Divine Words: Books of Ram, Lakshmi and Ganesha (3 volumes)

The box set includes the following 3 titles :

1) Book of Ganesha
Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, is easily the most recognizable and lovable of Hindu deities. But pinpointing his various attributes is not quite so simple. He is at once the portly, merry, childlike god and the sage, complex philosopher. He is the presiding deity of material wealth and the lord of spirituality. He removes all impediments for his devotees but creates all manner of difficulties for the transgressors, man or god. And associated with every aspect of Ganesha—be it his extraordinary birth, his elephant head, his broken tusk, his vehicle (the mouse), his appetite, his anger—are scores of myths, each more colourful than the other.

In this thoroughly researched and delightfully narrated book, Royina Grewal gives us the many stories of Ganesha, exploring their significance and how they reflect the times and the cultures in which they originated.

2) Book of Lakshmi
Lakshmi is the goddess of all that is good—wealth (dhana), beauty (saundarya) and happiness (sukha). As Vishnu's consort and in her incarnations as Sita and Rukmini, she represents the ideal of femininity in Hinduism. She is also Shri, the goddess of fertility and grain, and Mahalakshmi, the amalgam of the goddesses Kali, Lakshmi and Sarasvati. She is benevolent and generous, yet it takes surprisingly little to offend her. And when she leaves, her place is taken by Alakshmi, all that Lakshmi is not—poverty, pestilence and ill fortune.

How did this popular and accessible goddess come to represent these qualities? R. Mahalakshmi presents an evocative picture of the mythical and historical development of the goddess Lakshmi. Using a range of sources, from ancient texts to sculptures and everyday religious customs and prayers, this fascinating and deeply-insightful book sheds new light not only on the figure of Lakshmi, but also on the fundamental tenets of Hinduism as it is practised today.

3) Book of Ram
He is Eka-vachani, a king who always keeps his word; Eka-bani, an archer who strikes his target with the first arrow; and Eka-patni, a husband who is eternally and absolutely devoted to a single wife.

He is maryada purushottam Ram, the supreme upholder of social values, the scion of the Raghu clan, jewel of the solar dynasty, the seventh avatar of Vishnu, God who establishes order in worldly life. Hindus believe that in stressful and tumultuous times chanting Ram's name and hearing his tale, the Ramayan, brings stability, hope, peace and prosperity.

Reviled by feminists, appropriated by politicians, Ram remains serene in his majesty, the only Hindu deity to be worshipped as a king.