Rationale:
The Indian ‘Gods’, IMHO, were versatile individuals with stratospheric achievements which pertained to the well-being of the society. They strove hard to relieve the masses by eliminating anti-social elements and elevated the living standards of the masses by providing them socially, economically and politically stable and conducive environments. Their ideals, ideas and actions are perpetual sources of guidance and inspiration for the masses as well as their political, social and economical representatives.
While the Indian masses have, as expected, idolized the ‘Gods’, the focus has been more on worshiping and adoring them, rather than taking a cue from their illustrious lives and shaping self so that the deeds of ‘the common man’ are in the direction of building and maintaining a just, robust and a progressive society. I am a theist(a firm believer in God, maybe, not in the established terms!), I enjoy(to some extent!) the traditional Indian festivals and I not only visit temples but also strongly believe in their need to exist. Having said that, I get frustrated when I see masses evading self-improvement and responsibility towards the society while idolizing the Gods who spent their whole lifetime striving for the good of the society. The masses ignore and undermine the very virtues which their ‘Gods’ preached and practiced !
The goals of such posts is to take a glimpse at the brilliant, practical careers of the Indian gods, rather than focusing on the abstract spiritual and devotional aspects.
A glance at Ganesh‘s achievements(partial list, please suggest additions/corrections):
1. Scribe(by blessings of Parashuram) for the epic, ‘Mahabharat‘.
2. Subdued, at least 8 ‘asur‘s(note the names!) who oppressed and endangered the mankind and Gods(many of them defeated even Rudra and all other deities, only to be subdued by Ganesh’s ‘avtar‘s):
– Madasur/मदासुर
– Matsarasur/मत्सरासुर
– Lobhasur/लोभासुर
– Krodhasur/क्रोधासुर
– Mohasur/मोहासुर
– Kamasur/कामासुर
– Mamatasur
– Ahankarasur
3. Tricked Ravan(despite of the insidious efforts to portray him as a ‘hero’, or at least, as a ‘misunderstood individual’, there is aplenty evidence to highlight his nefarious character and hideous deeds, maybe, I will summarize those in future.) to leave the ‘atma linga’ unguarded(then placing it on ground, probably, known as Murdeshwar), thus, thwarting Ravan’s conquest of becoming immortal.
References:
– Ganesh Puran/गणेश पुराण
– Shiv Puran/शिव पुराण
P.S: I dislike the English language’s norm of appending ‘a’ to Indian epic names(Rama, Ravana, Ganesha, Shiva, etc.), hence, I have deliberately avoided the English language interpretation of ‘schwa‘.
Life is about being kinetic 