REASONS WHY WE WORSHIP LORD GANESHA FIRST:- (- TO KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORY OF OUR HINDU GODS -) Lord Ganesha is the God of intellect, good luck and prosperity. Lord Ganesha represents the power of the Supreme Being that takes away obstacles and guarantee victory in human accomplishments. By tradition, every religious festival begins with the worship of Lord Ganesha. The portrayal of Lord Ganesha is in such a way that He is a blend of human and animal parts. These illustrate some philosophical perception of deep spiritual importance which have great role in worshiping Lord Ganesha. He is denoted by His elephant head, big belly, His mount and a small mouse. Ganesha epitomises wisdom and knowledge. He is the Vighnaharta or the destroyer of all obstacles. Ganeshas elephant head is the symbol of wisdom, and His long ears signify that He hears everything that His devotees say. There are many legends and stories related to Lord Ganesha which teach us a lot of things and also the fact why Lord Ganesha is the God of wisdom. Take a look at these six amazing life lessons that we all can learn from Lord Ganesha. Traditionally, every religious and auspicious function begins with the worship of Lord Ganesha. Every entrance of a temple also has a Ganesha idol at its entrance. Spiritually there are many reasons to why we worship Ganesha first. He is the Vighnaharta or the destroyer of all obstacles. Ganeshas elephant head is the symbol of wisdom, and His long ears signify that He hears everything that His devotees say. In India, Lord Ganesha is worshiped before the commencement of almost every task. He is worshiped first in almost all rituals of Hinduism. In fact, Lord Ganesha is almost synonymous with the beginning of any work. Ever wondered why is it that we worship Ganesha first? According to the Ganapati Upanishad, Lord Ganesha appeared even before the creation of nature (prakriti) and consciousness (purusha). This is an important link as to why Lord Ganesha is worshiped before beginning any task. According to this scriptures, Lord Ganesha is eternal and He appeared even before the process of creation. Once Goddess Parvati instructed Lord Ganesha to guard the gates and not to let anybody enter. As Ganesha stood on guard, Lord Shiva came and headed towards his room. When He was prevented from entering the house by Ganesha, Lord Shiva became furious and chopped off Ganeshas head. Hearing Ganeshas scream, Goddess Parvati came running and on seeing Ganeshas plight she became furious. She pledged to destroy the world if Her son was not brought back to life. Then Lord Shiva replaced Ganeshas head with an elephants and brought Him back to life. Seeing this condition of Her son, Parvati became extremely sad. So, Lord Shiva bestowed Ganesha with divine powers and declared that no puja or good work will ever be deemed complete without invoking Lord Ganeshas name and blessings. Hence, Lord Ganesha became the pratham pujya or the one who is worshiped first. The Upanishads say that Omkar is the reason for the creation of the whole universe. Ganesha is a form of Brahma, who symbolizes Omkar. Hence, Ganesh is called the “Lord of beginnings”. In Shivapurana, there is a small tale that suggests why we worship Ganesha first. The tale goes as, Once Ganesha and his brother Karthikeya were arguing about who amongst them was the most knowledgeable. Listening to this, Parvathi, Ganesha’s mother wanted to test them. She told them that the one who goes around the world and comes back first is the most knowledgeable. Karthikeya immediately started his journey and went around the world on his peacock. When he came back, he saw that Ganesha was still standing near his parents. When Karthikeya asked him, Ganesha went around his parents, symbolizing that his parents were the whole world for him. Seeing this, Lord Shiva declared that Ganesha was the most knowledgeable. Lord Ganesha is considered as the supreme deity amongst all the Hindu Gods and is the first to be worshipped during any auspicious event. He is known to be the most fulfilling God and is the remover of all obstacles. Blessings of Lord Ganesha are said to be the most powerful ones and the devotion of this marvelous deity does not stay within the Hindu boundaries, but extends to other religions like Jainism, Buddhism, etc. Lord Ganesha – the lord of all Ganas, followers of Shiva is the most recognized deity and is known as the Elephant-God. The Scripture Ganapati Upanishat Says: Avirbhutancha sristyadau prakriteh purushaat param | Lord Ganesha appears even before the creation of prakriti(nature) andpurusha(consciousness). This is a very important mention in our Scriptures that links Lord Ganesha with commencement of any task. He appeared before beginning of important task like creation of the world! This is means he is eternal and presents himself to remove any obstacles during the process of creation. Popular Perspective: Ruler and Remover of Obstacles It is described in the Scriptures that Lord Ganesha is the ruler and remover of all obstacles. So, he has another name: Vighneshwara, the lord of obstacles. In his capacity of ruler of obstacles, he is both Vighnakarta (creator of obstacles) andVighnaharta(remover of obstacles). Lord Ganesha rules muladhara chakra in our psychic body.Muladhara is the interface between material and spiritual worlds. This suggests that Lord Ganesha controls everything in both these worlds. So, his Grace is crucial in the material world(Earth) and beyond(spiritual world). Thus Shiva conferred a boon to Ganesha, that he must be worshiped before the start of any ceremony. Various names of Lord Ganesha: Lord Ganesha is prayed and worshipped by many names describing His stature. Few of the most famous names by which Lord Ganesha is worshipped – Ganpati – The Lord of all lords Sumukh – The Lord with a beautiful face Vinayaka – The prominent Lord of all Gajanana – The Elephant headed God Ek Danta – The Lord with one tusk Lambkarna – Long Eared God Vigneshwara – Remover of all the obstacles Worshipping Lord Ganesha with Mantra:- Vakratunda Mahaakaaya Suryakotee Sama Prabha Nirvighnam kuru mey Deva Sarva kaaryeshu Sarvadaa ************************************************************************************** THANKS FOR SOURCES :- https://rudrakshayoga.wordpress/2013/03/29/why-lord-ganesha-is-worshiped-first/ rudraksha-ratna/ganesha.htm spiritual-views-on-why-do-we.blogspot.in/2012/07/worship-lord-ganesha-first.html boldsky/yoga-spirituality/faith-mysticism/ Read more at: boldsky/yoga-spirituality/ ************************************************************************************* FROM COIMBATORE VENKATA SUBBARAO RAGHAVENDRARAO //// SHRI HARI KRISHNAARPANAMASTHU ////
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 03:19:28 +0000