Why is Lord Ganesha called "Ekdant" - God with one tusk

Once Parashuraam Jee came to Kailaash Parvat to visit Shiv Jee. Shiv Jee was sleeping so Ganesh Jee stopped him from going inside. A fight between them ensued at this. Ganesh Jee caught him with his trunk and hit him on the ground. This left him unconscious for some time. When he came into senses he threw his Pharasaa (axe) at Ganesh Jee. Ganesh Jee immediately recognized it as his father's weapon (his father gave it to Parashuraam), and received it with all his humility on his one tusk. This broke his one tusk and left with one tusk only.

That is why he is also called as Ekdant or Ekdanshtra - means who has only one tusk.

There is another story about his one tusk. A different legend narrates that when Ganesh Jee was asked to write down the epic of Mahaabhaarat, dictated to him by its author, sage Vyaas, taking into note the enormity and significance of the task, he realized the inadequacy of any ordinary 'pen' to undertake the task. So he broke one of his own tusks and made a pen out of it. The lesson offered here is that no sacrifice is big enough in the pursuit of knowledge.

In the same reference, it is also said that as he was writing Mahaabhaarat, his pen broke, and he broke his one tusk to continue writing.

Peace and Happiness for Others

Munu swamy made it big in business so he spent money buying a piece of land in the city outskirts (Visakhapatnam rural) and built a 3 -storey farm house. He had an impressive swimming pool in the garden with a 100-year-old Mango Tree in the backyard to boot. In fact, he bought the property precisely because of this tree. His wife loved eating mangoes.

During renovations, his friends urged him to get guidance from a *vastu pandit* just to tread on the side of caution. Munu swamy never quite believed in vastu yet surprising he took the advice to heart and went out of his way to engage a vastu pandit from Hyderabad. The pandit was none other than Dr.Veera Reddy who's been in the profession for 30+ years, renowned in the vastu sastra. They had a meal in Vizag then Munu swamy drove the vastu pandit to the rural Visakhapatnam. Along the way, when cars behind them tried to overtake, Munu swamy would simply give way.

The pandit laughingly remarked: "Swamy garu, your driving is really safe." He spoke really fluent Telugu accent for someone from Telangana.
Munu swamy laughed at the remark: “Usually people who need to overtake have some urgent matter to attend to, so we shouldn't hold them up.”

Arriving at a small town Vizianagaram the streets grew narrow and so Munu swamy slowed down.
A giggling child suddenly came out from side lane and as the child ran across the street, Swamy still didn't speed up. Instead, he kept his look on the lane, as if waiting for someone. Suddenly, another child came out, chasing after the child ahead.

Dr. Reddy was surprised and asked: “How did you know there'd be another child following suit?”
Swamy smiled: "Kids are always chasing after each other so it's impossible for a child to be in such glee without a playmate.”

Dr.Reddy gave him a big thumbs up and laughed out loud: “That's really considerate of you!”

Arriving at the farm house, they got down from the car. Suddenly about 7 to 8 birds flew off from the backyard. Seeing so, Swamy told Pandit: “ If you don't mind please wait here for a little while.”

“What's the matter?" Pandit was taken aback.
"Oh, there's probably some kids stealing mangoes in the backyard. If we walk in now we might give them a fright, let's not risk anyone falling off the old Mango Tree." Munu swamy replied humorously.

Pandit Veera Reddy stayed silent for a while before making a statement: “This home doesn't need a Vastu treatment anymore.”
Now it's Swamy's turn to be shocked: “Why's that?”
“Any place graced with your presence naturally becomes the property with the most auspicious Vastu.”

When our minds prioritize others’ peace and happiness, the one who benefits is not just others, but ourselves too. When a person is considerate of others at all times, then this person has unconsciously accomplished sainthood. The saint is in fact a person who through benefiting others become enlightened.

Snake and Saw - Anger hurts ourselves.

One night a snake, while it was looking for food, entered a carpenter’s workshop.

The carpenter, who was a rather untidy man, had left several of his tools lying on the floor.
One of them was a saw. As the snake went round and round the shop, he climbed over the saw, which gave him a little cut.


At once, thinking that the saw was attacking him, he turned around and bit it so hard that his mouth started to bleed. This made him very angry. He attacked again and again until the saw was covered with blood.

Dying from his own wounds, the snake decided to wrap itself around the saw and began to squeeze with all its strength but it ended up killing itself.

Sometimes we react with anger not realizing we are only hurting ourselves. In life, sometimes it's better to ignore situations, ignore people and their behavior. People say and do things but it's your decision to react in a positive way.

Soft answers remove anger, Rough words raise rage. Proverbs 15:1

The Cow And The Tiger

Once upon a time, a cow went out to graze in the jungle. Suddenly, she noticed a tiger racing towards her. She turned and fled, fearing that at any moment the tiger would sink his claws into her. The cow desperately looked for some place to escape and at last saw a shallow pond. Barely evading the tiger’s reach, she jumped into the pond, and in the heat of the chase, the tiger blindly leaped after her.

To the surprise of them both, the pond was extremely shallow yet filled with deep recesses of mud. After toppling over each other, the cow and the tiger found themselves a short distance apart, stuck in the mud up to their necks. Both had their heads above water but were unable to free themselves no matter how much they writhed.

The tiger repeatedly snarled at the cow and roared, “I am going to enjoy the sound of crunching your bones between my teeth!”

He thrashed about in a fury but soon became fretful as he found no prospect of escape.

*The cow thoughtfully laughed as the tiger struggled to free himself and asked him, “Do you have a master?”*

The tiger disdainfully replied, “I am the king of the jungle. Why do you ask me if I have a master? I myself am the master!”

The cow said, “You may be the king of the jungle, but here all your power has failed to save your life.”

“And what about you?” Retorted the tiger. “You are going to die here in this mud too!”’

The cow smiled mildly and said, “No, I am not.”

“If even I, the king of the jungle cannot free myself from this mud”, snapped the tiger, “Then how can you, an ordinary cow?”

*The cow gently replied, “I cannot free myself from this mud, but my master can. When the sun sets and he finds me absent at home, he will come looking for me. Once he finds me, he will raise me up and escort me home sweet home.”*

The tiger fell silent and coldly glared at the cow.

*Soon enough, the sun set, and the cow’s master arrived. He immediately recognized the plight she was in and lifted her to safety. As they walked home, the cow and the master both felt renewed gratitude for one another and pitied the tiger they both would have been happy to save if only the tiger had allowed them.*

Purport

The cow represents a surrendered soul, the tiger represents an proud person, and the master represents almighty God who is known as the loving protector of the cows and the world. The mud represents the material world, and the chase represents the struggle for existence therein.

*The surrendered soul relies upon the Lord rather than themselves for all the necessities of life. No matter how many troubles appeared to be created by the proud persons of the world who reject the guardianship of the Lord out of the false ego of considering themselves capable of fending for themselves, the surrendered souls know that everything is really in the hands of the Lord, the all-loving. They are fully confident in His protection, though they know sometimes they just need to wait a little while until sundown.*

*The surrendered soul’s confidence.*

Lord Buddha and Kheer

Once, Lord Buddha knocked at the door of a lady for alms. While offering the food, the lady asked Him, "Why do people remember God by chanting his Name and attending satsang? Are they important?"

Lord Buddha smiled, and promised that He would tell her the answer the next day. He also requested her to prepare plenty of Kheer, to be able to answer the question she had asked. The lady did not understand why Lord Buddha needed the Kheer. But since she was very curious, she decided to prepare the Kheer for Him.

The next day, Lord Buddha came and requested for alms in His bowl. The lady brought the big vessel of Kheer she had prepared, and stepped forward to pour the Kheer in the bowl. She was surprised to find that the bowl was full of mud. There was no space to pour the Kheer. She did not know what to do.

Lord Buddha instructed her to pour the Kheer on top of the mud. She followed the instructions and began pouring the Kheer into the bowl.

At first, the Kheer spilled on the ground, but gradually, due to the force with which the Kheer flowed into the bowl, the mud began to spill out as well. Finally, all the mud spilled out, and the bowl was filled to the top with Kheer. She was puzzled about why Lord Buddha had asked her to pour and waste so much of the Kheer.

Lord Buddha then explained, "I have just showed you the importance of chanting (the Lord’s Name) and satsang on the impure mind.

When we chant and attend satsang, we constantly pour the positive thought of God's Name into our mind. Even if our mind is at first filled with bad qualities like anger, jealousy, greed, lust, etc., these slowly wash away, and it is then filled with God's Name that is full of purity and joy like God is."

The lady understood instantly and started chanting God's Name with faith everyday.



Moral: The above story explains how chanting the Lord’s Name, and attending satsang purify the mind. Like the lady, we too, can start chanting God's Name, and try to be in satsang of saints or at least spiritual books, to get rid of our negative feelings and experience joy everyday.

x

Practice and Perservence

Once upon a time, a cow went out to graze in the jungle. Suddenly, she noticed a tiger racing towards her. She turned and fled, fearing that at any moment the tiger would sink his claws into her. The cow desperately looked for some place to escape and at last saw a shallow pond. Barely evading the tiger’s reach, she jumped into the pond, and in the heat of the chase, the tiger blindly leaped after her.

To the surprise of them both, the pond was extremely shallow yet filled with deep recesses of mud. After toppling over each other, the cow and the tiger found themselves a short distance apart, stuck in the mud up to their necks. Both had their heads above water but were unable to free themselves no matter how much they writhed.

The tiger repeatedly snarled at the cow and roared, “I am going to enjoy the sound of crunching your bones between my teeth!”

He thrashed about in a fury but soon became fretful as he found no prospect of escape.

*The cow thoughtfully laughed as the tiger struggled to free himself and asked him, “Do you have a master?”*

The tiger disdainfully replied, “I am the king of the jungle. Why do you ask me if I have a master? I myself am the master!”

The cow said, “You may be the king of the jungle, but here all your power has failed to save your life.”

“And what about you?” Retorted the tiger. “You are going to die here in this mud too!”’

The cow smiled mildly and said, “No, I am not.”

“If even I, the king of the jungle cannot free myself from this mud”, snapped the tiger, “Then how can you, an ordinary cow?”

*The cow gently replied, “I cannot free myself from this mud, but my master can. When the sun sets and he finds me absent at home, he will come looking for me. Once he finds me, he will raise me up and escort me home sweet home.”*

The tiger fell silent and coldly glared at the cow.

*Soon enough, the sun set, and the cow’s master arrived. He immediately recognised the plight she was in and lifted her to safety. As they walked home, the cow and the master both felt renewed gratitude for one another and pitied the tiger they both would have been happy to save if only the tiger had allowed them.*

Purport

The cow represents a surrendered soul, the tiger represents an proud person, and the master represents almighty God who is known as the loving protector of the cows and the world. The mud represents the material world, and the chase represents the struggle for existence therein.

The surrendered soul relies upon the Lord rather than themselves for all the necessities of life. No matter how many troubles appeared to be created by the proud persons of the world who reject the guardianship of the Lord out of the false ego of considering themselves capable of fending for themselves, the surrendered souls know that everything is really in the hands of the Lord, the all-loving. They are fully confident in His protection, though they know sometimes they just need to wait a little while until sundown.*

*The surrendered soul’s confidence.*

Don’t believe everything you hear

“My boss drove a luxury car everyday and it was my duty to greet him and to open the gates for him, as I worked as a watchman in his villa. But he never responded back to my greetings.

One day he saw me opening the garbage bags outside the villa in search for any leftover food. But, as usual he never even looked at me, it was like as if he never saw anything!

The very next day I saw a paper bag at the same place, but it was clean and the food inside was covered well. It was fresh and good food like someone had just brought it from the supermarket. I didn’t bother as to where it came from, I just took the paper bag and I was so happy about it.

Every day I found this paper bag at the same place with fresh vegetables and all that we needed for home. This became my daily routine. I was eating and sharing this food with my wife and kids. I was wondering who this fool could be?! To forget his paper bag full of fresh food everyday.

One day there was a big problem in the villa and I was told that my boss has died. There were too many guests coming to the villa that day and I didn’t get any food that day, so I thought that one of the guests must have taken it. But the same thing happened the 2nd day, the 3rd day and the 4th day.

It went on like this for a few weeks and I found it difficult to provide food for my family, so I decided to ask the wife of my boss for a raise in my salary or else I would quit my job as a watchman.

After I told her, she was shocked, and asked me, how come you never complained about your salary for the last 2 years? And why is this salary not enough for you now? I gave her so many excuses but she was never convinced!

Finally in the end, I decided to tell her the truth, I told her the entire story of the bag of groceries, and as to how it was my daily provision. She then asked me as to when this stopped? I told her after the death of her husband. And then I realized that I stopped seeing the paper bag immediately after the death of my boss. Why didn’t I ever think of this before? That it was my boss who was providing this for me? I guess it was because I never thought that a person who never replied to my greetings could ever be this generous!

His wife started to cry and I told her to please stop crying and that I’m really sorry that I asked for a raise, I didn’t know that it was your husband who was providing me with the meals, I’ll remain as a watchman and be happy to provide my service.

His wife told me, I’m crying because I’ve finally found the 7th person my husband was giving this bag full of food. I knew my husband was giving 7 people everyday, I had already found the 6 people, and all these days I was searching for the 7th person. And today I found out.

From that day onwards, I started to receive the bag full of food again, but this time his son was bringing it to my house and giving it to my hand. But whenever I thanked him, he never replied! Just like his dad!

One day, I told him THANK YOU in a very loud voice! He replied back to me to please not be offended when he doesn’t reply, because he has a hearing problem, just like his dad!”

Oh! We have been wrong so many times judging others without knowing the true story behind their actions. Be kind and courteous in dealing with others, for everyone is fighting a hard battle. Be careful, not everything is about you. Before you assume, there is this thing called ASKING.

Don’t just jump to conclusion, because that is truly not an exercise, it may cause you more harm at the end of the day. Many of our problems are caused by how we process what happens around us. Don’t judge a situation you have never been in. Be humble enough to learn. You do not know it all. Lets change the way we feel about ourselves and others.

There are two sides to a story. Don’t believe everything you hear.

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.

Opportunity

Never loose an opportunity

A Young man wished to marry the Farmer's Beautiful Daughter.

He went to the Farmer to ask his permission. 

The Farmer looked him over and said, "Son, Go stand out in that field. 
I'm going to release three bulls, one at a time. If you can catch the tail of any one of the three bulls, you can marry my daughter."

The young man stood in the pasture awaiting the first bull. The barn door opened and out ran the biggest, meanest-looking bull he had ever seen. 

He decided that one of the next bulls had to be a better choice than this one, so he ran over to the side and let t he bull pass through the pasture out the back gate. 

The barn door opened again. Unbelievable. He had never seen anything so big and fierce in his life. 

It stood pawing the ground, grunting, slinging slobber as it eyed him. 
Whatever the next bull was like, it had to be a better choice than this one. He ran to the fence and let the bull pass through the pasture, out the back gate.

The door opened a third time. a smile came a cross his face. This was the Weakest, scrawniest little bull he had ever seen. This one was his bull. As the bull came 
running by, he positioned himself just right and jumped at just the exact moment.

He Grabbed... 

But The Bull Had No Tail! 

Moral Of the story:
-------------------------- ------
Life Is Full Of Opportunities.
Some Will Be Easy To Take Advantage Of,
Some Will Be Difficult.
But Once We Let Them Pass (Often In Hopes Of Something Better),
Those Opportunities May Never Again Be Available.
So Always Grab The First Opportunity