Lord Ganesha

Relevance of the tale- the prohibited moon sighting

According to our traditional tales, one must never look at the moon on Ganesh Chaturthi. Is this just a childish superstition circulated to induce fear in the name of blind faith or indeed has a teaching or relevance?

The tale emerges from the ancient happening when Ganesh ji destroyed the false pride of Kuber by engulfing everything in his kingdom.

Ganpati was extremely full after his 'Leela' at Kuber's castle and was on his way back to his divine realm on his beloved Mushak Raj. That's when Mushak Raj slipped and Ganesha fell hard upon the ground on his full belly.

The moon, who carried utmost pride in its beauty and enchanting glow laughed badly at Ganesha and mocked his pot-shaped belly.
Ganesha could not tolerate the sight of a deity disrespecting and making somebody feel inferior because of the outside natural form he/she has assumed.
This is why he cursed the moon saying that it will lose its shine from that day onward and nobody will ever worship the moon.

When Chandra Dev realised his mistake and begged for forgiveness then Ganesha calmed down and said that although the curse could not be taken back, the moon will regain its shine, however, it will grow thinner everyday and just remain invisible for one day in the cycle.

Anybody who looks at the moon on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi will be cursed with a false allegation which could only be reversed by worshipping Ganesh ji.

There's a tale that has a connection with Krishna 'Leela' also. One day Krishna ji also sighted the moon on the auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturthi and was accused of thievery in his kingdom. He later got free of the false allegation by worshipping lord Vinayak.

My personal experience screams that however much I try, somehow I always tend to look at the moon by mistake on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi even more than any usual day. On regular days, when I purposely try to find the moon in the sky, I sometimes cannot do so because of the clouds or sometimes because of the buildings in between.

However, on Ganesh Chaturthi when I remind myself not to look at it, I always , by mistake, find the moon right in front of my eyes and get mesmerized by its beauty for a second or two, and then have that moment of relaisation when I find that I once again, did that was not supposed to have occurred.

This tells us that however much we try, someday or the other, we find ourselves trapped in the vicious social evils. In this shrewd world all kinds of souls carry all kinds of beauty and menace and thus have an effect upon us, whether we long for it or not.

However much we try to keep clean, somebody will try to shove negativity or false accusations upon us someday because of the nature of the materialistic world we live in. So, it is not in our hand to control the good and the bad happening to us as our powers are limited.

Only lord Ganesha has that aeroplane vision above us all who has the power to see our life at a higher altitude and it is only him who can look at our journey with a wider, holistic perspective.

That's why only lord Ganesha can save us from all the evils if we continue to worship him with our heart and always remember his teachings. He has the power to clear all our obstacles that are bound to happen because of the nature of being, whether we are ready for them to happen or not.

That's why we should always stay connected to that super soul that can actually handle things that are out of our control and solve every jigsaw-puzzle.

Hence, this Ganesh Chaturthi, try not to look at the moon; but if you unintentionally have a glance then surrender to Lord Ganesha as it is only him who can save you even from the unknown obstacles of our life that are bound to happen because of multiple unintended happenings.

This tale highlights this essence of everybody's life and thus indeed, has relevance. One must understand this and enjoy any unintended moons sightings by later worshipping Ganesha rather than adding it to our never ending list of petty fears and superstition.

GANPATI BAPPA MORYA!