Ganpati Bappa

Lord Ganesha symbolizes

the ideals of perfection

 as conceived by Hindu sages

and illustrates concepts of

 profound spiritual significance. 



 

The large head of an elephant symbolizes wisdom, understanding,

 and a discriminating intellect that one must possess to attain perfection in life.The wide mouth represents the natural human desire to enjoy life in the world. The large ears signify that a perfect person

 is the one who possesses a great capacity to listen to others and assimilate ideas.

 

Just as an elephant's trunk can uproot a tree and yet lift a needle from the ground.the human mind must be strong enough to face the ups and downs of the external world and yet delicate enough to explore the subtle realms of the inner world.The two tusks denote the two aspects of the human personality, wisdom and emotion.The right tusk represents wisdom and the left tusk represents emotion.The broken left tusk conveys the idea that one must conquer emotions with wisdom to attain perfection. 

The elephant eyes are said to possess a natural deceptiveness that allow them to perceive objects to be bigger than what they really are.Thus the elephant eyes symbolize the idea that even if an individual get "bigger and bigger" in wealth and wisdom, he should perceive others to be bigger than himself; that is,surrender one's pride and attain humility.

The four arms indicate that the Lord is omnipresent and omnipotent. The left side of the body symbolizes emotion and the right side symbolizes reason.An axe in the upper left hand and a lotus in the upper right hand signify that in order to attain spiritual perfection,one should cut worldly attachments and conquer emotions.This enables one to live in the world without being affected by earthly temptations,just as a lotus remains in water but is not affected by it. A tray of Laddus (a popular snack) near the Lord denotes that He bestows wealth and prosperity upon His devotees.The lower right hand is shown in a blessing pose, which signifies that Ganesha always blesses His devotees. 

The human body possesses a human heart,which is a symbol of kindness and compassion towards all.Ganesha's body is usually portrayed wearing red and yellow clothes.Yellow symbolizes purity,peace and truthfulness.Red symbolizes  activity in the world.These are the qualities of a perfect person who perforrns all duties in the world,with purity, peace, and truthfulness.The big belly signifies that a perfect individual must have a large capacity to face all pleasant and unpleasant experiences of the world. 

 

A mouse symbolizes the ego that can nibble all that is good and noble in a person.A mouse sitting near the feet of Ganesha indicates that a perfect person is one who has conquered his (or her) ego.A mouse gazing at the Laddus, but not consuming them, denotes that a purified or controlled ego can live in the world without being affected by the worldly temptations.The mouse is also the vehicle of Ganesha signifying that one must control ego in order for wisdom to shine forth.
The left side of the body symbolizes emotion and the right side symbolizes reason and knowledge.The right foot dangling over the left foot illustrates that in order to live a successful life one should utilize knowledge and reason to overcome emotion.