06 July,2011 08:59 AM IST | | The Guide Team
Why is Ganesha visualised in red? Why does he sit on a rodent? Why does he love modaks? Mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik answers those and other questions in his book -- 99 thoughts on Ganesha. excerpts from the book
The idea of ganeshA (balance between material and spiritual worlds)
Life can be fun. Life can also be painful. Sometimes we wish to experience all the excitement of life. But then, we experience sorrow and frustration. We wish to withdraw from life. Our ancestors experienced this too and concluded that there are two ways to live life -- as a hermit who steps back and contemplates on the nature of the world and as a householder who stays in the world and experiences all it has to offer fearlessly.
Our ancestors visualised the hermit as Shiva, the male form of divinity, or God, and the householder as Shakti, the female form of divinity, i.e. the Goddess. Shiva does not want to be a father or deal with the trials and tribulations of worldly life. Shakti wants to be a mother and engage in all things worldly, but she knows she cannot do so without Shiva's support and participation. From this tension between hermit and householder, God and Goddess, is born Ganesha, his animal head representing material joys and his human body representing spiritual bliss. In Ganesha, God and Goddess attain balance, material pleasure and spiritual wisdom in harmony.
Rat (removing the 'pest' of problems from our lives)
Early images of Ganesha, dated around 5th century AD, do not show him riding a rat. In fact, in early images, he is shown seated on a lion. This association with a rat comes from around 10th century AD. During this period, from the 5th to the 10th century AD, as the Puranas were becoming the most popular sacred document, and temple worship became more and more mainstream, Ganesha moved from being a fringe deity to a central deity. Ganesha Purana states that Rishi Parasara prayed to Ganesha as his hermitage was infested with rodents. Ganesha sat on the rats and since then Ganesha has been represented seated on a rat. In south Indian traditions it is said that the rat was once an elephant-faced demon who was defeated and domesticated by Ganesha. Ganesha pins down and rides a rodent variously identified as mouse, rat or bandicoot. This troublesome pest has over the centuries come to represent the unmanageable problems of life. Ganesha, as the provider of solutions, removes the pest of problems from our lives. The rat is also a fertility symbol. It reproduces rapidly. Its association with Ganesha is thus natural as Ganesha is associated with many other fertility symbols such as grass and serpent.
Ravan (Divine v/s nature's call)
Shiva once allowed the demon-king Ravana to carry him to the city of Lanka in the form of a linga on condition that the sacred stone should never be placed on the ground before reaching its destination. The gods feared that no sooner did the linga reach Lanka than Ravana would become invincible. So they sought the help of Ganesha who made Ravana experience an uncontrollable urge to answer a call of nature. Desperate to relieve himself, Ravana requested a cowherd to hold the linga until he returned. The cowherd was none other than Ganesha himself. As soon as he was given the linga, he placed it on the ground where it took permanent root and became renowned as Mahabaleshwara. This story comes from the 15th century text, Gurucharitra, by Saraswati Gangadhara.
Modaka (symbol of sweet pleasures of wealth)
Ganesha is fond of a particular sweet called Modaka. Modaka is a steamed dumpling made of rice flour dough containing jaggery, coconut and sesame. The shape and constituents of Modaka are very significant. It looks like a bag of money, similar to one carried by Kuber, treasurer of the gods. Thus, it is a symbol of wealth, and all the sweet pleasures that wealth gives man. It is also shaped like an upward pointing triangle, which, in Tantrik art, represents spiritual reality, in contrast to the downward pointing triangle which represents material reality. Thus the Modaka has the aesthetics and flavour of material reality, but the geometry of spiritual reality.
Lakshmi and Saraswati (why ganesha comes into the picture)
Lakshmi, is the goddess of wealth. When she enters the house, there is prosperity. Saraswati, is the goddess of wisdom. When she enters the house, there is peace. But the two of them do not stay in the same house which is why peace and prosperity rarely co-exist. Lakshmi loves to visit the places where Saraswati resides. But her arrival marks the end of wisdom and peace. With wealth comes quarrels, bickering over money matters, annoying Saraswati who runs away. The two goddesses are described as quarrelling sisters. The only god who can bring them together is Ganesha. That is why the images of Lakshmi and Saraswati with Ganesha in the middle are very popular. Lakshmi is dressed in red and is covered with jewels. Saraswati wears a simple white sari and does not care for jewels. Lakshmi is associated with lotus flowers and pots and baskets overflowing with grain and gold. Saraswati is associated with books and memory beads and musical instruments. Lakshmi brings material pleasure in her wake; Saraswati brings intellectual bliss. To have both together, one has to pray to Ganesha.
