What does Ganesha mean?

The beauty of Lord Ganesha is that irrespective of caste everybody worships him as he is the Vighna Vinashaka, the remover of all obstacles. Before the commencement of any business, occasions, projects we pray and get bestowed by his blessings. Therefore, I personally believe that one must remember to pray each day to him and not just on Ganesh Chaturthi. A couple of interesting thoughts about the uniqueness of Ganesha compelled me to write this article and share my thoughts on his wisdom and power.

Ever wondered why among all Indian Gods, only Ganesha has an elephant head? Elephants are considered to be the most intelligent animals on the planet. As I draw a comparison to the business world, I strongly believe that a business leader must be like Vigataha Nayakaha ( the one who leads the group). Just like the elephants which go in the front clearing all the obstacles in the forest and make way for other animals who are trying to find their way, a leader must be able to foresee the difficulties and solve them with his intelligence and wisdom to make way for his team players. An ideal leader must play the role of Vighna Vinayaka- the remover of all obstacles.

As we recollect the image of Ganesha he has different things in his four hands. He has rope in one hand and axe in another hand. The third-hand holds a sweet and the fourth hand blesses us. While this might be a simple pictorial image to Ganesha, he tries to convey a deeper meaning to life. He attracts his devotees with sweets and retains them with a rope. He cuts all their sorrows, worries with his axe and blesses them with his fourth hand. Likewise, a perfect team leader must have all the leadership qualities like a sweet, strong technical abilities like a rope, well acquired managerial skills like an axe and he must encourage his employees like a blessing hand.

Why did Ganesha choose a petite animal like a mouse to be his vaahan? We can observe from nature that mice love darkness and loath bright lights. Mice can be compared to our inner darkness- ignorance, and imperfections. No human is born right, hence by praying to Ganesha we can remove our ignorance and correct our imperfections. He helps to bring illumination to our lives and enlighten us with moral ethics to a peaceful living.

Elephants love eating wood apple. An interesting story added to this fact is that it engulfs the whole fruit, empties the content and defecates it as a whole fruit without breaking it. A manager should ideally perform the role of an elephant at work. He must possess supreme abilities to bring out the intelligence of his team players without judging their characters and personal habits.

Having shared my thoughts on how I find similarities and common traits of Ganesha with the business world, I would like to seek the blessings of Vinayaka who is the pradata (giver) of Siddhi (attainment) and Buddhi (intelligence) without which no human can lead any lives.