Kala – The Time Factor that moves everything
- Bhagavan – the Supreme Absolute Truth, Krishna
Anyone who carefully studies and acts on the instructions of the Bhagavad Gita will not have any more obstacles… not just temporarily, but for all of eternity!
मत्कर्मकृन्मत्परमो मद्भक्त: सङ्गवर्जित: ।
निर्वैर: सर्वभूतेषु य: स मामेति पाण्डव ॥ ५५ ॥mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramo
mad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥ
nirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu
yaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍavaMy dear Arjuna, he who engages in My pure devotional service, free from the contaminations of fruitive activities and mental speculation, he who works for Me, who makes Me the supreme goal of his life, and who is friendly to every living being – he certainly comes to Me.
As I pass by the various installations of Lord Ganesha during my travels in the Holy Land of India, what I will be praying for? That all the obstacles in my pathway to understanding the Bhagavad Gita may be removed, and that I may serve Lord Ganesha in propagating the Bhagavad Gita all over the world, in every town and village.
What will you pray for?
Freedom through Genuine Spiritual Progress 