Holding on to anger, they say, is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else. However, eventually, you are the one who gets burned in the process.
A story goes that one day, Ganesha was invited to a big feast. Since he was very fond of sweets, he ended up consuming much over his normal capacity.
When he noticed that his stomach had bloated unusually, he felt guilty of having eaten too much. Since he did not want anyone to catch him in his embarrassing condition, he grabbed hold of a snake and wrapped it over his stomach to disguise his bulging belly.
He waited for night to fall so that he could start on his journey home, hoping that nobody would see him. Unfortunately, the moon caught sight of him on his way and could not resist mocking an already shy Ganesha, bursting into fits of laughter.
When the moon did not stop, Ganesha got angry and cursed the moon, saying that he would be invisible from that day on.
When that happened, the moon realised his mistake and begged Ganesha to forgive him.
Since Ganesha could not revoke his curse, he proclaimed that the moon would grow thinner each day and remain invisible on one day of the month. The day, known as amavasya, is considered inauspicious in our country.
This legend of Ganesha reminds us to be kind in our actions and forgive those who ask for it.
photo credit: grapefruitmoon via photopin cc