Pandals or People?

On Ganesh Chaviti


Do we all agree that what is physical is not permanent; and what is permanent cannot be physical? Bhagavad-Gita said that God or what we believe to the God or the cosmic force is permanent and non-perishable. If that is so, why do we symbolize God in physical bodies? Suppose if someone calls you, “Donkey” you get angry. We do not compare the people we admire with animals; we would rather compare them with stars, moon, sun etc which we considered to be permanent. Then why do we accept the reflection of cosmic light in stones or in human forms which are temporary? Why are the religious symbols, the idols, the stories – be it that of Rama or Krishna or Jesus - all represent physical bodies in action? Have our forefathers made a mistake in creating these religious symbols in physical bodies? On the face of it, it appears so.

But let us think a bit deeper. When the teacher comes into class, she starts with the concepts which are already known – the revision of the previous lessons. ‘Moving from the known to unknown’ is an accepted principle in learning. What is known is only the beginning, a harbinger of things to come, but not the whole lesson. Isn’t it? The creation of religious symbols has been done to represent what is ‘known’ to the human beings. The purpose of the religious symbols is to use the ‘known’ to go into the ‘unknown’. When we see the God in the shape of an idol, and we worship it, fall at its feet, ask it to fulfill our myriad desires – we are stopping at what is ‘known’ and not proceeding to the ‘unknown’. Like the dullard who does not go beyond the first page of the lesson, we get stuck to the symbolic physical form of the cosmic force. So the lesson which the religious symbol is trying to teach is, alas, not learnt. What the symbol is trying to tell us is something else; to look for it knowledge, to get stuck to it is ignorance. The fundamental fact is to realize that the physical objects that we worship are not God; they represent the God, but not the God itself.

Today is Ganesh Chaviti. The day when the Ganesha was supposed to be born. All localities are agog with colourful pandals with mighty Ganesh idols adorning them. What is the symbolism of this story? What is it trying to tell us?

The origin of Ganesha
Ganesha was created / made to be a gate-keeper who keeps out the unauthorized persons from entering and only let in the authorised persons. Ganesh grew up to be the vighna-raja. That is king of obstacles – a king who creates obstacles and also clears obstacles.
What does a gate-keeper symbolize for us? A person or entity that blocks unwanted thoughts or stops unnecessary actions that are not authorised. A person or entity that allows the flowing in of right thoughts and facilitation of right actions. Both are important. When we read about the story of Ganesha’s creation, we are being encouraged to create a gate-keeper within us who can block or allow wrong and right actions. We pray so that he CREATES OBSTACLES for irregular deeds of ours and CLEARS OBSTACLES for all right things.

Ganesha was created with the wheat flour, which is a physical commodity. Why doesn’t the story tell that he is made with some stone or Gold? The symbolism should not be lost – wheat flour is available to everyone; making with Gold or stone would require a specialist. What it is trying to tell you is that this gate keeper YOU can make yourself. It need not be made elsewhere and brought. It is provoking you to think that creating a ‘gate-keeper’ of your thoughts is as easy as it can get!

Ganesha and the elephant
When Shiva killed the boy at the entrance and Parvati pleaded with him, he brings him back to life – not with human head, but with elephant head. WHY? Why elephant? Why not tiger or lion? Why not human? The story has attached the elephant head to the human form with a purpose. There is a profound symbolism even in this.

What does the Elephant signify? A gentle giant - its strength, its sobriety, stability and clarity. Isn’t it?
Elephants have a spectacular sense of clarity. Have you ever seen elephants getting distracted by noise on the wayside? Never. The animal is much focused and goes where it wants – fearlessly and freely. There is clarity of purpose in what it does.
The strength alludes to the ability to take to storms of life. Where do the elephants go when the storms come? We run for safety, but where do the elephants go? No where. They brave the storms. They overcome obstacles with their strength.
Sobriety is synonymous with elephant. It is not rushed into anything. It is composed, calm and goes about life in a near philosophical manner. (I am talking about the average animal). What we, humans, miss is sobriety. We are so ruffled with anything that comes in our way. We are upset with what others have said about us; if things do not go our way; if work gets taxing; if do not get what we want.
Do you ever find elephant challenging / hunting other lesser animals? Elephant is one of the gentle giants, which does not need to hunt other animals for its food. Gentle nature emerges out of confidence about own strength. A person who has strength finds no reason to show it off; nor find reasons for taunting a person without it.
Stability of an elephant is hard to emulate by any human being. It has a very low pulse rate and does not get ruffled by anyone. Unlike the us, who are easily distracted by the travails of the journey.

The story is plodding the human beings to get gentle, sober as we go about our purpose in life with clarity and in strength.

Ganesha and the moon
The story goes on: Ganesha becomes the king of obstacles and is being worshipped by everyone. He eats all that is offered and moves with a pot belly. On his birthday, when he is trying to bend to touch the feet of Parvati, moon ridiculed his pot belly due; and thanks to that evil eye, his stomach bursts open, resulting in the curse of Parvati - ‘Anyone who sees moon shall die’. All the mighty have prevailed on her to control / restrict the effect of this curse - to this day alone and that ‘anyone seeing moon today would face unwanted public prosecution’.

What does this part of the story symbolize?

Ganesha is the gate-keeper who keeps out unwanted thoughts and actions. Moon on the other hand represents all that is beautiful and attractive. It attracts everything physical – even the seas and oceans resulting in waves. It causes mood swings in the people. The symbol of Ganesha and that of moon therefore are antithetical to each other. One is trying to control; the other trying to attract and pull towards it.

The duality between the moon and the Ganesha is represented by the duality between the desires (represented by moon) and the control of desires (represented by Ganesha). When the moon (the desire) takes the upper hand (staying on top of Lord Shiva) over Ganesha (the controller) who has become immobile, then the destruction results. The curse of Parvati has to be understood in this context.

The curse has been moderated, the story says. If anyone sees moon this day, they will face unwanted public prosecution. What does that mean? Desires need to be controlled, but not suppressed. It is not possible to control desires endlessly, but it is possible to gain upper hand over them. The restriction imposed by the curse is symbolic of the fact that while we lead a life with desires, we need to never lose control lest the path is not lost.

In conclusion

Religion and the rituals associated with it are exercises in classic symbolism, trying to tell something more than what appears. If we do not understand the message behind the symbol, we would be wading in ignorance. As we stand in these grand Ganesh pandals, I see not the gigantic idol but the multitude that throng about.

RS
3rd September 2008