Wave 1. The Lord of Lords -- VinAyaka

[Guest guest]

Beach 1. The First Prostration

 

Wave 1. The Lord of Lords -- VinAyaka

 

There is no other God or divinity in the entire Hindu pantheon who

has such a variety of interpretations and such a spectrum of legends

as those associated with Lord gaNeSa. He is one of the six major

divinities of Hinduism, namely, sUrya, Sakti, vishNu, gaNeSa,

subrahmaNya and Siva. However gaNeSa (or gaNapati or vinAyaka

or vighnezvara, which are some of the most well known names of this

divinity) is the one Divinity who is considered as the primal God of

all worship and therefore always invoked at the commencement of any

worship. Be it a secular function, a religious ritual, a marriage

ceremony, an auspicious undertaking, or any individual or collective

enterprise, He is propitiated first in order to have all obstacles

removed. For the same purpose we are also beginning this book with

our first prostrations to Him. There is no greater authority than

gaNapati, the master of all the gaNa's, namely of all the

associates and disciples of Siva. The word gaNa's also means

divine soldiers who constitute the dynamics of divine action or

management.

 

Worshippers of other divinities have to worship Him first. But to

worship Him one is not obliged to worship any other deity. He is the

Lord Special.

 

Therefore He is vinAyaka. (nAyaka means Lord and vi is the prefix

denoting viziSTa which means distinguished or special). Everything

about Him has an esoteric or philosophical meaning in addition to the

mundane legends associated with Him.

 

In worshipping gaNapati, the devotee cuffs the head with a closed

fist five times uttering his five names and prays for the removal of

all obstacles. The five names are:

 

SuklAm-bara-dhara, He who is clad in pure white

 

vishNu He who pervades everything and everywhere

 

Sasi-varNa, He who is of the cool colour of the moon

 

catur-bhuja, He who has four hands

 

prasanna-vadana, He whose face is always beaming with

 

satisfaction.

 

The corresponding Sloka that is often uttered at the beginning of

every worship or ritual is:

 

SuklAmbara-dharaM vishNuM SaSi-varNaM catur-bhujaM /

prasanna-vadanaM dhyAyet sarva-vighnopaSAntaye //

 

The deity is invoked here for meditation and reverence, through His

five names. The obvious purpose is explicitly stated: `in order

to quell every form of an obstacle (for the work to be started)'.

He Himself is the Lord of all obstacles, therefore He is

vighna-ISvara (=vighneSvara); not just the queller of obstacles as

the above invocation would motivate us to conclude – for in that

case His name would have been vighna-ghna-ISvara. So His name

signifies He is at the same time the creator of obstacles and also

the remover of them. He creates obstacles in order that people may

shed their egoism (ahaM-kAra) and think of God with humility. People

have to surrender their ego to Him with humility and he takes this

offering of our ego, converts it into a mouse and neutralises it by

sitting over it.

 

When one thinks of Him thus with humility, He removes the obstacles

to success and gives us siddhi – success or fulfillment, and

buddhi – intelligence. The goddesses siddhi and buddhi are in

fact the names of His two energy-consorts.

 

The four hands and the one trunk of this elephant-faced deity have

esoteric significance. The upper left hand (with or without the

noose) stands for Creation (or binding power). The binding power is

what binds Matter and Spirit and is therefore the source of all this

universe including all the living. The lower right hand (with or

without the broken tusk)stands for Sustenance and Protection. He thus

gives abhaya, Fearlessness. The upper right hand (with or without

the hatchet) stands for Dissolution. The lower left hand with modaka

or laddu (the standard sweet dish which is always associated with

Him) stands for Grace. It gives Liberation (from the cycle of births

and deaths). The trunk of the deity is His organ of smell and touch;

it stands for Obliteration or Deception (mAyA).

 

The deity vinAyaka is the embodiment of oM, the symbol for the

Absolute. With His right tusk broken, he represents the female

principle by his right half and the male principle by his left half.

So He represents the Transcendental Absolute which is beyond any

sexual principle. By His animal face and human limbs He signifies

that He is beyond Man and Animal. The Absolute is also the Overlord

of all the senses and their activates – as signified by the fact

that He is gaNa-pati . The word gaNa also means `category'. So

gaNa-pati is the Lord of comprehension or consciousness. Though He

holds the modaka (sweet dish) in His hand, his trunk is never shown

as putting the modaka in His mouth. He just holds them. He watches. He

is the Witness ( = sAkshi ) to everything. He does not Himself

consume or experience.

 

He is the Witness of Consciousness in each one of us. He is the

symbol of the Primordial Power of Consciousness.

 

His elephant-head is adored as the emblem of wisdom. The

elephant-headed God is sitting on a mouse, the smallest of animals

– showing His mastery over everything from the micro to the

macro. He is therefore the wisdom of comprehension of the

relationship between the micro and the macro. The whole figure of

vinAyaka with the sweet dish in His hand and with His pot-belly

infuses an utter contentment typifying wisdom. It is the spiritual

contentment of the fullness of the Absolute. The pot-belly also

signifies that the entire universe is within Him. It is this

contentment that makes Him dance sometimes.

 

There are innumerable images and artistic representations of dancing

gaNa-pati.

 

The gaNapati Upanishad, from the atharva-veda has elaborate

discourses on the glories of the divinity that is gaNapati.

One such is :

 

All this universe springs from you, merges in you and everything goes

back to you. You are Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Space. You

transcend the three guNa's – satva, rajas and tamas. You are

beyond the three bodies – physical, subtle and causal.

 

You are beyond the three states of Time – past, present and

future.

 

You are Brahma, vishNu, indra, agni, vAyu, Sun and Moon.

 

You are the three vyAhRti's and finally you are brahman itself

symbolised by oM

 

sarvam jagad-idaM tvatto jAyate, tvattas-tishTati, tvayi

layaM eshyati, tvayi pratyeti / tvam

bhUmi-rApo-nalo'nilo-nabhaH / tvaM guNa-trayA-tItaH /

tvaM deha-trayA-tItaH / tvaM kAla-trayAtItaH /

tvam Brahma tvam vishNuH tvamindras-tvam-agnis-tvam

vAyus-tvaM sUryas-tvaM candramAs-tvaM Brahma

bhUr-bhuvas-suvar-oM //

 

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/gohitvip/11.html