|| ॐ गणेशाय नमः ||

vighneshwaraaya varadaaya surapriyaaya lambodaraaya sakalaaya jagdwitaaya |
naagaananaaya shrutiyagnavibhushitaaya gaurisutaaya gaNanaath namo namaste ||

Meaning:

vighneshwaraaya = the one who takes away obstacles
varadaaya = the one who blesses us
surapriyaaya = the one who is favorite of Gods
lambodaraaya = the one who has big belly
sakalaaya = whole
jagdwitaaya = the one who does good of the world
naagaananaaya = the one with an elephant head
shrutiyagnavibhushitaaya = the one who beautifies Shrutis of Ved and Yagna
gaurisutaaya = the one who is Son of Goddess Parvati
gaNanaath = the one who is Leader (naath) of all the gaNas
namo namaste = I respectfully bow to you


What do we learn from Lord Shri Ganesh? A lot and one of them is to respect our parents.

We all know of how when Shivji wanted to test the intelligence of His two Sons - Ganesh & Kartikey - he asked them to do parikrama (circumambulation) of the earth. When Kartikey went on to complete His parikrama on His peacock, Ganesh went around his parents Shivji & Gaurima praying them and did seven prarikramas. He completed the circumambulations before Kartikey did thus achieving blessings of His parents before Kartikey. They blessed Him.

He also has gotten His signature elephant head because of following orders of His Mother - Ma Parvati. When Shivji had returned from being away for years, He couldn't reconize His son and tried to enter the home and ended up fighting with Ganesh and beheading Him. Eventually when Ma Parvati came and saw Her son's condition, She requested Shivji to give Her son life. Shivji said whoever comes their way very first will be beheaded to give his head to Ganesh. An elephant came and Lord Ganesh became Gajaanan.

He lost his one tusk fighting to protect asleep Shivji against Parshuram who had come to visit His Guru (Shivji). Ganesh did not want a stranger waking His father up. They dueled and His right tusk was broken with Parshuram's axe. This is how He got the name of Ekdanta.

Here's to the God who inspires everyone! More modak/laddoos to all of us. :)

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all!