DESCRIPTION

The statute of the Mooshika

The Mooshika or the rat is a stealthy animal, which is forever running around, causing a general nuisance to one and all around. The Mooshika signifies our stealthy mind, which is always looking for a crooked way out of any situation. The vahana, resting at Ganesha’s feet, signifies that the Lord takes control of a devotee who surrenders to His will. He keeps the devotee’s mind in his control, preventing it from playing havoc with the seeker, calming and soothing him down, allowing him to focus his full attention on the Lord.

The mouse is said to symbolize the equal importance of the biggest and smallest of creatures, in the eyes of the infinity of creation. Vrihadaarnyak Upanishad says that Ganesha’s vehicle is in fact a symbol of all pervasive omniscient Brahma. Like the omnipresent Brahma, a mouse stays in every household. But it is not visible all the time. Members of a household come to know about it only when its action begins to manifest.

The mouse is also interpreted as our ego. One who has controlled the ego has Ganesha consciousness or God-consciousness. According to other interpretations, the rat represents desire. A rat has a small mouth and tiny sharp teeth. But it is the greediest of all animals. Its greed and acquisitiveness are so great that it steals more than it can eat and hoards more than it can remember, often abandoning burrows full of hoarded grains through forgetfulness.

A mouse leads a clandestine life below the ground. Thus it is also a symbol of ignorance that is dominant in darkness and fears light and knowledge. As the vehicle of Lord Ganesha, a mouse teaches us to remain always on alert and illuminate our inner-self with the light of knowledge.

Lord Ganesha is the lord of knowledge and intelligence. Likewise, His vehicle, mouse, is also the symbol of wisdom, talent and intelligence. It symbolizes minute investigation of a cryptic subject.

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