Ganesh is the son of the Mother Goddess, Parvati. Like all children, he was sent to school to become clever.
On the first day, he learnt the first three letters of the alphabet: A, B, C. He was very excited when he came home. He ran to his mother saying, ‘Mum, mum, play with me.’ But mum was busy. She asked him to play by himself in the garden. Ganesh went into the garden, and there he saw the neighbour’s cat. Ganesh said, ‘Cat, play with me. We are going to play the game of School. I am going to be the teacher, and you will be my student. I will teach you the alphabet.’
In wobbly writing he wrote on the board ‘A B C’. Then he pointed at ‘A’ and said to the cat, ‘Repeat after me, A…’ The cat just went ‘Meow’. Ganesh said, ‘Cat, that is not very clever. Repeat after me, ‘A, B...’. The cat went ‘Meow, meow….’ Ganesh was getting annoyed with the cat. He said, ‘Cat! You must learn the alphabet properly, otherwise I will be angry with you!’ He then pointed at the letters on the board and said, ‘Repeat after me, A B C…’. The cat went ‘Meow, meow, meow.’ Ganesh felt very annoyed and told the cat off, waving his finger at it. The cat did not like being told off, and ran away feeling sad. Ganesh decided to go back into his house. When he returned, he was surprised to see mum looking very sad. Ganesh asked, ‘Mum, why do you look so sad?’ Parvati said, ‘Come here my boy, and tell me, what were you doing just now?’ Ganesh said, ‘I was just playing in the garden with the cat.’ Mum asked, ‘Were you angry with the cat?’ Ganesh thought oh oh! He replied, ‘Just a little.’
The Mother Goddess said, ‘Listen to me my boy, and listen carefully. This is the most important lesson you will learn in your life. I, the Mother Goddess, am the mother of the whole universe, and live in everything. It is me who lives in the cat, so when you are angry with anyone, you are angry with me my boy. Do you now understand why I feel sad?’ Ganesh now understood. It is God alone who lives in all living things, so if we hurt or harm anything, we hurt God. From that day on, Ganesh would never hurt any living thing.
Just like Ganesh, Hindus must not hurt or harm anyone or anything. God lives in everything and in everyone. That is why Hindus greet each other by putting their hands together, giving a gentle bow and saying, ‘Namaste,’ which means ‘There is God in you’.
On the first day, he learnt the first three letters of the alphabet: A, B, C. He was very excited when he came home. He ran to his mother saying, ‘Mum, mum, play with me.’ But mum was busy. She asked him to play by himself in the garden. Ganesh went into the garden, and there he saw the neighbour’s cat. Ganesh said, ‘Cat, play with me. We are going to play the game of School. I am going to be the teacher, and you will be my student. I will teach you the alphabet.’
In wobbly writing he wrote on the board ‘A B C’. Then he pointed at ‘A’ and said to the cat, ‘Repeat after me, A…’ The cat just went ‘Meow’. Ganesh said, ‘Cat, that is not very clever. Repeat after me, ‘A, B...’. The cat went ‘Meow, meow….’ Ganesh was getting annoyed with the cat. He said, ‘Cat! You must learn the alphabet properly, otherwise I will be angry with you!’ He then pointed at the letters on the board and said, ‘Repeat after me, A B C…’. The cat went ‘Meow, meow, meow.’ Ganesh felt very annoyed and told the cat off, waving his finger at it. The cat did not like being told off, and ran away feeling sad. Ganesh decided to go back into his house. When he returned, he was surprised to see mum looking very sad. Ganesh asked, ‘Mum, why do you look so sad?’ Parvati said, ‘Come here my boy, and tell me, what were you doing just now?’ Ganesh said, ‘I was just playing in the garden with the cat.’ Mum asked, ‘Were you angry with the cat?’ Ganesh thought oh oh! He replied, ‘Just a little.’
The Mother Goddess said, ‘Listen to me my boy, and listen carefully. This is the most important lesson you will learn in your life. I, the Mother Goddess, am the mother of the whole universe, and live in everything. It is me who lives in the cat, so when you are angry with anyone, you are angry with me my boy. Do you now understand why I feel sad?’ Ganesh now understood. It is God alone who lives in all living things, so if we hurt or harm anything, we hurt God. From that day on, Ganesh would never hurt any living thing.
Just like Ganesh, Hindus must not hurt or harm anyone or anything. God lives in everything and in everyone. That is why Hindus greet each other by putting their hands together, giving a gentle bow and saying, ‘Namaste,’ which means ‘There is God in you’.
