Lord Ganesha, who is believed to have been created from Goddess Parvati’s turmeric paste from her body and breathing life into it. Whether we talk about his experiences, sacrifices, or the various events that took place with him, there are many valuable lessons that can be drawn from Lord Ganesha. Let’s explore some of the learnings associated with Lord Ganesha that can also be applied to our lives.
1. Be A Good Listener
You may have noticed that Lord Ganesha has very large ears. One reason for this is that his head is that of an elephant, and another reason is that his large ears symbolize that one should listen more rather than speak too much.
2. Duty First
For you, duty (Dharma) should always be the first priority. Lord Ganesha also teaches us that we should perform our duties with a pure heart.
We can learn the greatest example of performing duties with a pure heart from him as well. Once, when Goddess Parvati was going to take a bath, she instructed her beloved Ganesha not to let anyone enter until she finished bathing. Ganesha followed this command and even prevented his father, Lord Shiva, from entering. Lord Shiva, angered by this obstruction, cut off Ganesha’s head in a fit of rage, leading to the need for Ganesha to have an elephant’s head.
The head that Lord Ganesha has is not from an ordinary elephant but is that of Indra’s elephant called ‘Airavata’.
3. Your Parents Are Most Important
We all value our parents the most in our lives, and Lord Ganesha also believes in the same. You can understand this from the following example:
Once, a competition arose between Lord Ganesha and his brother Kartikeya to determine who would circumnavigate the world first. As the race began, Kartikeya mounted his ride, a peacock, and took off into the sky. However, Ganesha chose to ride a mouse and, after circling his parents Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati three times, declared, ‘I have completed my journey around the world because for me, you are my world.’
In this story, Lord Ganesha’s actions demonstrate the profound love and value he places on his parents, just as we do in our lives.
4. Be Grounded, Humble and Maintain Equality
Our beloved Ganesha is worshipped before all other gods and goddesses, and it is then that Lord Ganesha’s mount is a small mouse, symbolizing his grounded and humble nature.
We should also strive to be as grounded and humble as possible in our lives, so that we are inspired to progress further.
There is a beautiful story behind why Lord Ganesha is worshipped first. When the question arose about who should be worshipped first on Earth, all the gods and goddesses were vying for the honor, and no solution could be found. They all went to Lord Shiva for a solution, and he suggested that whoever could complete a journey around the entire universe first would be worshipped first.
Our Lord Ganesha then went around Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati in a circle, winning the race. Since then, the worship of Lord Ganesha began to take place first.
We can learn another very important lesson from Lord Ganesha, which is about equality. As we learned earlier, Lord Ganesha is the first deity to be worshipped among the gods and goddesses. However, despite this, his mount is a small mouse named ‘Mushaka,’ which demonstrates his commitment to equality. We can learn from Lord Ganesha that we should treat everyone equally.
5. Be Comfortable in Your Appearance
When you look at our beloved Lord Ganesha, you will notice that his body is quite unique. His stomach is quite large. His head is very big. Which is why his ears are also quite large, and all his body parts depict something.
- Head – Lord Ganesha’s large head symbolizes wisdom, and now even science has confirmed that among land-dwelling animals, elephants have the largest heads, and they are quite intelligent and emotional. Elephants have three times more neurons than humans.
- Stomach – The large stomach of Lord Ganesha symbolizes that we should be able to digest both the good and bad things that come into our lives. It also signifies controlling our anger and representing prosperity.
- Ears – His big ears indicate that we should listen more and speak less.
- Small Eyes – If you closely observe Lord Ganesha’s idol, you will notice that his eyes are smaller in comparison to his head size. His small eyes teach us to concentrate.
From Lord Ganesha, we can learn not to focus on aspects like being fat or thin, fair or dark, having long or short height, and instead, concentrate on how we can become better versions of ourselves.
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6. Forgiveness
Once, Lord Ganesha was riding on his vehicle, the ‘Mushaka’ (mouse), when the Moon made a mocking remark upon seeing him, saying, “Such a large-bodied deity riding on such a tiny mouse!” Hearing this, Ganesha became angry and cursed the Moon, saying, “Moon, your radiance will now diminish.” Upon receiving the curse, the Moon lost all its arrogance and began to apologize to Ganesha.
Ganesha’s curse couldn’t be completely undone, but with a change of heart, he said to the Moon, “Just as your brilliance will gradually diminish, it will also return in the same way.”
We often hold grudges against many people, which doesn’t harm them but weakens us from within. This story teaches us a significant lesson about forgiveness and how we can free ourselves from the burden of grudges. Very beautiful Lessons From Lord Ganesha.
7. Every Obstacles Can Be Overcome
Our Ganesha is also called ‘Vighnaharta’ because he can remove all kinds of problems that come into our lives. Therefore, we should believe that there will always be a solution to any difficulties that come our way, and we should not give up in the face of those challenges.
Someone whose body is human and head is that of an elephant is a great example of how any obstacles can be overcome.
8. Sacrifices and Completing Tasks (Most important Lessons From Lord Ganesha)
Many people start a task but abandon it as soon as they encounter even a slight difficulty. The greatest example of hard work and sacrifice can be seen in our Lord Ganesha.
When Sage Ved Vyasa wanted to write the Mahabharata, he approached Lord Brahma’s recommendation to seek help from Lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesha agreed to assist Vyasa in writing the Mahabharata but set a condition: Vyasa must narrate the entire epic without stopping, and if he paused, Ganesha would stop writing. Accepting this condition, Vyasa also imposed a condition that Ganesha must fully understand the meaning of each verse before writing it, and they both agreed to these terms.
Then, Ved Vyasa began the narration, and Ganesha began writing. During the process, Ganesha’s feather pen kept breaking, causing interruptions in their work. In response, our beloved Ganesha did something that left Vyasa astonished. He broke one of his tusks and used it as a pen to continue writing. This act led Vyasa to give him a new name, ‘Ekdanta’ (one with a single tusk).
From this story, we can learn that we should always strive to complete our life goals or important tasks. In doing so, we may need to sacrifice our entertaining activities and other distractions without hesitation.
9. Balance
This is one of the most important Lessons From Lord Ganesha.
In our life, we should strive to maintain a balance between things like family, work, and personal life. This is because having a balance among these aspects is essential for making our lives prosperous and happy.
This is a lesson that Lord Ganesha also teaches us. If you observe carefully, you will see that Lord Ganesha is depicted in a sitting position with one foot up and one foot down in every statue, symbolizing the importance of balance in life.
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These are some important life lessons that we can learn from Lord Ganesha. Incorporate these lessons into your life, and they will help you become a better person.