Significance of the Lord Ganesha Form |
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The elephant head indicates fidelity, intelligence and discriminative power. The fact that he has a single tusk (the other being broken off) stands primarily for Ganesha's ability to overcome or "break through" the illusions of duality. The wide ears denote wisdom, ability to listen to people who seek help and to reflect on spiritual truths. They signify the importance of listening in order to assimilate ideas. Ears are used to gain knowledge. The large ears indicate that when God is known, all knowledge is known. The curved trunk indicates the intellectual potentialities which manifest themselves in the faculty of discrimination between real and unreal; on the forehead, the Trishula (weapon of Shiva, similar to Trident) is depicted, symbolizing time (past, present and future) and Ganesha's mastery over it; Ganesha's pot belly contains infinite universes. It signifies the bounty of nature and equanimity, the ability of Ganesha to swallow the sorrows of the Universe and protect the world; the position of his legs (one resting on the ground and one raised) indicate the importance of living and participating in the material world as well as in the spiritual world, the ability to live in the world without being of the world. |