Inspiring story behind why Ganapathi is worshipped first

In Hindu myth , we usually observe in temples and places where poojas are conducted , Lord Ganapathi is remembered and worshipped first , prayers are submitted and then the actual pooja continues. Also in many cultural programme , songs , prayers on Ganapathi are sung first and then the actual events start.  Have you ever wondered why is this so ? In this post we share an interesting story from hindu myth describing the reason for same. Some of us may already be knowing this story -  its worth reading again which carries a beautiful message to the society. 

Of the two sons of Lord Shiva & Goddess parvathi - Murugesha and Ganesha , had more nurture towards Ganesha being the younger son.  Their home being Himapuri  , was full of snow filled hills and rocks. One day - Parvathi took Ganesha near the water flow where she used to take her bath.  Before entering the flow , Parvathi instructed Ganesha to guard the entrance and not to allow anybody till she comes back from bath, even if Shiva comes make him stay back till she is back. Ganesha was a great follower of his elder's advise and followed the same. Ganesha with all his earnestness started guarding the entrance 

After some time , few Shivaganaas reached this spot and asked ganesha to inform parvathi that Shiva would like to see her and has asked to meet him. Ganesha politely replied them with the instructions which paravathi had told him . Shivaganaas  still forced ganesha and tried to enter entrance . Ganesha became furious watching this , with anger started dispelling them by beating them. Shivaganaas baffled by the incident left the spot and informed shiva about the event. Shiva got by surprise, consoled them and did not like the way ganesha treated them. He himself left to the spot to review the situation

Ganesha on seeing Shiva at the entrance with full respect submitted the paranamas and informed what parvathi had told him. Shiva tried to convince Ganesha that it is not good for children to interfere with elders , but yet ganesha bound by his promise did not allow Shiva to enter . Furious by ganesha's behaviour , shiva was so angry that forgetting ganesha is his son,  took his trishula and cut off ganesha's neck , separating his body and head.  Parvathi just returned back when this happened , shocked by the incident , with outraged grievance and anger took the form of a Kali with intention to destroy the world . Noticing this , Narada tried to console both Shiva & Parvathi , begged Shiva to grant life back to ganesha. By this time , Shiva's anger had reduced and proceeded to give back life to ganesha.  As ganesha's head was damaged , shiva replaced this with a beautiful child Elephant's head. Ganesha got his life back , but parvathi was not satisfied and thought others may make fun seeing at ganesha. Narada consoled that he shall make him the leader for all worlds. Ganesha did not like this which hurt his self-respect and requested to arrange a competition to prove himself if he is worth for the position and only if he wins he would accept the offer.  Shiva parvathi were very happy watching this character and decision from ganesha.

Accordingly a competition was arranged - one who travels one complete round the world , covering one circumference and reaches faster back shall be considered the winner . All devataas along with murugesha started their travel , while ganesha started on with his vehicle Mooshika . As Mooshika was very slow , it hardly managed to travel even smaller distance. Noticing this ganesha thought for a moment , came back to spot where Shiva parvathi was sitting and due respect , submitted his pranamaas by rounding them 3 times and stood back . After some time all devataas returned back traversing the world. All were took by surprise seeing Ganesha who told them he has won the competition . Even Narada praised ganesha and declared him the winner. When asked he explained - "according to Vedas one who with due bhakthi & respect does a single circum navigate pranama to parents , it is equivalent to traversing the whole world once" - and this is what ganesha has done now 3 times which makes him the winner

Everyone praised the intelligence and character of Ganesha and declared him as the overlord of the devataas . From then Ganesha was known as "Ganapathi". This is the reason even now it has come as a practice - first pooja is submitted to Ganapathi - praying him to provide blessings to conduct an event without any failure and then the actual event starts .

This story leaves a good message even to the present society - some people  forget and don’t realize the truth about the living gods - their elders and parents and instead go in search of god travelling places . If everyone starts following the same principle treat their elders and parents as Gods with love , affection and follow their instructions with respect then just imagine how further beautiful this world would have been !

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An article contributed by NR.

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Identify your Potential - A short story

Michael Jordan was an African-American man, born in 1963, in the slums of Brooklyn, New York. 
He had four brothers and his father's wages were not sufficient to provide for the whole family. 
He grew up in a poor neighbourhood which was full of discrimination, to the point where he could not see any hope for the future.

When he was 13 years old, his father gave him a piece of used clothing and asked: "What do you think the value of this outfit would be?"

Jordan replied, "Maybe one dollar."

His father asked, "Can you sell it for two dollars? If you can sell it, it would mean that you are a big help 
to your father and mother. "

Jordan nodded his head, "I'll try, but no guarantee that I'll be successful."

Jordan carefully washed the clothes clean. Because they didn't have an iron, to smoothen out clothes, he levelled it with a clothes brush on a flat board, then kept it in the sun to dry. The next day, he brought the clothes to a crowded underground station. After offering it for more than six hours. Jordan finally managed to sell it for $2. He took the two dollar bill and ran home.

After that, everyday he was looked for used clothing, washed and ironed it and  sold it in the crowd. 
More than ten days later, his father again gave him a piece of used clothing, "Now think of a way that you can sell these clothes for 20 bucks?"

Jordan said, "How is it possible? This outfit can only fetch two dollars at the most. "

His father replied in an effort to inspire him, "Why don't you try it first? There must be a way."

Finally, Jordan got an Idea He asked for cousin's help to paint a picture of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse on the garment. Then he tried to sell it in the school where the children of the rich study. Soon a housekeeper, who was there to pick his master, bought clothes for his master. The master was a little boy of only 10 years but was very fond of clothes. He loved it so much and he gave a five dollar tip. 25 dollars was a huge amount 
for Jordan, the equivalent of a month's salary of his father.


When he got home, his father gave him yet another piece of used clothing. "Are you able to resell it at a price of 200 dollars?" His eyes lit up.

This time, Jordan accepted the clothes without the slightest doubt. Two months later a popular movie actress from the movie "Charlie's Angels", Farah Fawcett came to New York for her Movie promos. After the press conference, Jordan made his way through the security forces to reach the side of Farah Fawcett and requested her autograph on the piece of clothing. When Fawcett saw this innocent child asking for her autograph, 
she gladly signed it.

Jordan was shouting very excitedly, "This is a jersey signed by Miss Farah Fawcett, the selling price is 200 dollars!"He auctioned off the clothes, to a businessman for a price of 1,200 dollars!


Upon returning home, his father by broke into TEARS and said, "I am amazed that you did it My child! 
You're really great! "

That night, Jordan slept alongside his father. His father said, "Son, in your experience selling these three pieces of clothing, what did you learn about success?"

Jordan replied, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

His father nodded his head, then shook his head, "What you say is not entirely wrong! But that was not my intention. I just wanted to show you that a piece of used clothing which is worth only a dollar can also be increased in value, Then how about us - living & thinking humans? We maybe darker and poorer, but what's the difference? "

This thought enlightened young Jordan. Even a piece of used clothing could be made dignified, then why not me? There is absolutely no reason to underestimate myself.

>From then on, Michael Jordan felt that his future would be beautiful and full of hope.

Our potential is so great, and should not be viewed small & low only because of our status, looks or wealth. Even a diamond is just a stone before it has been polished. 
Keep improving yourselves, trying your best and striving ahead!

Happiness short stories

Some of the nice stories on "Happiness" shared within our communities. 

Story 1 : 

Once a group of 50 people was attending a seminar.

Suddenly the speaker stopped and started giving each one a balloon. Each one was asked to write his/her name on it using a marker pen. Then all the balloons were collected and put in another room.

Now these delegates were let in that room and asked to find the balloon which had their name written, within 5 minutes. Everyone was frantically searching for their name, colliding with each other, pushing around others and there was utter chaos.

At the end of 5 minutes no one could find their own balloon.

Now each one was asked to randomly collect a balloon and give it to the the person whose name was written on it.

Within minutes everyone had their own balloon.

The speaker began--- Exactly this is happening in our lives. Everyone is frantically looking for happiness all around, not knowing where it is. 

Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people. Give them their happiness, you will get your own happiness.

And this is the purpose of human life. 

Is this not what we are looking for? Happiness

Story 2 

Who is Happy ???

A Crow Lived in the Forest and was absolutely satisfied in life. 

But one day he saw a swan...
This swan is so white and I am so black...crow thought.

This swan must be the happiest bird in the world.

He expressed his thoughts to the swan. 
"Actually," the swan replied, 

"I was feeling that I was the happiest bird around until I saw a parrot, which has two colors. 
I now think the parrot is the happiest bird in creation." 

The crow then approached the parrot. 
The parrot explained, 
"I lived a very happy life—until I saw a peacock.
I have only two colors, but the peacock has multiple colors." 

The crow then visited a peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people had gathered to see him. 

After the people had left, 
The crow approached the Peacock..

Dear Peacock, 
You are so beautiful. 
Every day thousands of people come to see you. 
When people see me, 
they immediately shoo me away. 
I think you are the happiest bird on the planet.

The peacock replied, 
I always thought that I was the most beautiful and happy bird on the planet. 
But because of my beauty, 
I am entrapped in this zoo. 

I have examined the zoo very carefully, and I have realized that the crow is the only bird not kept in a cage. 

So for past few days I have been thinking that if I were a crow, 
I could happily roam everywhere.

That's our problem too. 

We make unnecessary comparison with others and become sad. 

We don't value what has God given us. 
This all leads to the vicious cycle of unhappiness. 

Value the things god has given us. 

Learn the secret of being happy and discard the comparison which leads only to unhappiness..

Sometimes you are unsatisfied with your life, while many people in  this world are dreaming  of living your life.. 
A child on a farm sees  a plane fly overhead & dreams of flying. But, A pilot on the plane sees  the farmhouse & dreams of returning home. 
That's life!! Enjoy yours... If wealth is the secret to happiness, then the rich should be dancing on the streets. But only poor kids do that. 
If power ensures security, then officials should walk unguarded. But those who live simply, sleep soundly.  
If beauty and fame bring ideal relationships, then  celebrities should have  the best marriages.  Live simply. Walk humbly. and love genuinely..!  All good will come back

Gratitude - a short story

A very good person had passed away . An angel came and took him to heaven with all respects and was showing different parts of heaven. As they moved on , they first noticed a section where many angels were busy working . The person noticed this and with surpise asked the angel why they are so busy . The angel replied - this is the "Prayers Receive" Section . Their job is to document all the prayers and requests which people on Earth ask to God. As there are so many prayers and requests , they are very busy. They moved on to another section , where again many angels were fully busy without having time to speak to each other. The person asked again the same question for which the angel replied - This is the "Grant Section" for which God has granted the response for people's prayer requests. As god fulfills many requests , this section is also always busy.

As they further moved on , they noticed a small room in which only one angel was sitting without much work. To his suprise , the person asked - Why this angel is not busy as other angels. The angel replied , this is the "Thanks Giving section" - their job is to collect & document the thanks giving response people send after their request is fulfilled by God.  The person curiously asked how do people do this. The angel replied - "Its very simple. After God fulfills one's request, if the person with gratitude prays the God and submits his thanks, it reaches here".  Then the person asked for what reasons should one show gratitude to God.

The angel smiled and replied - "If in your house , if there is no problem for your food , you have shelter and have proper clothes on your skin , then you belong to the world's 25% lucky people. If you have some Bank balance and good education , then you are one among the world's 1% luckiest people. When you get up daily , if you are healthy , you still have the chance to serve your dear parents , if you are part of happy family , if you can raise your head in front of others with self confidence , you are one among the most luckiest person in the world. For all these reasons one may send back gratitude to god"

The person realized why the single angel at Thanksgiving section was not that busy , as the number of Gratitude response from people was very less and felt sad about the same. Showing Gratitude is the first character of a civilized person. Forgetting one's help and the one who helped is like forgetting the culture. 

Hope you enjoyed reading this short story. Share it across , if worth.

"Lets not blindly follow !" - A short caterpillar life story

Jean Henry Fabre was one of France's most greatest entomologists. With his experiments on insects , animals and birds he has explained their life cycle. Of his experiments , the observation he made on how caterpillar insects travel is a very interesting.

He made one observation that when one or few caterpillars die , hundreds of them die at the same time. So he tested whether those were affected by any epidemic disease.

He later came to know that the caterpillars were not having any disease. He made another important observation. If one cater pillar passed by another cater pillar that would follow the first , the third one follows the second and so on just forming a chain almost seeming to travel joining together. To simulate this , once Fabre took a medium width pot and put some sugar & food for the insects in the middle of the pot. He took some 10-15 cater pillars and placed them on the pot edge. He placed them such that one cater pillar followed the other and the full chain resembled a circle as the pot was in circle shape. Now he closely observed the cater pillar behavior, at what time it may notice the sugar inside and approach to each it breaking the chain. To his surprise he noticed the insects continued to follow the other. Using their half opened eyes , it used to view the back of the preceding ones and simply followed back to back.

To his great surprise he observed this continued for 7 days and the insects still continued to follow without breaking the chain and not even bothered about the food kept in the middle of the pot. Now one cater pillar fell down and died due to starvation. Later after 10 minutes all other caterpillars died the same way. Even when they had their favorite food kept pass by , they never noticed and died due to starvation after 7 days ! At-least if one insect had moved towards the food , all others would have followed it and reached the food . But not even one insect made this attempt and just kept following the other. It is not that it was not having the capacity to see around , but it did not have the interest to look around.  Not even one of those insects thought differently and made a brave attempt to look around . Had it done , it would have not only saved its life , but would saved the lives of other insects also. 

This story shows a very good moral - Some of us in their lives lead their life similar to the cater pillar. Without knowing the real fact , with half eyes open they follow the lines which other people follow. They keep following & following passing their ages. Our minds are like a parachute. We are protected only when it opens up. When the mind moves towards new directions , new thoughts - it leads to discoveries and helps the world. Let us not blindly follow as a caterpillar, Lets open up ..

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