Edinburgh Hindu Mandir & Cultural Centre

Ganesh

Ganah in Sanskrit means 'multitude.' Isa means 'Lord.' Ganesha literally means the Lord of all beings. He is the first son of Lord Shiva - the supreme Reality. He also is called by other names like Ganapati, Gajanan, Vinayaka, and Vighneshvara.

Ganesha is described as having human form with an elephant's head. The trunk which springs from the head represents the intellect, the faculty of discrimination. Ganesh's large belly is meant to convey that a man of Perfection can consume and digest whatever experiences he undergoes.

At the feet of the Lord is spread an abundance of food. Food represents material wealth, power, and prosperity. Besides the food is a tiny mouse. The mouse does not touch the food but waits for the master's sanction as it were for consuming it. The mouse represents desire.

Kubera, the god of wealth, offered a dinner to Ganesha, who ate all the food that was prepared for the entire gathering of guests and still was unsatisfied. At this time Lost Siva, his father, offered him a handful of roasted rice, and on eating this Ganesh was immediately satisfied. The story is directive to mankind that man can never be satisfied with joys of material wealth represented by Kubera's feast. The absolute fulfillment or peace comes by consuming your own vasanas which are the unmanifest desires in you.

Krishna

Krishna was a dynamic incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He was an Avtar. Krishna brought about a profound and powerful influence upon Indian thought and life. Krishna in Sanskrit means dark which stands for the inner Atman that is unknown to man. Krishna was born in Mathura. His uncle Kansa was a tyrant, who imprisoned Krishna's father and usurped the throne of Mathura.

Krishna is often represented as playing a flute. The enchanting music from the flute of the Lord is the bliss of Godhood enjoyed by the man of Realization. The milkmaids of Vrindaran were called gopis. They were enchanted by the divine music flowing out of Krishna's flute. They danced in their ecstasy around Krishna. The dance is called rasa-leela. Krishna represents Atman, pure consciousness while gopis represents thoughts. Atman in man is the enlivening factor by which he becomes conscious of his thought. Thoughts by themselves are insentient. In the presence of Consciousness thoughts gain sentience or consciousness. Thoughts dance around the Atman but the Atman is ever immaculate. It is unaffected by the thoughts around it. So is Krishna pure and immaculate, detached and unaffected by the dancing gopis.

Lakshmi

Lakshmi, which means sign of fortune, is the Goddess of success or prosperity, and is worshipped for beauty, wealth, surplus and peace. She is usually depicted holding a lotus flower in one of her hands and sitting on another lotus flower. Lakshmi is mythologically associated with the ocean and often depicted as the wife (radiating energy force) of Lord Vishnu, Theologically, She is a perfection of Shakti, the Universal Mother. Part of Lakshmi's aid in acquiring wealth is our giving generously and often to spiritual and humane causes. During Diwali, devotees light oil lamps to invite Her into their home.

Lord Shiva

Rama is the seventh Avatar of Vishnu and is the hero of the Ramayana. In the Ramayana, sage Valmiki has symbolized Rama as an ideal of perfection. In the life of Rama each facet of human personality is seen projected to absolute perfection. He was a perfect son, an ideal king, a true husband, a real friend, a devoted brother, a noble enemy etc.

On the eve of Rama's coronation, all the subjects of Ayodhya were eagerly waiting for the coronation and Rama himself was aware of his duty to them. His stepmother Kaikeyi's demand to have Rama's younger brother Bharat crowned and send Rama away to the forest was preposterous to say the least in the light of irresistible love that his parents bore for him and he for them. Rama went to the forest to fulfull his father's promise to Kaikeyi and performed his duty as a true son.

Lord Rama carried his bow and arrow all the time. This symbolizes his alertness and readiness to fight against iniquity and thus establish justice and peace. Sita-Rama is one soul in two bodies. This is the ideal couple unparalleled in the whole history of man-kind.

Shiva is one of the gods of Trinity. He is the God of destruction. He is married to Goddess Parvati (Uma). Lord Shiva not only represents the supreme state of perfection in man, but in his very pose indicates the way to reach it as well. His eyes are half-closed. It is called Samabhavee mudra. It signifies that his mind is absorbed in the inner Self while his body is engaged in the outer world. The state of meditation shown in Shiva's posture is again symbolic. Meditation is the final gateway to self realization.

On the auspicious occasion of Mahasivaratri, Shiva performs the ecstatic dance of realization. The dance pose Shiva is known as Nataraja. Shiva is said to have the third eye known as gyana chaksu - means eye of wisdom and its vision reaches beyond that of two mortal eyes.

Shiva is sometimes shown with his trident (trisula) in his hand. The trisula is the three pronged weapon which symbolizes the destruction of the ego with the three-fold desires of the body, mind, and intellect.

Rama

Rama is the seventh Avatar of Vishnu and is the hero of the Ramayana. In the Ramayana, sage Valmiki has symbolized Rama as an ideal of perfection. In the life of Rama each facet of human personality is seen projected to absolute perfection. He was a perfect son, an ideal king, a true husband, a real friend, a devoted brother, a noble enemy etc.

On the eve of Rama's coronation, all the subjects of Ayodhya were eagerly waiting for the coronation and Rama himself was aware of his duty to them. His stepmother Kaikeyi's demand to have Rama's younger brother Bharat crowned and send Rama away to the forest was preposterous to say the least in the light of irresistible love that his parents bore for him and he for them. Rama went to the forest to fulfull his father's promise to Kaikeyi and performed his duty as a true son.

Lord Rama carried his bow and arrow all the time. This symbolizes his alertness and readiness to fight against iniquity and thus establish justice and peace. Sita-Rama is one soul in two bodies. This is the ideal couple unparalleled in the whole history of man-kind.

Vishnu

Vishnu, meaning "all-pervasive" is the supreme Deity of the Vaishnavite faith. He is God as personal Lord and Creator, the Divine Personality, who periodically incarnates as a living being to reestablish dharma. Considered the embodiment of goodness and mercy, Vishnu is thought by his faithful to have lived on Earth as ten incarnations-including as a fish and boar (theorized as symbolizing evolution)-and a future incarnation, Kalkaji, is yet come. Venerating Vishnu is to also act with goodness and mercy, to forgive and forget injuries to ourselves and refrain from injuring all living beings.

Deities

Ganesh

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