Mooshika - Lord Ganesha's Vehicle

The vehicle of Ganesha is a mouse. At a first glance it seems strange that the lord of wisdom has been granted a humble obsequious mouse quite incapable of lifting the bulging belly and massive head that he possesses. But it implies that wisdom is an attribute of ugly conglomeration of factors and further that the wise do not find anything in the world disproportionate or ugly. 

The mouse is, in every respect, comparable to the intellect. It is able to slip unobserved or without our knowledge into places which we would have not thought it possible to penetrate. In doing this it is hardly concerned whether it is seeking virtue or vice. The mouse thus represents our wandering, wayward mind, lured to undesirable or corrupting grounds. By showing the mouse paying subservience to Lord Ganesha it is implied that the intellect has been tamed through Ganesha's power of discrimination.

As rats generally 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. While drilling holes like a mouse he can also slip through the narrowest of spaces and thickest of the walls. Moreover, the mouse is deemed to be the master of inside everything. The all-pervading Atman (soul) 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.

Mouse is seemingly a small, negligible animal. But it is very enterprising despite its small size. It is always engaged in some kind of work. Hence it is said in Niti :

UDYAMAM SAHASAM DHAIRYAM
BUDDHIH SHAKTIH PARAKRAMAH |
SHEDTE YATRAVARTANTE TOTRADEVA SAHAYAKRIT||

Meaning : Gods too become helpful in the ventures that involve entrepreneurship, courage, patience, intelligence, capacity and powers.

Thus, though a mouse lacks in strength and intelligence, yet it keeps on trying to dig out even mountains with its small teeth. It may not know the futility of its efforts, but it does not give up efforts. It thus teaches that human being must remain in constant action with microscopic view.

Reflecting these figures, imagine that if Lord Ganesha, be considered as a creation of a skilled artist, then how skilled mother Parvati would be, who gave all the teaching with just one of her creations, These teachings should be adopted by every wise person.