Lord Ganesha

When you think of the attributes of Lord Ganesha, also known as Vinayaka, you are filled with awe. He is the elephant-headed Hindu god of wisdom, literature, worldly success and peace. The Lord is invoked before any sort of venture, be it marriages, jobs, business deals, yes nothing is undertaken without the blessings of Lord Ganesha. It is he who decides between success and failure, and it is left to him to remove obstacles or create them if and when deemed necessary.

Ganapati is not only the God of Beginnings; he is the true God of Learning and Wisdom, as befits his elephant head. The better attributes of the elephant are that it lives long, forgets nothing and is brave, loyal, kind, strong and gentle. Ganesha represents the unity of the Small Being the rat, with the Great Being, the elephant. It is the blending of the microcosm with the macrocosm, of a drop of water with the vast ocean and of the individual soul with divinity. The vehicle of Ganesha is a rat or mouse. As rats generally succeed in gnawing their way through every obstruction, the rat symbolizes this god's nature of destroying every obstacle.

But what makes Ganesha lovable and everyone’s favourite are the beautiful legends woven around him.

Ganesha and Kubera

Kubera, the god of wealth, was very proud of his boundless fortune. He was terribly proud of his wondrous palace, of his garden filled with the sweet smell of a profusion of roses and jasmine, the jewels his wife wore were the envy of every goddess, and his cooks were renowned for the food that made everyone drool. Oh yes, Kubera felt he knew how to live, and to live well, he even went to the extent of looking down on Lord Shiva who lived a simple austere life in the open mountains.

Now Kubera was not happy just to be wealthy, he wanted the other Gods and Goddesses to see and admire his wealth. He organised lavish parties, he organized gorgeous dinners, and although the Gods and Goddesses were full of praise, Kubera was not happy, oh no! The more parties he gave the emptier he felt, until his beautiful wife trying out her latest necklace of emeralds and pearls said, 

‘Kuby dear, there is one way to jolt everyone, make you the talk of Kailash, let us throw a huge party, a lavish one, with flowers, fireworks, decorations, she breathed deeply, arching her deep black brows. And…. let us invite among other famous guests, the divine couple, Shiva and Pârvatî.’

Kubera was thunderstruck, ‘oh, oh oh’ he did a little jig, most wondrous idea’; he gave her a hug and dashed off to get ready to visit the divine couple, Shiva and Pârvatî. He entered Shiva and Pârvatî’s abode with deep reverence and such humility although his mind was churning feverishly, ‘What is wrong here, what is this place, is this the palace of the divine couple, Shiva and Pârvatî?  Such wasteland, brrrr the cold wind slicing through my body. Can Shiva not even provide a better home for his family....

Shiva and Pârvatî were having a nice chat sipping a warm cup of ginger tea when they were interrupted by Kubera.

‘Oh Kubera, good to see you but what brings you here?’

Kubera was lost for words. He had come in a rush. He could not possibly tell Shiva and Pârvatî that he wanted them to admire his house, his jewels, his garden or his food. In a burst he said 

'I wanted to invite you for a party’

‘Party?’ they both said, what’s the occasion?

Kubera was lost for words. He said ‘Nothing just that I am so blessed…’

In a flash, both Shiva and Pârvatî realised that there was no occasion, Kubera just wanted to show off.

Very politely, Pârvatî declined the invitation, ‘Kubera, thank you but we will not be able to come’

Then Pârvatî saw the despair in Kubera’s eyes, his desire to show off and she said ‘’But Ganesha our son would love to go, wouldn’t you like it Ganesh’

‘Oooh yes said little Ganesha, will there be sweets? He asked

‘You bet the best of sweets here in Kailash’ muttered Kubera

After a while a clean little Ganesha walked into Kubera’s sumptuous palace. Although Ganesha was well dressed, his red silk dhoti freshly pressed, his broad flat feet carried a trail of wet sticky mud which left prints all over the pristine marble floor. Kubera’s wife looked at her floor in utter disgust. Had Ganesha not been the son of Shiva and Pârvatî she would have pulled his broad ears and flung him out. He sniffed food and smiled broadly, ‘food he said, Ganesha loved food and sweets his mouth watered, his little trunk quivered in anticipation.

Very politely Kubera and his wife served him. Hardly had they turned their backs, Ganesha had finished a heaped thali of puris, vegetables, ghee rice, lentil curry, papads, pickles and a bowl of kheer. One happy little burp and little Ganesha said very politely ‘Oh that was lovely’ Kubera and his wife beamed broadly…. ‘But I am still hungry…’ Another huge thali, this time with additional helpings of modaks, kheer. Burp…  ‘ I am still hungry…’ large tears brimmed in little Ganesha’s deep brown eyes threatening to roll down his cheeks. More food. Little Ganesha still hungry, still unhappy. This went on for a long time, little Ganesha was still hungry, and very unhappy. Kubera and his wife screaming at the servants cook more, cook more. Servants running to the market, buying whatever was available, no way could they please little Ganesha. He was still hungry, and very unhappy.

Hasty consultation, Kubera and his wife, ‘What are we going to do?’ ‘He is unhappy’

‘And whose wonderful idea was it?’ asked Kubera sarcastically

‘And who was so happy, and rushed off to Shiva and Pârvatîs abode immediately’ retorted Kubera’s wife equally sarcastically.

But when they looked into their vast hall, there was Little Ganesha reclining on a mound of cushions, not resting happily as they thought he would after a huge meal, replete and satiated, but weeping silently, huge tears rolling down his plump cheeks, his trunk curled into a tight loop. Oh yes, Little Ganesha was truly an unhappy little God and he was their guest, they had invited him. Kubera rushed to Shiva and Pârvatî’s abode and entered meekly. There were Shiva and Pârvatî happily chatting and playing cards.

Kubera rushed to Shiva and Pârvatî and threw himself at their feet; Shiva bent down and picked him up. Shiva looked deep into Kubera’s eyes, no words were spoken, there was no need.  Kubera understood that it was his pride, his vanity, his desire to show off his beautiful house, his jewellery and his possessions that was at the root of Little Ganesha’s unhappiness. Kubera felt so small, so miserable, so unworthy. Pârvatî went inside and got a handful of roasted rice. Kubera realised that when he had served Little Ganesha a huge, sumptuous meal, he wanted to show off, there was no love, there was no desire to please a guest, there was only a desire to show-off his enormous wealth.

Humbly he took the handful of puffed rice and knelt down besides Little Ganesha and said full of sorrow and deep love and consideration, ‘Eat Little Ganesha, eat my honoured guest’

Ganesha opened his tear filled eyes, rubbed them, looked deep into Kubera’s eyes and popped the puffed rice in his mouth, savoured the rice, chewed it slowly, then he smiled at Kubera a huge radiant smile of love and tenderness patted his head his head with his curly trunk, ‘What a wonderful meal Kubera, truly a beautiful repast, thank you ever so much’

Little Ganesha got up slowly bowed to Kubera and his wife and happily bouncing his plump body and swinging his little trunk went home. 

Thanking the inputs from http://mailerindia.com/god/hindu/index.php?ganesha

http://hindumythologyforgennext.blogspot.in/2012/02/ganesha-and-kubera.html