Ganapati fervour has spread all over the state, not the whole country. During the worship of Ganesha, I came across two words describing Ganesha - Vignaharta, the remover of all obstacles, which all of us know about and the other term I came across was Vighnakarta. That got me thinking. Why will Lord Ganesha ever create a problem for anyone? That is not part of his job description!
Problems come to us because of our own past karma. Now you may say that is a theory. Possible but we see it working out in life all the time. It is not scientific, but everything need not be scientific, as long as it is logical and reasonable, it is fine. If one does not accept the theory of karma, which explains a lot of things in our life, what we are left with is only fanciful solutions, like God is testing me, as though God doesn't have any other thing to do.
We all have done lot of different karmas in over many lifetimes - the good, the bad, the ugly. So, some of them will manifest as perceived obstacles in our present life. Worship of Ganesha is one way of removing those negative karmas, or the consequences of the negative karmas in our life. How? Worship is another action, the results of which can remove some of the results of our negative karma. At the same time, when one does not worship, or does not do anything to alleviate those negative karmas, naturally problems as a consequence of past karma show up. Since we are facing these problems and looking for someone to blame, we blame Lord Ganesha as Vignakarta, the one who also can create problems. He does not create problems. It is only our past karma, but the present karma can alleviate that. Therefore, please worship Ganesha, not only in these ten days but throughout one’s life. All will be able to handle all the problems that come to every one of us. May Ganesha's blessings be on every reader.
The writer is the founder of Aarsha Vidya Foundation. You can write to him at aarshavidyaf@gmail.com
