path of nonviolence; this was due to the enor-
mous power and prestige of the humble, home-
spun cloth–clad Mahatma Gandhi. He inspired
a generation of people to pursue political ends
through nonviolence alone and had a tremendous
impact on other great political leaders of the post-
war world, notable among them Martin Luther
King Jr. of the American civil rights movement.
Further reading: K. S. Bharathi. The Social Philosophy
of Mahatma Gandhi (New Delhi: Concept, 1991); Nimal
Kumar Bose, Selections from Gandhi (Ahmedabad: Navji-
van Publishing House, 1948); Peter H. Burgess, ed., The
Sayings of Mahatma Gandhi (Singapore: Graham Brash,
1984); M. K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with
Truth (Ahmedabad: Navajivan Press, 1927–29); Ved
Mehta, Mahatma Gandhi and His Apostles (New York:
Penguin Books, 1977); B. R. Nanda, Mahatma Gandhi:
A Biography, Complete and Unabridged (Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 1996).
Ganesha
Ganesha, lord of beginnings and remover of
obstacles, is probably the most worshipped divin-
ity of the Hindu pantheon. With the head of an
elephant and a human body that shows a pro-
truding belly—the sign of Ganesha’s fondness for
sweets—the god is a central figure in the cult of
SHIVA, as the elder son of Shiva and PARVATI. He
is also worshipped as a deity on his own, as is
shown in Ganesha PURANA. Nearly every Indian
PUJA or worship service commences with verses
to and adoration of Ganesha. The figure of the
sitting Ganesha and his incongruous vehicle, the
rat, is found near the entranceway or one of the
entranceways of many, many Hindu temples.
As is usual in Hindu mythology and lore, there
are many and various stories about the events of
Ganesha’s life. The most common story of his ori-
gin is that he was made by Parvati, who rubbed off
material from her skin and formed it into a shape
of a person. She set this “child” Ganesha to guard
her shower or inner chamber. Shiva, unaware of
this, found Ganesha at his post and thinking that
he was a lover or intruder he cut off the child’s
head. Scolded by an angry Parvati, Shiva hastily
rushed off to find a new head for the child and
returned with the head of an elephant.
In one popular story Parvati declares a race
around the universe between the ponderous Gane-
sha and his younger brother, Skanda or KARTTIKEYA.
The younger boy takes off on his swift peacock
vehicle swift as lightning, leaving the slow Gane-
sha with his pitiful rat vehicle far behind. Thinking
a moment, Ganesha realizes that his mother and
father themselves constitute the entire universe.
He simply walks around his mother and fatherLord Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, is the son of
Lord Shiva and known as remover of obstacles. (Saiva
Siddhanta Church, Kapaa, Kauai, Hawaii)Ganesha 161 J