Ganapati celebration with a yogic twist
The Ganeshotsav celebration may have toned down in the wake of the pandemic, but the fervor of worship in people’s hearts for the much adored Ganapati Bappa still remain the same.
To me personally, it seems like a strange coincidence that the Vignaharta or remover of obstacles as Lord Ganesha is also known, should be elephant headed. My earliest association with elephants was as a kid, when I would occasionally accompany my Dad deep into the jungles of Arunachal Pradesh on forest excursions. One always followed the elephant trails on such trips, because they would invariably lead to a watering hole for more sighting of animals, much to my surprise and delight. As wild, trundling herds of elephants roam the forests, pulling down everything that comes in the way with their trunks, they create criss-cross paths in the dense woods that prove to be extremely useful. And the local inhabitants made good use of such trails.
The natural order and hierarchy of the jungle would be brought alive to me through tales narrated by knowledgeable guides during those trips. They left a deep impression in my young mind about respecting boundaries even as we explored new paths with knowledge, confidence and alertness. That elephants pave the path in jungle hierarchy for others to walk upon, was an important takeaway. The second lesson was that a heightened sense of perception can be life saving in the dense jungle. These forgotten principles remained buried within me for many years, surfacing once again only when the time for them arrived – when I had to overcome inflammation that ravaged me progressively, from my gut to my brain. I had to literally claw my way out of that jungle by intuitively treating myself as an integrated whole and not a summation of discrete parts, to be dealt with in isolation by medical specialists. So along with my corporate responsibilities in the oil & gas industry, I learnt nutrition and yoga. Food and asanas heal the physical body much more effectively and safely than medicines ever can, while pranayamas and deep relaxation techniques predominantly work their magic on the mind. It required several years of methodical study and cautious experimentation to fine tune my own holistic health protocol. In due course as my knowledge and yogic practice deepened, the full glory of ashtanga yoga unfolded before me. I like to think that with each passing year, as I get more and more entrenched into wellness practices, Ganpati Bappa comes home every year to witness my progress and bless me for the onward journey, for which he has already paved the path ahead. A journey that will undoubtedly take me to my own watering hole, one day. All I have to do is put my entire energy into the process. As the Yoga Sutra says :
Shraddha, virya, smriti, samadhi, pragnya purvak itaresham(YS — 1.20)
https://ayurwiki.org/Ayurwiki/Yoga_Sutra_1.20
On Ganpati this year, Ganesha found me studying medical therapy for musculoskeletal disorders, with the objective of helping people overcome structural imbalances that usually creep in with age, so that they too can experience the joy of growing organically with yoga. It’s also the first time that I am looking at larger benefits beyond my own self. The deity with eyes narrowed in concentration and fanning ears, appeared to symbolically convey the message to me that at the moment my sole focus should be fully on absorbing and processing the specialized knowledge I have signed up for. Seamless synthesis of all branches of study to build a reliable substratum of experiential knowledge and wisdom is a personal value and for this one must combine excellence with a balanced approach. Yogah karmasu kaushalam and Samatvam yoga uchyate as propounded in the Bhagavad Gita should therefore go hand in hand.
On a lighter note, my idol this year had two mushaks (mice) peeping out of the idol’s base on either side. Ah! So Ganesha also has difficulty in controlling frisky pets, I smiled to myself. The scampering mice are a symbolic representation of our own wandering mind, that yoga keeps cautioning us about. The idol just stared right back with the prominent trident (trishul) glowing on the forehead , as if to say — Balance all the trinities in your life first, if you want to transcend to your highest potential. Achieving that elusive balance of the three doshas (vata, pitta, kapha) and the three gunas (sattva, rajas, tamas) is what ultimately help us stay on the path of overall wellbeing.
II Ganapati Bappa Morya
Pudchya Varshe Lavkar Ya II
