6 Life Lessons To Learn From Lord Ganesha

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Lord Ganesha is the God of intellect, good luck and prosperity. Lord Ganesha represents the power of the Supreme Being that takes away obstacles and guarantee victory in human accomplishments. By tradition, every religious festival begins with the worship of Lord Ganesha.

The portrayal of Lord Ganesha is in such a way that He is a blend of human and animal parts. These illustrate some philosophical perception of deep spiritual importance which have great role in worshipping Lord Ganesha.

Reasons Why We Worship Ganesha First

He is denoted by His elephant head, big belly, His mount and a small mouse. Ganesha epitomises wisdom and knowledge. He is the Vighnaharta or the destroyer of all obstacles. Ganesha's elephant head is the symbol of wisdom, and His long ears signify that He hears everything that His devotees say.

There are many legends and stories related to Lord Ganesha which teach us a lot of things and also the fact why Lord Ganesha is the God of wisdom. Take a look at these six amazing life lessons that we all can learn from Lord Ganesha.

1. The Sense Of Responsibility

We are sure you all are familiar with the story of Lord Shiva beheading Ganesha which resulted in the elephant head of the Lord. The story teaches us that your duty and responsibility is above everything else. Lord Ganesha readily sacrificed His head in order to fulfill the responsibility which His mother gave Him.

2. Make Best Use Of Limited Resources

Most of us often crib about having limited things in life. But the story of Ganesha and Kartikeya's race teaches us how we can make the best use of limited resources that we have. As the story goes, once Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya were challenged by their parents to run three times around the world. The one who completes the task would get a miracle fruit. Kartikeya left immediately on His peacock. Ganesha was in a fix as He couldn't do the same with His mouse. So, He went three times around His parents and said that they mean the whole world to Him. Thus, Ganesha earned the miracle fruit with His presence of mind and limited resources.

3. Be A Good Listener

Ganesha's ears symbolises the role of effective communication. A good listener always has a better understanding of the situation at hand. In decision-making, listening to others helps you analyse the situation from a different perspective and hence, guides you to a better solution.

4. Power Should Be In Control

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The trunk of Ganesha is always rolled up in a certain manner. This suggests that He controls the power He wields. This is a lesson for us to have control on our powers and make good use of it.

5. The Art Of Forgiveness

Once Lord Ganesha was invited to a feast and He overate. While coming back the moon mocked His bulging belly and laughed. The Lord cursed the moon to be invisible. Then moon realised its mistake and asked for forgiveness. The Lord immediately forgave the moon and proclaimed that the moon would grow thinner each day and remain invisible on one day of the month. Hence we learn the art of forgiveness from the God of wisdom.

6. Humility & Respect For Other Beings

The best example of this is the Lord's ride. The huge God rides a puny mouse. It shows that the Lord doesn't discriminate and respects even the most tiny creature. This trait is extremely important for us to imbibe. Only then we can get a respectable position in life.