What is the truth about Ganesh's head?

[sravna]

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Dear Renuka,

I do not know Sanskrit or Hindi. So in my explanations I assume that others will have an intuitive understanding of what is said. By spiritual in a general sense, I mean related to Atman. Isn't it the whole?

 

[yesmohan]

Now, the tool-kid of play things for a small kid of the age 4 / 5 years & above, ranges from computer system,tab,Android phones etc.
Parents introduce these things to the kid; but most of the kids learn on their own how to navigate through and get what they wanted. It is the modern Montessori - learning through play methods. Everything proves not only the development of science but also exhibits the ability of small kids. 10 year boys know to do small programmes in fox pro.

Some 25 years back grand mothers while feeding the grand child used to tell Fox and Crow stories.
Kids started knowing the existence of fox, crow, vada, song, tree, its branches, the meaning of cunningness ,
cheating,running and so many vocabularies and their meaning beside morals.
It was a way of formal education of introducing so many things to the kid in the world, in those days.

Habits do not get much changed; but transformed in several ways.
So also, Paattis / thaaththaas of vedic days might have told a similar exemplary moral stories to their grand kids to educate them.They could have become the puranic / religious stories.

There might be a lot of exaggeration in these stories. The aim of these stories are not to misguide any body but only to enlighten the later generation in general awareness by provoking thought.
But now, in those stories, people may read between lines and propagate that during Vedic period transplantation of human-head with elephants-head was in vogue, Vedic priests were expert in it and quote even some verses which were implanted later.
Analysing and understanding is left to the growth level of individuals and their analytical / blind belief.

 

[sangom]

Dear Shri Sangom,

In this age of science it is difficult to accept something when that is not verifiable directly by physical instruments. Our mind is the finest instrument through which only we can see the timeless truths. I do not have any problems with different explanations being given for something such as Ganesha's head, as these events themselves may not have happened but the significance behind them cannot be denied.

Also to say that the sages because of poor understanding of nature and the fear of it, deified it seems to be far from the truth because the depth of logic in their philosophies would not support that claim. So IMO it is not easy to dismiss the ancient knowledge of India. On the contrary we should seek to extend the horizons of science by trying to understand spiritual knowledge and integrate it with Science.

Dear Shri Sravna,

"Mind" may be the finest instrument, but we do not usually have the ability to fully control the mind; it works as though it is ordered and controlled by some force other than what we perceive in our "I" ness. Secondly, it is the same mind which can slyly go astray, if I may say so, and land a person as a slave to one or more of the several manias and phobias, in addition to dementia. Therefore, mind may not be a reliable instrument though it may be a finest instrument.

According to my beliefs, which conforms very much to advaita, everything here in this jagat is nothing more than a shadow play. There is no place for anything "spiritual", except mental imageries of spiritual. It will be more useful to make logical arguments and conclusions keeping ourselves (and our minds too) within the four corners of the experienced Jagat.

Coming to the sages or rishis, we have no evidence to independently prove that the sages of yore as per our scriptures had extra-ordinary intelligence or insight. All that is there are further mythological stories which laud those sages as superhuman. Ordinary logic will refuse to accept this, but "belief" can make us think these are all truths. For example, our sages believed in a flat earth.