Shri Ganesh

Ganesh is the Hindu elephant-headed god, Ganesha (or Ganesh) is known (by various names in different parts of India and on different occasions) as the Remover of Obstacles, the god of domestic harmony and of success. He is the most beloved and revered of all the Hindu gods, and is always invoked first in any Hindu ceremony or festival. He is the son of Parvati (the wife of Shiva, the Destroyer, the most powerful of the Hindu trinity of principal gods). There are many stories about how Ganesha got his elephant head, and about his exploits and antics. He was created as an ordinary boy, but was decapitated in battle. Shiva's emissaries were sent into the forest and told to get the head of the first animal they found and to fit that head onto the boy's neck. They found a little elephant, and it worked!

Heroes of epics like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana are immortalized and are still alive in the day-to-day existence of the common people. The gods of Hinduism are at once super-human and human and there is distinct feeling of warmth and familiarity towards them. Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, represents qualities such as honor, courage and valor and is held up as a model of manliness. His wife Sita is the prototypal Indian wife who is carried off by Ravana, the king of Lanka, while Rama and Sita are on exile. Sita's eventual rescue by Rama, his brother Lakshmana, and Rama's faithful monkey-general Hanuman are all woven into this engrossing tale. Stories from this epic have been passed down orally from one generation to the next. Religious fairs, festivals and rituals have kept these legends alive, and there is never an occasion that does not offer an opportunity to retell
the old stories.

The stirring verses of the Mahabharata tell the story of the dynastic struggle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, who were close cousins. Lord Krishna plays a very important role in this Great Epic. He is a friend, philosopher and guide to Arjuna, one of the Pandavas, and he helps Arjuna overcome his hesitation to kill his close relatives in the battlefield. The wise philosophy of Krishna and his teachings have been embodied in the Bhagwad Gita. Although the popular image of Krishna is that of a god who steals butter as a child, and who, as a youth, plays the flute and entices cows and cowherd girls alike; in his mature years he is depicted as the wise philosopher with a more serious side to his nature.

There are numerous gods and goddesses worshipped by Hindus all over India. Among these, the most
fundamental to Hinduism, is the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - creator, preserver and destroyer respectively. Brahma has four heads corresponding to the four directions of the compass. He is the creator of life and the entire universe. Vishnu is the preserver who guides the cycle of birth and rebirth. He is also supposed to have taken many incarnations to save the world from evil forces. Both Rama and Krishna are believed to have been incarnations of Vishnu. Shiva, usually seen with a coiled cobra around his neck, destroys all evil and also has many incarnations, not all of which are terrifying.

The invisible deities are represented by a complexity of images and idols symbolizing divine powers. Many of these idols are housed within ornate temples of unparalleled beauty and grandeur. The Hindu gods are very much alive and live in temples, snow-capped peaks, in rivers and oceans and in the very hearts and minds of the Hindus.

The elephant God of India who removes obstacles.

Legend1:

Lord Ganesh is the virtual son of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvathi. When Lord Shiva, was away fighting for the gods, the lady of the house, goddess Parvathi was alone at home.

On one occasion, she needed someone to guard the house when she was going for a bath. Unable to think of an alternative, she used her powers to create a son, Ganesh. She instructed Ganesh to keep strict vigil on the entrance to the house and not to allow anyone into the house. Ganesh agreed and stayed on the strictest of strict vigils.

In the meantime Lord Shiva returned happy after a glorious victory for the gods, only to be stopped at the entrance by Ganesh. Ganesh, acting on Parvathi's orders verbatim, did not allow Shiva to enter the house.

Lord Shiva became enraged beyond control and in a fit of rage slashed the head of Ganesh. Paravti came out from her bath and was aghast at the scene. She was very very angry at her lordship for
what had happened and explained him the situation.

Lord Shiva wanted to make it up to Parvathi and agreed to put life back into Ganesha by putting the head of the first sleeping living creature that came in sight which was sleeping with its head to the north. He sent his soldiers to go in search of the creature. The first creature which came in sight was an elephant.

So Lord Shiva re-created his son with the head of theelephant. Hence the trunk of Lord Ganesha.
Parvathi was still not totally happy so Shiva granted Ganesha a boon that before beginning of any
undertaking or task people would worship Lord Ganesh. Thus the reason for worship of Ganesha before start of any work.

Legend 2:

There was a monster called Gajasura. He was all powerful and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. He
underwent penance for many years to receive special boons from Shiva. Lord Shiva, the god, who is easily pleased by prayers, was deeply moved by Gajasura's devotion. He blessed the monster and offered him a boon (reward). But the devotee is not as innocent as Shiva. He pleaded with Shiva to reside in his belly. Left with no option but to grant the boon, Shiva gets into Gajasura's stomach.

Meanwhile on Mount Kailash, Parvati - Shiva's wife, becomes anxious not knowing the whereabouts of her husband after a long period of time. She searches through the whole universe but to no avail.

Finally she approaches Lord Vishnu - the preserver of the world. Vishnu disguises himself in the form of a street player along with Nandi - the sacred bull of Shiva and sets out in search Shiva. They go to Gajasura's kingdom and Nandi performs a dance to please the monster. The monster is delighted
to see the bull dancing in his honor and wishes to reward the bull. The bull asks for Shiva as a reward. Hearing this, the monster realizes that the entertainer is none but Lord Vishnu himself. He also realizes that Shiva cannot be made to live in his stomach forever because he has his role to play in the world. He lets Shiva out of his stomach. He prays to him, that he be made immortal in the memories of people. To fulfill this wish, Shiva severs Gajasura's head and frees him from the cycle of birth and death. He carries the head along with him. On Mount Kailash, in the Himalayas, Parvati comes to know of Vishnu's victory and is very happy. She makes arrangements to receive her Lord and goes to bedeck herself. She wants somebody to stand guard. She creates a doll out of the dough that she uses in her bath. She calls him Vinayak - the one who puts off all obstacles.

This boy having never seen Shiva, prevents his entry into the palace. In a fit of fury Shiva beheads the boy and enters the palace. Parvati is unaware of the happenings and receives Shiva with warmth, for he had returned after a long period. During the course of their conversation, Shiva mentions the incident at the palace gates and tells her about severing the child's head.

Parvati is shocked to hear the news and pleads with Shiva to bring the child back to life for he is like a son to her. Shiva who has with him the head of Gajasura, immediately puts it on the torso of the dead child. Thus the child comes back to life. That day is Bhadrapad Chaturthi. Shiva blesses him
with a boon that the entire world would worship him on that day and also would propitiate him before any auspicious event. At the same time, all the Gods approach Shiva and request for a leader.

Shiva and Parvati have a son called Kumarswami or Kartik. To select the best one of them as a leader of all the Gods, Shiva conducts a test between the two. He says that whoever makes three rounds of the earth sooner than the other, will be made the Ganaadhipati. Kumarswami seated on a peacock, his vahanam (vehicle), starts off for the test.

Vinayak is given a rat which moves swiftly. Vinayak realizes that the test is not so easy but he cannot disobey his father. He reverently pays obeisance to his parents and goes around them three times and completes the test before Kumarswami. He says, " my parents pervade the whole universe and going around them, is more than going round the earth." Everybody is pleasantly surprised to hear Vinayak's logic and intelligence. Meanwhile, Kartik is amazed to see Ganesh completing the holy bath at each river that he reached at and ready for another round of the universe.

When he comes back to Kailas, Shiva had already declared Vinayak as the winner. He is blessed as the Supreme God of the universe. After this, Vinayak is called as Ganaadhish, Ganapati and Ganesh.

All the gods worship him. The festival of Ganesh or Vinayak Chaturthi, the day on which Ganesh was born is the most joyous event of the year . Throughout India the festival is celebrated with much enthusiasm and devotion. In Andhra Pradesh, like Maharashtra, the festival is celebrated for ten days.

God Gave Me Everything I needed

When I Asked God for Peace
He Showed Me How to Help Others
When I Asked God for Strength
He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face

When I Asked God for Brain & Brown
He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve

When I Asked God for Happiness
He Showed Me Some Unhappy People

When I Asked God for Wealth
He Showed Me How to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Favors
He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard

God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted
He Gave Me Everything I Needed

Swami Vivekananda

Jyotirlingam

These verses are recited as a standalone stotra but they also form chapter 1, verses 21-24 of the Kotirudra Samhita of the Shiva Mahapurana. There are a few variant readings in the text which I shall note below

saurAShTre somanAtha.n cha shrIshaile mallikArjunam |
ujjayinyAM mahAkAlamo~NkAramamaleshwaram ||

"In Saurashtra Somanatha[1], and on [the mountain] Shrishaila Mallikarjuna[2].In Ujjain Mahakala[3] and Omkara in Mamaleshvara[4]."

[1] Saurashtra is the peninsular part of Gujarat and Somanatha is the famous tirth on its shore. Somanatha is the lord of the moon. Shiva Bhagavan wears the crescent moon in his hair.

[2] Shrishaila is a mountain in Andhra Pradesh also known in the shastras as Kraunchachala where is located the temple of Mallikarjuna. Mallika is Parvati and Arjuna is another name for Shiva.

[3] Ujjain or Avantika in Maharashtra is the residence of Shiva Bhagavan as Mahakala, Great all-conquering Time. In Jyotisha, Ujjain is considered the "Greenwich" of reckoning time i.e. the prime meridian passes through it.

[4] Omkareshvara and Mamaleshvara are actually two seperate lingas but they are counted as one for some reason. Some variants of the shloka say parameshvara instead of Mamaleshvara. They are located on opposite sides of the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh. Omkara is self-explanatory.

paralyAM vaidyanAtha.n cha DAkinyAM bhImasha~Nkaram |
setubandhe tu rAmeshaM nAgeshaM dArukAvane ||

"In Paralaya, Vaidyanatha[5], Bhimashankara in Dakini[6].At Setubandha Ramesha[7], and also Nagesha[8] in the Daruka forest."

[5] Vaidyanatha means the lord of doctors as Shiva Bhagavan heals all pain. The area called Paralaya is in Southern Bihar. A variant hasChittabhumi instead of Paralaya.

[6] There are two claimants to this Jyotirlinga. One is in Maharashtra on the banks of the Bhima river. Both the river and the linga are named after a King called Bhima or Bhimak who was a great saint.Others say it is in Assam. There was an asura called Bhima who was killed by Shiva Bhagavan there.

[7] Setubandha at the very tip of India in Tamil Nadu, is the location of Bhagavan Rameshvara. According to the Ramayana, Shri Rama worshipped Shiva Bhagavan there before building the bridge to Lanka.

[8] Nageshvara is the lord of snakes. Shiva bhagavan wears them around his neck. This tirth is located between Somanath and Dwarka in Gujarat.

vArANasyA.n tu vishvesha.n tryambakaM gautamItaTe|
himAlaye tu kedAra.n ghushmesha.n cha shivAlaye ||

"In Varanasi Vishvesha[9], and Tryambaka[10] on the banks of the Gautami river.also Kedara[11] in the Himalayas and Ghushmesha[12] in Shivalaya."

[9] The Shiva Purana notes that the entire city of Kashi or Varanasi is sacred to Shiva Bhagavan. But the chief of the Shivalingas there is Vishvanath the lord of the entire universe.

[10] Gautami is another name for the holy river Godavari. The temple of Tryambakeshvara is located on its banks in Maharashtra. Tryambaka means having three eyes. Shiva Bhagavan has the regular two eyes of mundane vision and the third eye of jnana.

[11] Kedarnath is a very popular and famous tirth in the Himalayas along with Badarinath. Kedar is the name of the mountain on which it is located.

[12] This jyotirlinga is located near Daulatabad Maharashtra. Shiva Bhagavan became resident there because of a woman named Ghushma.

etAni jyotirli~NgAni sAyaM prAtaH paThennaraH |
saptajanmakR^itaM pApaM smaraNena vinashyati ||

"If a man recites [the names of] these Jyotirlingas, evening and morning,seven lifetimes worth of sins will be destroyed by their recollection."

eteshaaM darshanaadeva paatakaM naiva tiShThati |
karmakShayo bhavettasya yasya tuShTo maheshvaraaH ||

By merely looking at them [the jyotirlingas], one is no longer touched by sin. One then becomes detached from karma and thus pleases the Great Lord.

Brahmacharya

http://www.dlshq.org/download/brahmacharya.pdf

THE MEANING OF BRAHMACHARYA

Brahmacharya literally means Achara or conduct that leads to the realization of Brahman or one’s own Self. It means the control of semen, the study of the Vedas and contemplation on God. The technical meaning of Brahmacharya is self-restraint, particularly mastery of perfect control over the sexual organ or freedom from lust in thought, word and deed. Strict abstinence is not merely from sexual intercourse, but also from auto-erotic manifestations, from homosexual acts and from all perverse sexual practices. It must further involve a permanent abstention from indulgence in erotic imagination and voluptuous reverie. All sorts of sex anomalies and evil habits of various sorts like masturbation and sodomy must be completely eradicated. They bring about a total breakdown of the nervous system and immense misery.

Brahmacharya is purity in thought, word and deed. It is celibacy and continence.Brahmacharya is the vow of celibacy. The term ‘celibacy’ is from the Latin ‘caelebs’, meaning unmarried or single, and signifies the state of living unmarried. But Brahmacharya is not mere bachelorhood. It includes the control, not only of the sex or reproductive Indriya, but also of all other Indriyas in thought, word and deed.

This is the definition of Brahmacharya in a broad sense of the term. The door to Nirvana or perfection is complete Brahmacharya. Complete celibacy is the master-key to open the realms of Elysian bliss. The avenue to the abode of supreme peace begins from Brahmacharya or purity.

Brahmacharya is absolute freedom from sexual desires and thoughts. A real Brahmachari will not feel any difference in touching a woman, a piece of paper or a block of wood.

Brahmacharya is meant for both men and women. Bhishma, Hanuman, Lakshman, Mira Bai,Sulabha and Gargi were all established in Brahmacharya.Mere control of the animal passion will not constitute Brahmacharya. This is incomplete Brahmacharya. You must control all the organs—the ears that want to hear lustful stories, the lustful eye that wants to see objects that excite passion, the tongue that wants to taste exciting things and the skin that wants to touch exciting objects.

To look lustfully is adultery of the eyes; to hear anything that excites passion is adultery of the ears; to speak anything that excites passion is adultery of the tongue." p. 25

"Swami Jagadishananda of the Sri Ramakrishna Mission has also written a whole book on Brahmacharya under the caption: The Creative Power of Continence. Another teacher who became very well-known later on and who used to visit the, Scandinavian countries regularly, Sri Swami Narayanananda Saraswati who had his Ashram on the Dehradun Road in Rishikesh, has also written one or two knowledgeable books on the self-same subject." p. 121

Shrimad Bhagvad Geeta

sarvopaniShado gAvo dogdhA gopAlanandanaH |
pArtho vatsaH sudhIrbhoktA dugdhaM gItAmR^itaM mahat.h || 3 ||

All upaniShads (sarvaH upaniShadaH) are [like] cows (gAvaH); Lord kR^iShNa,son of the coweherd (gopAla nandanaH), is one who extracts the milk (dogdhA);pArtha is [like] the calf (vatsaH); the milk extracted (dugdhaM) is the great (mahat.h) nectar called gItA (gITAmR^itaM); one who drinks this milk (bhoktA)is indeed a wise man(sudhIH).

vasudevasutaM devaM kaMsa-chANUra-mardanam.h |
devakI-paramAnandaM kR^iShNaM vande jagadgurum.h || 0.4 ||

I worship Sri kR^iShNa, who is the son of vasudeva; who killed kaMsa and chANUra; who is gives great joy to his mother devakI, who is the teacher of the world; and who is the supreme lord.

Licensed 2 Lie

In this context Mahabharat give an interesting twist by recommending us to remain practical.

na narma yukta.n vachanaM hinasti 
na strIShu rAjanna vivAha kAle . 
prANAtyaye sarvadhanApahAre 
pa~nchAnR^itAnyAhurapAtakAni ..MB. aadiparva 78. 16..

Meaning - It is OK to lie at following five occasions.  During joking,with women,
at the time of marriage, when life is at stake or when all your possession could
be lost.

Similar thoughts get echoed in ManusmR^Iti as well -

kaaminiiShu vivaaheShu gavaa.m bhakxe tathendhane |
braahmaNaabhyupapattau ca shapathe naasti paatakam || manusmR^iti 8.12 ||

Meaning - It is OK to lie to women (may be this was advised to men who had more
than one wife to sat say to one or each one them that he loves her the most or
she is the most favorite ... etc.;  in order to keep peace and harmony in the
family unit), at the time of marriage (may be this could be like, " I will not
marry anybody else".  ... etc   ),While trying to get feed for the cow, Fuel for
cooking or while trying to protect Brahmans.  During the occasions lies do not
get classified as "paataka".

So dharmashaastra does give a "license to lie" on specific occasions.