Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

Hi,

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi. We are all celebrating the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi also called as Vinayaka Chavati today. We avoid seeing the moon today. Because we believe that it would be quite inauspicious to see the moon on this particular day of Vinayak Chavati. Even by a mistake if one gets to see the moon tonight, that attracts false accusations, unfavourable results, and serious negative consequences. It is further believed that that if one does Ganesha Pooja or at leasts listens to the story of Ganesha on this day, then sighting the moon tonight does not cause any damage. Let me share with you  an interesting story about Lord Ganesha and the background for this belief in this blog post.

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The Story of Lord Ganesha and the Curse of Parvati Devi to the Moon.

The legend suggests that Lord Shiva crowned Ganesha as the leader of Kailash on this 4th day of the Bhadrapada month of the Hindu calendar. People all over the world were very happy and celebrated the day worshipping Ganesha and offering him a lot of food including coconuts, honey, and many different types of sweet dishes which Ganesha liked. On one such occasion, he ate stomach full of them, gave some to his carrier - the rat, and also carried some with him. 

By the time he arrived at home, it was already dark, and his mother Parvati Devi asked him to touch the feet of his father Shiva and take his blessings. With his large stomach coming in between him and the ground, he was having difficulty in touching his father's feet. Looking at this, the crescent moon lying in the head of Shiva laughed at Ganesha. The evil eye of moon had its effect on Lord Ganesha whose tummy immediately burst open and all the laddus he had rolled out. 

At this sight of his dear son, Mother Parvati was enraged and cursed the moon saying, "Oh Moon, you are proud of your beautiful face and make fun of my dear little son. Let your beautiful face be not visible to the people on the Earth. Let you remain in darkness for ever. Whoever sees your face, they will attract blame and face false accusations." 

Hearing this terrible curse the moon and all other devatas begged for Parvati Devi's forgiveness and requested her to minimise the effedt of the curse. She then calmed down and relaxed the curse saying that whoever see this crescent face of moon on Ganesh Chaturthi day will have to face false accuses. From thence people fear to see the crescent face of moon on this festival day to avoid unnecessary false accuses.

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Smile is a beautiful gif t of god to the humans. It is good to offer a smile liberally to the people we come across at work place or at home or even on the road. A smile would never hurt another person. If it all it would only benefit. Even laughter is equally good to one and all. It is said to be the best of all medicines. The disease will stay away from the person who laughs heartily. But laughing at someone is unwanted and unwarranted for. The habit of pulling legs of others and making a mockery of them is unprofessional. It could lead to a lot of negative consequences.

Smiling is sweet. Laughing is healthy. But "laughing at someone" attracts negative influences, and it is better avoided.

Wishing you a Happy Ganesh Chaturthi,

With love and regards,

Siva

PS: Related info can be found at the website of "Vedas Resources" at the link given below:

http://www.chivukulas.com/2014/04/story-of-lord-ganesha-and-curse-of-moon.html

Unstoppable Updates (15) Why Lord Ganesha has only one tusk? (COMMITMENT is paramount)

Happy Ganesh Chaturdhi!

Legend has it that the sage Ved Vyasa required someone to write down the Mahabharata while he was dictating it. He approached Lord Ganesha and asked him if he would do so. Ganesha agreed with one condition, "you must dictate without pause or hesitation and my pen must not stop while I am writing". Vyasa agreed to it and said "I will narrate the story and you must take it down as fast as I say it and should not interrupt or stop anywhere in between." After some days of writing, the stylus (ancient writing implement) used by Ganesha broke suddenly and as there was a condition that he should not stop writing he broke off one of his tusks and started writing with it.  

Ganesha thus symbolizes the character of commitment and sacrifice. No sacrifice is big enough in the pursuit of knowledge and accomplishing the tasks that one commits to. Commitment is paramount.

With love and regards,

Siva

value4value@gmail.com

Unstoppable Updates (8) Happy Ganesh Chaturdhi!

Happy Ganesh Chaturdhi!

On this auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturdhi, I would like to share with you a simple story from the puranas on the birth of Lord Ganesha.
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Lord Ganesha is the virtual son of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati. The story of creation of ganesha is a very fascinating one. While Lord Shiva was away fighting for the gods, on one occasion when goddess Parvati wanted to take her bath, there were no attendants around to guard her and stop anyone from accidentally entering the house. Hence, she created an image of a boy and infused life into it using her powers, and thus Ganesha was born. She instructed Ganesha to keep strict vigil on the entrance to the house and not to allow anyone into the house. Ganesha agreed and stayed on the strictest of strict vigils.

In the meantime Lord Shiva returned happy after a glorious victory for the gods, only to be stopped at the entrance by Ganesha. He said to Shiva that it was his mother Parvati’s order not to allow anyone inside the home, and he was following his mother’s orders. Though initially Shiva was impressed with the boy’s bravery and appreciated his commitment to follow his mother’s orders, He lost his temper and severed Ganesha's head with his trident. When Parvati came out and saw her son's lifeless body, she was very angry. Ganesha was soon brought back to life. Also, Shiva granted Ganesha a boon that people would worship Lord Ganesha before beginning of any undertaking or task.
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I read 2 clear messages from this story of Lord Ganesha. Firstly, if you follow your mother’s instructions, no harm would ever happen to you. Even if it happens, it is only an apparent and temporary one, and in the end you will be blessed with a boon. Hence being obedient to your parents is a boon you could give to yourself. Secondly, if you commit that you would do something, just do it. No matter what, when you remain committed to your words, even your opponents would appreciate you, and you become a role model.


With love and regards,
Siva
value4value@gmail.com