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I started writing this article a few weeks ago when I could hear the drumrolls outside my window. People were celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi, the birthday of the beloved elephant-headed God. It is only fitting, as Ganesh is the gatekeeper to his mother, the Divine Goddess, and it is only with an invocation to Ganesh that any auspicious activity or worship starts.
The Story of How Ganesh Lost His Head…
As with all Hindu Gods, there is a fascinating story of how Ganesh got his elephant head1. Ganesh was created by Goddess Parvati, who felt lonely as her husband, Lord Shiva, would be away for extended periods of time, meditating on Mount Kailash. She took some sandalwood paste off her body, mixed it with the soil, and breathed life into it. A little boy was born.
As a young boy, Ganesh was the gatekeeper to his mother. Goddess Parvati had instructed him not to let anyone in while she bathed. One day, while he stood guard for his mother, Lord Shiva returned and demanded that he be let in. Ganesh did not recognize Shiva, and obeying his mother’s instructions did not budge. An incensed Shiva took out his trident and cut off his head. When the Goddess emerged from her bath, she saw her son’s lifeless form and understood what must have transpired. Deeply enraged, the furious Goddess declared that all creation would be ruined if her son were not brought back to life. Shiva’s remonstrations that the little boy was just a projection of the Goddess’s mind were to no avail. Shiva realized his mistake and brought Ganesh back to life by planting an elephant’s head on the body. He bestowed him with the blessing that Lord Ganesh would be the first God to be worshipped before starting any worship, auspicious event, or new business.
…And Decoding the Allegory
Hindu philosophy taught profound philosophical truths through allegories. At face value, these stories showed how Gods and Goddesses dealt with the travails of ordinary human life and illumined the path humans could take when faced with similar situations. At a deeper level, they reveal truths that connect the material to the spiritual.
This story, too, reveals the nature of human existence and how man, engrossed in the material world, forgets who he really is.
Shiva, one of the primary deities of Hinduism, is widely worshipped as the Supreme God. Shivaalso symbolizes the non-dual, omnipresent, infinite Consciousness or Absolute Reality. The nature of Consciousness is described as Satchitananda (Truth-Consciousness-Bliss), which is eternal, never-changing, and ever-blissful.
The central teaching of Hinduism is that the purpose of human life is for an individual to uncover and directly experience his or her divine self, which is infinite, immortal, and blissful by its own nature.
If Shiva is Consciousness, then his consort Parvati represents the primordial cosmic Energy (Shakti), who manifests herself as Mother Nature, the Universe, or Creation. To continue the process of Creation, which is constantly expanding, the same Goddess casts an illusory spell (Maya) that deludes humans and prevents them from perceiving Absolute Reality.
The little boy represents the human. Human bodies are made of earth, air, and water; their minds are infused with material energy and are brought to life through divine consciousness. The power of Maya (that Parvati casts) prevents the boy from recognizing Consciousness (or Shiva).
Elephants are known for their long memories. As soon as the illusory self is stricken off, the mind remembers that the purpose of life is to revert to one’s divine nature or, in other words, discover the God within oneself.
The story reminds us that everything created with material energy is transitory and will eventually be destroyed. Only Consciousness is infinite, intelligent, and immortal.
Nothing that we see around us is permanent. As attached as we may be to our jobs, family, or body, none of them will be with us forever. That is the law of nature. That is how she operates.
Ancient Sages Recognized That One Size Does Not Fit All
“Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to Me.”
The Bhagavad Gita
Swami Vivekananda famously declared at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 that Hindus believe “not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true.” Practitioners are encouraged to not just blindly believe but directly experience and choose the path that suits them best.
Different streams within Hinduism show different paths to reach the same goal.
Advaita Vedanta (or non-dual philosophy) declares that every man in reality is Brahman or the formless non-dual Consciousness; the individual soul (which is beyond the body and mind) is likened to a single wave in the omnipresent Ocean of Consciousness. This path calls for rigorous self-inquiry to keep negating the unreal and the false to arrive at “What Is.”
The Path of Knowledge and Self-Inquiry is Not For All
As a sixteen-year-old, the famous 19th-century seer, Ramana Maharishi, “abandoned himself to a newly-discovered awareness that his real nature was formless, immanent consciousness. His absorption in this awareness was so intense that he was completely oblivious of his body and the world; insects chewed away portions of his legs, his body wasted away because he was rarely conscious enough to eat and his hair and fingernails grew to unmanageable lengths.” 2
It took him two or three years before he began a slow return to a normal physical state, and it took him several years before the process was finally completed. Throughout this physical transition, his awareness of himself as consciousness was unaffected, and it remained that way for the rest of his life.
In Hindu parlance, he ‘had realised the Self’, that is to say, he had realised by direct experience that nothing existed apart from an indivisible and universal consciousness.” 3(emphasis added)
The path of rigorous self-inquiry (also known as the path of knowledge or jnana yoga) is arduous, and the risk of self-deception is high.
Loving God Is Easier for Some
On the other hand, the path of devotion (bhakti yoga) is easy to follow. The devotee worships the Personal God, who embodies the principle of Satchidananda, Brahman,or Consciousness. Bhakti Yoga invokes spiritual consciousness, where the devotee relies on God like “the dry leaf at the mercy of the wind.”4 By chanting God’s names and completely surrendering to the Almighty, the devotee purifies his or her mind till he or she uncovers the God within.
There are three main streams within Bhakti Yoga: Shaivism (worship of Shiva), Vaishnavism (worship of Vishnu and his avatars, Rama and Krishna), and Shakta (worship of the Divine Goddess).
Devi Worship is Universal in Hinduism
Hinduism is the only religion that worships the Divine Feminine in multiple forms and aspects. As Cosmic Energy, she creates and destroys worlds. As Maya, she will tempt, tease, and play, and when she is convinced that the devotee is ready, she will also be the one to liberate. She is the Goddess of Learning in the form of Saraswati; as Lakshmi, she bestows fortune, wealth, and success. In the Shakta tradition, she is worshipped as the all-powerful Divine Goddess, the embodiment of Consciousness or Brahman, with all other forms of divinity manifesting from Her. In Shaivism or Vaishnavism, she represents the energy form of her male counterpart. Devotees know that to get favors from Lord Shiva or Lord Krishna, they must first propitiate Parvati Devi or Radha Rani Devi, respectively.
Not only did Hinduism firmly establish the male-female principle, but it also decreed that one cannot exist without the other.
Devi is the Benevolent Mother and Supreme Protector, and like any other mother, she is more easily won over by her faithful devotees. Most Indian villages will have a small temple dedicated to the Mother Goddess. India’s financial capital, Mumbai, derives its name from Mumba Devi, [the Goddess of the native Koli community], and ai, which means mother. Calcutta, the former capital of the mighty British Empire, is a derivation of Kalikatta, the sacred ground of Goddess Kali.
Disrespecting the Divine Feminine Had Consequences
There is this story about the virtuous King Prthu, who was created by the sages to succeed the wicked king Vena. When the King ascended the throne, he found that his subjects had no food to eat. There had been no harvests, and the land was dry. The king realized that Mother Earth had withdrawn her generous bounty, and he set out to find her with a bow and arrow in his hand. Seeing the king approaching her so armed, Mother Earth ran away. After a long chase, the king finally caught up with her and asked how she could stop giving food. After all, wasn’t she supposed to nourish and nurture everyone with her fertile soil and unlimited wealth? Mother Earth replied, “The people of this kingdom had become extremely wicked, and therefore I had withdrawn everything. I am now ready to give all the nourishments of life again.” She gave him instructions, and when the king did what Mother Earth told him, the kingdom started flourishing with riches and grains.
Prthu could not conquer Mother Earth. He had to follow her instructions for the land to become fertile again. The wicked King Vena’s actions had resulted in Devi withdrawing her grace and generosity. 5
Just like Prthu, we can try as much as we want, but we cannot control nature. We are helpless in the face of earthquakes, droughts, and hurricanes. We have also seen that wherever the feminine is not respected, in intent, emotion, and action, harmony and peace get replaced by turbulence and agitation.
Feminine does not just mean the female form; it includes the (gender-neutral) values of consciousness, forgiveness, intelligence, compassion, modesty, peace, faith, and contentment.
To be successful effortlessly, every individual requires both the masculine and feminine to be balanced within. The same holds true for society to be in harmony.
The Nine Days of The Sacred Feminine
The golden autumnal colors herald the onset of the Festival of the Goddess. Many parts of India are celebrating the nine-day Navratri (nine nights), which worships the warrior form of Parvati, the fierce ten-armed Goddess Durga.
These nine days symbolize the evolving forms of human consciousness as it transitions from basic survival to action motivated by desire or ambition and, finally, liberation.
We start our lives by learning to survive. It is only after a few years that we experience desires and ambitions. These motivate us towards action. We get educated, earn money, get married, have families, and fulfill our responsibilities. Most of us remain stuck at this stage, trapped in the cycle of birth-education-work-marriage-children-death. The cycles keep repeating over multiple lifetimes until we see the futility of it all and seek liberation.
These nine days remind us to turn inward and reconnect with our inner spirituality.
Durga Puja in Bengal - A Grand Celebration, The Social Event, A Time to Connect with The Divine
In Bengal, where I come from, the resplendent form of the Goddess Durga is worshipped in all her glory on the last four days of Navratri. She is seen to be visiting her parents’ home (the mortal world) with her children. If you visit Kolkata, you will find that the streets are dotted with pandals, ormarquees housing the Goddess with her children.
Offices and schools are closed during the days of the festival. People flock to see the Goddess and offer their prayers. There are a few famous pandals renowned for their artistic depictions, which will have long queues patiently waiting to get in and get a glimpse of the magnificent Goddess. It is a time to wear new outfits, which are planned and bought months in advance, and meet family and friends over meals, available at the same pandals.Many organizers also arrange musical and theatrical shows to showcase talent and entertain the thousands of visitors who visit the pandals.
Amidst the razzmatazz, the priests and a group of dedicated devotees ensure that the Goddess is properly worshipped with elaborate rituals, offerings at precise times of the day and night, and
the chanting of the sacred Chandi Path. And it is this Chandi Path that I will be exploring in my next article.
Stay tuned!
I hope you enjoyed this post. Please share your feedback!
There are different versions of the story. I have chosen one of them. The essence remains the same. You can refer to https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/article/ganesh-chaturthi-true-origins-of-ganapathis-head
Well written. The nuances of an evolved religion brought out by analysing and presenting the underlying values and principles at an easy pace. The real intention of the physical stories are indeed the deeper perspective of our existence and our ultimate reality. Wonderful writing
Well written. The nuances of an evolved religion brought out by analysing and presenting the underlying values and principles at an easy pace. The real intention of the physical stories are indeed the deeper perspective of our existence and our ultimate reality. Wonderful writing