The Upanishads say that Omkar is the reason for the creation of
the whole universe. Ganesha is a form of Brahma, who symbolizes Omkar.
Hence, Ganesh is called the “Lord of beginnings”.
In Shivapurana, there is a small tale that suggests why we worship
Ganesha first. The tale goes as,
Once Ganesha and his brother Karthikeya were arguing about who amongst
them was the most knowledgeable. Listening to this, Parvathi, Ganesha’s mother
wanted to test them. She told them that the one who goes around the world and
comes back first is the most knowledgeable. Karthikeya immediately started his
journey and went around the world on his peacock. When he came back, he saw that Ganesha was
still standing near his parents. When Karthikeya asked him, Ganesha went
around his parents, symbolizing that his parents were the whole world for him.
Seeing this, Lord Shiva declared that Ganesha was the most knowledgeable.
Thus
Shiva conferred a boon to Ganesha, that he must be worshiped before the start
of any ceremony.
Great article. Very Informative.
ReplyDeleteWhat I have come across is that many devotees don't know why they worship Lord Ganesha before other deities. Many seem to know the legend behind the elephant head. Once Lord Shiva came to know who Ganesha was and in order to pacify his wife, Parvathi, Lord Shiva graced Ganesha with the boon that all the devotees will worship him before anyone else. Hence, he is considered to the God of new endeavors.