Largely adapted to its inhabitants past beliefs system, Hinduism has for hundreds of years been the most influential religion on the island, which is recognised as Hindu.
This religious way of life has however many varying practices in Bali and Java, compared to the one witnessed in its originating homeland of Indian.
Nonetheless, as it is tradition in the major part of the Hindu society we will start our quest for knowledge by introducing Ganesha, Lord of obstacles and all things living, without whom no important endeavours should begin.
Time has claimed many legends to the birth of this beloved and popular, elephant faced deity. One goes as follows...
Eldest son of Shiva and Parvati, he was born out of his mother’s desire for protection while Shiva was away. From the sandalwood paste she used to rub her skin during her bath, she shaped the figure of a young boy and infused it with life.
She then told the boy that he was her son and asked him to guard her entrance.
When Shiva came back, the boy refused to let him in, and both not knowing who they were to each other entered a fight resulting in Shiva, in his rage, severed the boy’s head from its body.
Shortly realising what he had done, and in a panic to appease the sorrow of his distraught wife, Shiva sent his followers to bring back the head of the first living creature encountered. It happen to be an elephant and it was thus that Shiva brought the boy back to life with the head of an elephant.
Though the match was far from perfect it helps identify Ganesha’s quality and powers. Indeed the elephant is the largest and strongest animal in the forest. Yet it is gentle and ,amazingly, a vegetarian whom does not need to kill to eat. Affectionate and loyal to those providing care and attention to him, yet anger and evil can bring forth the terrifying and destructive attributes of its size.
His large ears allow him to hear all, and his trunk to accomplish powerful tasks such as carrying logs, as well as delicate ones like the removing of coconuts shells to eat the soft meat of their centre.
And so is the kind and powerful Lord Ganesha in his ability to hear and answer his devotees request, be they humble or great.
More often than not, he his represented with four arms, or more, which signifies his divinity, and carries a different symbol in each hand.
Though these may vary, common ones are:
- the ax, which symbolises the good luck he brings with his power to clear obstacles.
- a bowl of sweets, to remind of the sweetness to be found in the realised inner self.
- his broken tusk, which a legend says that being asked to transcript the epic of the Mahabharata, by its author the sage Vyasa, Ganesha realised the inadequacy of an ordinary pen to undertake such a task. He then broke one of his tusk to make a proper pen, in this showing that no sacrifice is big enough in the pursuit of knowledge.
- and finally a snake, representing his sacred thread or the cosmic energy.
His round figure and pot belly are testimonies to the bounty of nature and a reminder that he swallows the sorrows of the universe and protects the world.
As for the little mouse, his constant companion and unusual vehicle, she represents the ego, able to slip unnoticed into places no one would have thought possible, hardly concerned whether it is seeking virtue or vice. Its subservience to Ganesha exemplifies the need to control the ego in our reach for harmony and balance.
- Posted by Stephanie Robert |
