He causes the four principles of the elements to move and is therefore four-armed. In one hand he is shown tn have a shell, in another a discus, in the third a club or a sweet cake and in the fourth a water lily."
is the elephant-headed Hindu god of wisdom, literature and worldly success. Ganesha is the son of Parvati and Shiva.
Trying to defend his mother's bath, Ganesha was beheaded by Shiva who later was persuaded by Parvati to revive him.
Ganesha is depicted with having four arms.
These symbolize him as the universal ruler establishing four categories of beings -- firstly those who can live only in water, secondly those who can live in water and earth, thirdly those who can live only on earth and lastly those who can fly in the air. Moreover it is also Ganesha who instituted the four castes and four Vedas.
The vehicle of Ganesha is a mouse. As rats succeed in gnawing their way through every obstruction, the rat symbolizes this god's ability to destroy every obstacle. Being an elephant he passes through the thickest of wild growth in a forest, uproots and tears to smithereens the thickest trees hindering his path and fells out whatever comes in his way.
The all-pervading Atman is the mouse that lives in the hole called Intellect, within the heart of every being.
It hides itself behind the inscrutable shape of illusion. Ganesha has two wives, one named Siddhi (Success) and the other named Riddhi (Prosperity). Of course one who pleases the Lord automatically comes into the good books of his two wives! In all ceremonies (except funeral rites) Ganesha is first involked.
Ganesha represents the unity of the Small Being, the man, with the Great Being, the elephant.
It is the blending of the microcosm with macrocosm, of drop of water with the ocean and of individual soul with divinity.
