G A N E S H A   -   T H E   G O D   W I T H   T H E    E L E P H A N T   H E A D

PART 1   |   PART 2   |   PART 3   |   PART 4

PART 4
Amazed, they all saw that instead of going off into space, Ganesha flew around Shiva and Parvati, and then returned to the starting point, kneeled at his parent's feet and said:

"I fulfilled my task. I toured the universe." All the gods and demi-gods said as one: "It's not true! How can you be so lazy!".

Ganesha turned over to Vishnu and said: "I know that you understood the significance of my actions, but in order to make everyone understand I will say this: I fulfilled my task of touring the universe, because this phenomenal world of forms and names is only a manifestation of my Divine Mother and Father.

They are the source of all there is. I went to the source, to the truth, to the essence of all existence and phenomena. I know that this world is an ocean of relative existence, that it is illusionary and that it makes no sense to pass by the ultimate reality in order to tour an illusion.

My brother is still touring the universe. When he reaches the truth, he will know that all is one, and the rest is but an illusion, including me and you."

This statement lit a spark of authentic understanding in his listeners, who were amazed and delighted by his wisdom. Applauding his refined judgment and his enlightening action, the gana-s had accepted the "fat" Ganesha as their lord.

While Vishnu was placing the mark of victory (tilak) on Ganesha's forehead, Kartikeya returned from his journey. He was very upset and contested Ganesha's victory.

Then the gods told Kartikeya about Ganesha's subtlety and wisdom and added: "you focused your attention on matter, which is illusion. You went around the phenomenal world, whose existence is relative, and therefore you were not able to perceive the truth directly.

Ganesha showed us that the entire universe is but a manifestation of the ultimate truth. This is the source and the phenomenal universe is maya, the illusion."

Kartikeya realized then that he also had been fooled by maya, that his rush into the world of ever-changing phenomena had been in vain. He had chased a mirage.

Kartikeya had behaved just as any other mortal who takes the world of names and forms as reality, and the title of Ganesha was offered to the one whose wisdom had passed beyond material existence.

Also, Vishnu decided that from that moment on, all beings should invoke Ganesha's grace at the beginning of all their actions, so they would not have to deal with various obstacles in achieving their beneficial goals, and their path would be smooth and without hardships.


GANESHA'S YANTRA
The meditation and focus on Ganesha's yantra grants a state of inner balance. The background is intense green. This green is obtained from a mixture of warm yellow and cold blue, so green is seen as a color that brings balance.

Focusing on this green color, we produce its complementary color, red. Red is the symbol of life, inspiration, revolution, freedom from rules and limitations.

The eight-petal red lotus represents the eight aspects of Prakriti (the primordial nature):
1. akasha
2. air
3. fire
4. water
5. earth
6. sattva
7. rajas
8. tamas

The yellow star represents the balance between the masculine and feminine energy, and it was created through the superposition of a masculine triangle pointing upwards and a feminine one pointing downwards.

The male triangle pointing upwards represents the vital masculine essence, the elixir of immortality. The color of this triangle is the same as Ganesha's skin.

Bindu, the point placed in the middle of the central triangle represents Ganesha himself. Meditation on this bindu is the main purpose of yantric worship. Its color is golden, attractive and calming at the same time.

PART 1   |   PART 2   |   PART 3   |   PART 4