Lord Ganesha (Ganesh) – Introduction, History

Lord Ganesha is deity of beginnings and the remover of obstacles. His own popularity combines with the fact that he is the son of Shiva and Parvati to make him one of the most popular divinities in the Hindu way of life.

Ganesha is an elephant-headed god with a human body and a large pot-belly – a sign of his sweet tooth and fondness for sweets. In India, almost every new endeavor begins with a pooja or offering to Ganesha, an appeal to him to clear the path forward of obstacles. The Ganesha Purana lists the many mantras and rituals associated with his worship. Ganesha is also an integral part of temples. The figure of Lord Ganesha seated on his minuscule vehicle, the rat or mooshika, can be found near the entrances of many temples. In tantra, Ganesha or the elephant is seen as the symbolic gatekeeper of the muladhara chakra, which marks the entrance way to the kundalini coiled at the base of the spine.

Lord Shiva - The Destroyer

Shiva at the Madurai Temple.

Lord Shiva is perhaps the most fascinating of all the characters in Hindu mythology. In the West, he is often seen as the god of destruction, who works in conjunction with Brahma the creator, and Vishnu the preserver to ensure the proper birth, functioning and dissolution of creation. But this is only one aspect of his multidimensional nature. He embodies many seemingly contradictory elements. Shiva is the Adiyogi, the first yogi, who first transmitted yoga to humanity. This transmission to the Saptarishis was the first exploration of the yogic sciences. So he is the Mahayogi, “the Great Yogi,” yet he is also a Dionysian figure and the most passionate lover.

Ascetic and Householder

As Nataraja, he is the “Lord of Dance,” as Akhileshvara, he is the Lord of Stillness. He creates the universe in a wild dance of frenzied joy, his hair streaming out behind him like the rays of the sun. He destroys the universe with his Rudra Tandava, bringing one cycle of creation to an end. As Maheshvara, “the Great Lord,” he is worshipped as creator of the world and the giver of esoteric knowledge, while as Mahakala, “Transcendent Time,” he represents both the irresistible march of time and the eternal present that nullifies it. He is the supreme ascetic whose body is smeared with ashes, meditating in the Himalayas, indifferent to the world. Yet he is a husband and householder as Parvati’s husband and Ganesha’s and Karthikeya’s father.

Fearful Yet Beautiful

Shiva as Bhairava, who ripped of Brahma's fifth head.

Lord Shiva also has his fearsome aspect. He is the wrathful Bhairava, “the Terrible,” garlanded with serpents and the skulls of his sacrificial victims, with glaring eyes and pointed fangs. Bhairava haunts the funeral pyres and cemeteries in search of devotees, to whom he teaches occult secrets of left-hand tantra. Shiva is the supreme aghori, living a life beyond terrible. Yet he is Sundareshwara, the most beautiful one.

In his form as Bhuteshvara he is “Lord of the Elements,” who has complete mastery over the Pancha Bhutas, the five elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space. He is considered the origin of the ancient Indian martial art form of Kalaripayattu, and also of the medicinal system of Siddha. Lord Shiva, in fact, embodies the limitless possibilities of existence, reconciling life's complementary aspects into one dynamic whole. In the Mahabharata story, Shiva is praised: “You are the origin of the worlds and you are Time, their destroyer.”

Shiva is the personification of the process of dissolution and re-creation that is constantly at work from moment to moment. He is life itself. He embodies the dynamism and change inherent in life. “All flesh is as grass” – even the things we consider permanent such as the mountains, the oceans, our own personalities, all are in reality transient As befits the god of change, pulsating with vitality, he is the personification of the unconscious mind, which is at once a Pandora's box and our greatest treasure. As the teacher of the ancient techniques of meditation, he shows us the way to uncover the wellsprings of our inner life.

Shiva’s Form

Shiva is portrayed in many forms, depending on which aspect is being represented. Generally speaking, though, he will be shown with four arms, signifying universal power and the four directions of space. He is generally seated on a tiger skin, either naked or with an animal hide to cover his body. The crescent moon adorns the left side of his matted hair. He holds his trident (trishula), symbolizing past, present, and future: and his hourglass drum (damaru), the union of male and female principles, from whose intermingled rhythms all the vibrations of life spring forth. He has a noose, called pasha, to catch and hold his devotees, and a number of weapons with which to fight: a bow – pinaka, an arrow – ajagava, a spear – pashupata, an axe – parashu, a staff or danda, and a club in which a skull is set, named khatvanga.

Shiva also has a cobra around his neck. This represents the kundalini, the life energy present in every human being, rising to its peak, having been set free by yoga. Kundalini literally means “the Coiled Serpent.”

The worship of Shiva

The worship of Shiva is as diverse as his many manifestations. Devotees may offer flowers, vilva leaves and milk. Yet the aghoris also offer feces and urine to Shiva! Usually, the focus of the worship is the linga, an ellipsoidal form, usually crafted out of stone, that is properly energized and consecrated. Applying sacred ash or vibhuti is also part of the worship. The vibhuthi may be prepared from the cremation ground ashes, burnt cow-dung or burnt rice husks, depending on the purpose for which it is to be used.

The festival of Mahashivratri, the “Great Night of Shiva” is celebrated in his honor and is one of the most spiritually significant festivals in India. It falls on the lunar month of phalgun, which corresponds to February and March. Mahashivratri corresponds to a time when the planetary positions create an upward surge in the energies of the human body, making it a very conducive time for spiritual evolution. Guru Poornima is also a festival celebrated for Shiva as the first Guru. The festival falls in the lunar month of Ashada in July.

Shiva as Nataraja, the aspect enshrined in the Chidambaram Thillai Nataraja Temple.

Several temples where Shiva is enshrined in various aspects are considered the most important sacred sites in India. The Chidambaram Temple for instance enshrines Shiva as Nataraja. The Kedarnath temple enshrines Shiva as Kedareshvara, and the Ujjain temple enshrines Shiva as Mahakaleshvara. Kashi or Varanasi is also one of the important places in India. It known as Avimukta, or never forsaken by Shiva, and is said to be his winter place, while Mount Kailash in the Himalayas is his summer place.

Courtesy-www.allaboutbharat.org

Lord Brahma - The God of Creation

Brahma is the embodiment or personification of creative energy and figures in many myths as the creator of the world.

He is usually shown with four heads and four arms, symbolizing the four cardinal directions, the four ages or yugas, and the four Vedas, or sacred books. He is seated on the lotus of creativity and holds attributes that refer to his role as priest of the gods: a portion of the Vedas, for as the Creator he makes possible all knowledge – Brahma, in fact, is sometimes equated with the human mind and the power of thought – a spoon for lustration, for it is by sacrifice that the world came into being, a vessel of holy water – since water, being formless, symbolizes the potential for creation – and a rosary (rudraksha), signifying meditation. His color is red or pink, and he is often shown as bearded, to indicate his wisdom.

Saraswati

The consort of Brahma is the goddess Saraswati, “the flowing one.” She is the beautiful goddess of Vac or speech with its immense power, and the bestower of intelligence who protects all the arts and sciences. She represents the union of power and intelligence from which organized creation arises. She plays the vina, from whose notes the sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet flow. As the patron deity of the “Word” or creative logos, she revealed language and writing to man.

Saraswati is the patroness of learning, eloquence, music, the arts, and all forms of cultural refinement. She is the mother of poetry. She is depicted as white in color, seated on the swan, and with two or sometimes eight arms. She can be shown holding a variety of objects, including the vina, a book, a rosary, and an elephant hook, with which she catches and hold her devotees. As befits her role of patroness of refinement, Sarasvati is always most graceful. She is the deity of students, artists, and intellectuals. On her annual festival none of her devotees is allowed to read books or play an instrument. These are cleaned, placed on the family altar, and worshiped as the abodes of the goddess.

Brahma and Saraswati’s vamana or bearer is a hamsa, the swan, symbol of the freedom gained through knowledge and representing the seeker’s soul which will one day take flight to its true home.

Brahma furnishes an example of the processes of change in the Hindu way of life. In all of India only two major temples remain dedicated to this once great god. Two developments have brought this about. First, a wide, but not universal, acceptance of the idea that the world we experience has only a provisional reality and so is not created in any absolute sense. Second, once a cycle of manifestation has been set in motion, he becomes redundant. Largely ignored by human beings, he is, however, worshiped by angels and seers. And third, the belief that the supreme God (especially when thought of as Shiva) has a feminine counterpart, his Shakti or power, through which all activity takes place. The worship of Shakti – or Mahadevi, the Great Goddess – as the creative principle bringing the universe into being, has made Brahma unnecessary.

The Story of Indian Art

There is an interesting story regarding the creation of Indian art and culture that involves Brahma and Saraswati. Brahma created a variety of wonderfully beautiful and enchanting things. He created the majestic mountain ranges, the thundering waterfalls and the giant forest trees, as also the nimble deer, the colorful peacock and the exquisite flowers. He filled his creation with beauty and splendor. But he was sad!

Saraswati found him in that mood and asked him the reason for it. Brahma said, “It is true I have created all this wonder and charm and showered beauty everywhere. But what is the use? My children, the human souls, simply pass them by; they do not seem to be sensitive to all the beauty around. All this seems to have been wasted on them; their creation seems to be purposeless.”

Saraswati took the hint and told him, “Well, let me do my share in the great work. You have created all this beauty and splendor. I shall create in our children the power to respond to, appreciate and get uplifted by them. I shall give them music and other arts which will draw out of them the capacity which lies deep in them to respond to the majestic splendor and exquisite charm and wondrous beauty of all creation.”

So saying, the great Muse gave us the fine arts, in the hope that through the love of music and other fine arts man would understand something of the Divine in his manifestation.

 Courtesy-www.allaboutbharat.org