Ganesha : the Elephant Headed God, Art and Mythology

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Hi,

 

I have put together a short piece on Lord Ganesha, hope it is enjoyed.

 

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Ganesha : the Elephant Headed God, Art and Mythology

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The beloved elephant-faced-Deity popularly known as Ganesha has

intrigued thinking men all over the world, all through the ages

even unto the present day. The sacred texts give a variety of

stories narrating the sequence of Ganesha's birth. The most

popular being the one mentioning that Ganesha was created by

Goddess Parvati as a guardian to her privacy:

 

Incensed by the refusal of her husband to respect her privacy, to

the extent of entering her private chambers even while she was

having her bath, Parvati decided to settle matters once and for

all. Before going for her bath the next time, she rubbed off the

sandalwood paste on her body and out of it created the figure of

a young boy. She infused life into the figure and told him he was

her son and should guard the entrance while she bathed.

 

Soon after, Shiva (Lord of destruction and husband of Parvati,)

came to see Parvati but the young boy blocked his way and would

not let him in. Shiva, unaware that this lad was his son, became

furious and in great anger fought with this boy whose head got

severed from his body in the ensuing battle. Parvati, returning

from her bath, saw her headless son and threatened in her rage to

destroy the heavens and the earth, so great was her sorrow.

 

Shiva pacified her and instructed his followers (known as ganas)

to bring the head of the first living being they encounter. The

first creature they encountered was an elephant. They thus cut

off its head and placed it on the body of Parvati's son and

breathed life into him. Thus overjoyed, Parvati embraced her son.

 

Illustration :

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/hindu/hp51.jpg (size : 36 kb)

 

The son of Parvati was given the name Ganesha by Shiva. The word

Ganesha is made up of gana (followers of Shiva) and isha (lord),

thus Shiva appointed him the lord of his ganas.

 

Ganesha is usually depicted either as a pictograph or as an idol

with the body of a man and the head of an elephant, having only

one tusk, the other tusk appearing broken. His unique feature,

besides the elephant head, is the large belly practically falling

over his lower garment. On his chest, across his left shoulder,

is his sacred thread, often in the form of a snake. The vehicle

of Ganesha is the mouse, often seen paying obeisance to his lord.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/madhuban/pc10.jpg

(size : 95 kb)

 

According to the strict rules of Hindu iconography, Ganesha

figures with only two hands are taboo. Hence, Ganesha figures are

most commonly seen with four hands which signify their divinity.

Some figures may be seen with six, some with eight, some with

ten, some with twelve and some with fourteen hands, each hand

carrying a symbol which differs from the symbols in other hands,

there being about fifty seven symbols in all, according to the

findings of research scholars.

 

Illustration :

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zg16.jpg (size : 39 kb)

 

The physical attributes of Ganesha are themselves rich in

symbolism. He is normally shown with one hand in the abhaya pose

of protection and refuge and the second holding a sweet (modaka)

symbolic of the sweetness of the realized inner self. In the two

hands behind him he often holds an ankusha (elephant goad) and a

pasha (noose). The noose is to convey that worldly attachments

and desires are a noose. The goad is to prod man to the path of

righteousness and truth. With this goad Ganesha can both strike

and repel obstacles.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/batik/ba15.jpg (size

: 65 kb)

 

His pot belly signifies the bounty of nature and also that

Ganesha swallows the sorrows of the Universe and protects the

world.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/marble/mh03.jpg

(size : 101 kb)

 

The image of Ganesha is a composite one. Four animals viz., man,

elephant, the serpent and the mouse have contributed for the

makeup of his figure. All of them individually and collectively

have deep symbolic significance. The image of Ganesha thus

represents man's eternal striving towards integration with

nature. He has to be interpreted taking into consideration the

fact that though millenniums rolled by, man yet remains closer to

animal today than he was ever before.

 

The most striking feature of Ganesha is his elephant head,

symbolic of auspiciousness, strength and intellectual prowess.

All the qualities of the elephant are contained in the form of

Ganpati. The elephant is the largest and strongest of animals of

the forest. Yet he is gentle and, amazingly, a vegetarian, so

that he does not kill to eat. He is very affectionate and loyal

to his keeper and is greatly swayed if love and kindness are

extended to him. Ganesha, though a powerful deity, is similarly

loving and forgiving and moved by the affection of his devotees.

But at the same time the elephant can destroy a whole forest and

is a one-man army when provoked. Ganesha is similarly most

powerful and can be ruthless when containing evil.

 

Again, Ganesha's large head is symbolic of the wisdom of the

elephant. His large ears, like the winnow, sift the bad from the

good. Although they hear everything, they retain only that which

is good; they are attentive to all requests made by the devotees,

be they humble or powerful.

 

Illustration :

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/madhuban/db26.jpg (size : 122 kb)

 

Ganesha's trunk is a symbol of his discrimination (viveka), a

most important quality necessary for spiritual progress. The

elephant uses its trunk to push down a massive tree, carry huge

logs to the river and for other heavy tasks. The same huge trunk

is used to pick up a few blades of grass, to break a small

coconut, remove the hard nut and eat the soft kernel inside. The

biggest and minutest of tasks are within the range of this trunk

which is symbolic of Ganesha's intellect and hiss powers of

discrimination.

 

Illustration :

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zf68.jpg (size : 31 kb)

 

An intriguing aspect of Ganesha's iconography is his broken tusk,

leading to the appellation Ekdanta, Ek meaning one and danta

meaning teeth. It carries an interesting legend behind it:

 

When Parashurama one of Shiva's favorite disciples, came to visit

him, he found Ganesha guarding Shiva's inner apartments. His

father being asleep, Ganesha opposed Parshurama's entry.

Parashurama nevertheless tried to urge his way, and the parties

came to blows. Ganesha had at first the advantage, seizing

Parashurama in his trunk, and giving him a twirl that left him

sick and senseless; on recovering, Rama threw his axe at Ganesha,

who recognizing it as his father's weapon (Shiva having given it

to Parashurama) received it with all humility upon one of his

tusks, which it immediately severed, and hence Ganesha has but

one tusk.

 

A different legend narrates that Ganesha was asked to scribe down

the epic of Mahabharata, dictated to him by its author, sage

Vyasa. Taking into note the enormity and significance of the

task, Ganesha realized the inadequacy of any ordinary 'pen' to

undertake the task. He thus broke one of his own tusks and made a

pen out of it. The lesson offered here is that no sacrifice is

big enough in the pursuit of knowledge.

 

Illustration :

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/batik/bg27.jpg (size : 37 kb)

 

An ancient Sanskrit drama titled "Shishupalvadha", presents a

different version. Here it is mentioned that Ganesha was deprived

of his tusk by the arrogant Ravana (the villain of

Ramayana), who removed it forcefully in order to make ivory

earrings for the beauties of Lanka!.

 

The little mouse whom Ganesha is supposed to ride upon is another

enigmatic feature in his iconography. 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.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/marble/mh09.jpg

(size : 95 kb)

 

Any attempt to penetrate the depths of the Ganesha phenomenon

must note that he is born from Goddess Parvati alone without the

intervention of her husband Shiva, and as such he shares a very

unique and special relationship with his mother. The sensitive

nature of his relationship with Parvati is made amply clear in

the following tale:

 

As a child, Ganesha teased a cat by pulling its tail, rolling it

over on the ground and causing it great pain, as naughty young

boys are wont to do. After some time, tired of his game, he went

to his mother Parvati. He found her in great pain and covered

with scratches and dust all over. When he questioned her, she put

the blame on him. She explained that she was the cat whom Ganesha

had teased.

 

His total devotion towards his mother is the reason why in the

South Indian tradition Ganesha is represented as single and

celibate. It is said that he felt that his mother, Parvati, was

the most beautiful and perfect woman in the universe. Bring me a

woman as beautiful as she is and I shall marry her, he said. None

could find an equal to the beautiful Uma (Parvati), and so the

legend goes, the search is still on..

 

In variance with the South Indian tradition, in North India

Ganesha is often shown married to the two daughters of Brahma

(the Lord of Creation), namely Buddhi and Siddhi. Metaphorically

Buddhi signifies wisdom and Siddhi achievement. In the sense of

yoga, Buddhi and Siddhi represent the female and male currents in

the human body. In visual arts this aspect of Ganesha is

represented with grace and charm.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/hindu/hp45.jpg (size

: 80 kb)

 

In a different, slightly erotic version from Tantric thought,

Ganesha is depicted in a form known as "Shakti Ganpati". Here he

is depicted with four arms, two of them holding symbolic

implements. With the other two arms he fondles his consort, who

is comfortably balanced on his left thigh. The third eye in this

representation, is of course the eye of wisdom, which sees above

and beyond mere physical reality.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/hindu/hp28.jpg (size

: 84 kb)

 

No analysis of Lord Ganesha can be concluded without a mention of

the mystical syllable AUM. The sacred AUM is the most powerful

Universal symbol of the divine presence in Hindu thought. It is

further said to be the sound which was generated when the world

first came into being. The written manifestation of this divine

symbol when inverted gives the perfect profile of the god with

the elephant head.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/om.jpg (size : 15

kb)

 

Ganesha is thus the ONLY god to be associated in a "physical"

sense with the primordial sacred sound AUM, a telling reminder of

his supreme position in the Hindu pantheon.

 

(Thus ends the newsletter for the month of October)

 

Nitin G.

http://www.exoticindiaart.com