Have you ever felt as though during the age of Kali Yuga (our current age of vice which we must break) that good people with noble intentions always seems to struggle to accomplish their goals while malefic persons with ill plans for others seem to get what they want without any problems? We are not alone in our frustrations, even the gods have a hard time competing with the demons during the Kali Yuga, but the Puranas give us a spiritual practice to help set us above our adharmic (unrighteous) competition. Ganesh is the Lord of Obstacles, he is able to remove or place impediments before us. There are many different legends about his appearance in the world, but the Varaha Purana tells us about the significance of his birth date, otherwise known as Vinayak Chaturthi. Vinayak Chaturthi is the 4th day after the appearance of the New Moon every month. According to the Puranas, the gods were having difficulty manifesting their will while the demons were able to accomplish all of their feats without any difficulties. The gods went to Lord Shiva looking for help. Lord Shiva began to laugh, obviously because there should be no reason why the gods should be the servants of demons, and out of the light of his laugh was born the deity Ganesh. Lord Brahma, the god of creation, then suggested that Ganesh be installed as the deity worshiped on Chaturthi. It is traditional for Hindus to do a day of fasting and penance to Lord Ganesha on this day. The most famous and largest Vinjayak Chaturthi is called “Ganesh Chaturthi” and is celebrated in late summer/early autumn. Abstaining from food and other sense gratifications while meditating on the form of Ganesh and doing ritual pooja can help us refocus our energy and clear our mind of negative and defeatist thoughts, giving us the boost we need to be able to compete with the ignorant energies which seem to abound in this age. The story of Vinayak Chatirthi teaches us that the forces of righteousness are never defeated, they only become temporarily weakened, dejected and confused, but the power of righteousness can always be restored through strict penance and devotion no matter the circumstances. In Kali Yuga, it may seem at times that the wicked will always win, but this is not the case, Leela (the divine play) is simply tempting us to work harder and be more creative in restoring Hindu dharma on earth. Take Vinayak Chatirthi monthly to do an appropriate fast which suits your abilities and meditate and focus on the image of Ganesh, saying his sacred Mantra “Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha”. Video Mantra and story of Varaha Purana below.
GANESH MANTRA
LORD GANAPATI
King Prajapal then asked sage Mahatapa about the manifestation of lord Ganapati and about the significance of chaturthi in terms of Ganapati’s worship. Mahatapa narrated the following tale- “Once all the deities went to seek Shiva’s help in sorting out a peculiar problem they were faced with- while they experienced all sorts of hurdles and problems in their work resulting into repeated failures in their work, the demons on the contrary accomplished all their work successfully without any problem. When lord Shiva learnt about their problem, he burst into laughter. Hardly had he stopped laughing than a radiant adolescent manifested himself from his opened mouth. The child was so divinely charming that Parvati, who was sitting beside Shiva looked at him without dropping her eyelids. When Shiva found her staring at the child he became jealous. Jealousy transformed into anger and Shiva cursed the child- ‘From now onwards your face will resemble an elephant and your belly will become large as a pot. In the name of yagyopavit you would have nothing but a snake hanging across your shoulder.’
The child was none other than Ganesh. Lord Shiva’s anger did not subside even after having cursed Ganesh. He was still trembling in anger and was sweating profusely. Numerous Ganeshas manifested themselves from those sweat-drops and each of them had a head of an elephant as well as a large belly. Suddenly, lord Brahma appeared and requested lord Shiva by saying- ‘You should make this divine child, who has manifested from your mouth, the lord of all these Vinayakas. Thus lord Shiva made Ganesh the lord of all the Vinayakas and blessed him- You will be the first deity to get worshipped in any ritual.’
Chaturthi has deep association with the worship of lord Ganesh, as it was on this very day that he had manifested himself. Having prasad, prepared from sesame seeds and worshipping lord Ganesh on this day is believed to bring great auspiciousness. A devotee who worships lord Ganesh on chaturthi never experiences any kind of obstacle in his work.
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