Ganapati Atharva Seersha Upanishad

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Ganapati Atharva Seersha Upanishad

 

(Translated by Swami Brahmananda)

Courtsey : "Ganeshanjali" Temple News Letter, The Hindu Temple

Society of North America, New York.

 

Om Sri Maha Vallabha Ganapataye Namah

 

Adi Sankara interprets that the principal meaning of the term

upanishad is the destruction or removal of the seed of wordliness

(ignorance) from the mind of a student by "sitting close to" the

teacher and receiving direct knowledge from the teacher. Although

such a definition may seem to preclude a scriptural work or book from

being viewed as an upanishad, since the knowledge derived from such a

work or book serves (indirectly) the same purpose, it could also be

considered as an upanishad. Therefore, the term upanishad primarily

refers to pure Knowledge and only secondarily to a scriptural work or

book.

 

This short upanishad, which forms part of the Atharva Veda, is an

incomparable jewel of a mantra and contains the gist of the Maha

Vakyas found in the four vedas. Therefore, this upanishad is said to

be the essence of all the four vedas.

 

There are three sections to this upanishad - a preamble, the main

upanishad and phala sruti which enumerates the benefits that will

accrue to one who chants or listens to this upanishad with devotion.

 

The preamble is a joint prayer by the teacher and the student and

reads:

"Om. Oh gods, May we hear with our ears what is auspicious. May we

see with our eyes what is sacred. May we sing the glory of the gods

so we may enjoy with strong limbs and body, the life span allotted to

us by the gods. May Indra, Surya, Garuda and Bruhaspati confer

prosperity on us and remove enmity from us. Om Peace, Peace, Peace".

 

The main upanishad, which reads as below, extols the glory of

Lord Ganesa, contains Sri Ganesa Gayatri and describes how the

greatest of all yogis would meditate on Him:

"Prostrations to You, the leader of the ganas; Thou art the

embodiment of the Maha Vakya 'Thou art That'; Thou art the one and

only Creator, Supporter and Dissolver of this Universe; Thou art the

Brahman permeating everything manifest; Thou art none other than the

eternal Brahman. I am uttering only Rtham (Absolute Truth) and

Sathyam (that which remains the same in all the three periods of time-

past, present and future).

 

From the quarters all around, above and below, always protect me,

who glorifies Thy transcendental form; listens to Thy great virtues;

adores and worships Thee; and has dedicated my life for the study of

Thy great deeds.

 

Thou art the embodiment of all eloquence and wisdom, Conscious

Principle, Bliss and the Supreme Brahman. Thou art Sat Chit Ananda

(Truth, Conscious Principle and Bliss) and One without a second. Thou

art the manifestation of the Supreme Brahman. Thou art pure Knowledge

and Wisdom (for discriminating the Truth from the untruth).

 

This whole Universe has emanated from Thee; is sustained by Thee

and by Thy power, shall dissolve in Thee only. Thou art the five

elements Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. Thou art the source of

the four kinds of sound (words) and eloquence. Thou art beyond the

three gunas (sattva, rajas and tamas); the three periods of time

(past, present and future); the three kinds of bodies (sthula,

sukshma and karana - gross, subtle and causal). Thou always reside in

the Muladhara Chakra. The three kinds of Saktis (Iccha, Jnana and

Kriya) are none other than You. The yogis always meditate on You.

Thou art Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Indra, Agni, Vayu, Sun and the Moon,

the Supreme Brahman and the three worlds - Bhu, Bhuva and Suva.

 

Thy transcendental form glows like a beautiful crescent moon and

sparkles like stars. Your beejaakshara (GAM) is a combination of Ga-

kara (ga-sound), A-kara (aa-sound), Ma-kara (ma-sound) followed by by

anuswara and is the essence of all sound. I meditate on nada, the

Cosmic Sound. I meditate on the Holy Scriptures. For this Ganesa

Vidya, the sage is Ganaka, the meter is Gayatri and the presiding

deity is Ganapati. Our prostrations to Gam Ganapati.

 

May we realize Lord Ganesa. Let us meditate on His curved trunk,

which resembles the pranava akshara OM. May that one-tusked God

enlighten and inspire us. That yogi who always meditates on Your

attributes as below, is the greatest of all yogis:

'Your form with a single tusk and four hands - two of them holding

pasa (noose) & ankusa (goad) respectively and the other two in abhaya

(protective) and varada (benedictive) mudras; Your banner, displaying

Your mushaka vahana; Your Cosmic-belly containing all the worlds;

Your ears resembling winnowing baskets; Your crimson-red hue and

crimson-red garment; Your body smeared with crimson-red sandal paste

and covered with crimson-red flowers; Your infinite compassion toward

Your devotees; and Thou as the immutable Cause of this Universe; Your

manifestation at the beginning of Creation, although Thou art beyond

prakriti and purusha'.

 

Our prostrations to Vratapati (Leader of the assemblage of gods),

Ganapati (Leader of the Ganas), Pramathapati (Leader of Pramathas,

the attendants of Lord Siva), the Lord with a Cosmic-belly and one

tusk, Who is the son of Lord Siva; Who destroys all obstacles and Who

grants all our wishes.

 

The concluding section, phala sruti, reads as below :

One who chants this Atharva Seersha Upanishad, becomes fit to get

merged with the Supreme Brahman. He is unaffected by all obstacles.

He enjoys happiness all around. He is released from any and all of

the five great sins he may have committed. One who chants this in the

evening is absolved from the sins committed by him during the day and

vice versa. One who chants both in the morning and evening becomes

sinless. One who constantly chants this upanishad, not only never

faces any obstacles; but attains the four types of purushartas -

dharma, artha, kama, and moksha.

 

This Atharva Seersha Upanishad is not to be imparted to any one,

unless he seeks it from a guru. Out of delusion, if any one imparts

this upanishad to an unqualified recipient, he (the donor) incurs sin.

One who chants this upanishad 1,000 times, attains all his desires.

One who does abhisheka to Lord Ganesa chanting this upanishad,

attains eloquence. One who chants on Chaturthi while fasting, obtains

Divine Knowledge. This is an assurance given by the sage Atharvana

for the benefit of mankind. The veil of maya or ignorance covering

Brahman will be removed for him and he will never again experience

fear of anything.

 

One who worships Lord Ganesa with durva grass while chanting this

upanishad, becomes comparable to Vaisravana or Kubera, the king of

Yakshas; one who worships with puffed rice attains great fame and

develops sharp intellect; one who worships with 1000 modaka gets all

his wishes fulfilled; and one who worships with ghee and samit

(twigs), attains everything.

 

By teaching this mantra to eight deserving disciples, one gains

radiance like the Sun. One who chants this upanishad on solar eclipse

day either on the banks of a great river or in the presence of Lord

Ganesa's idol, attains full realization of this mantra. He is

released from all obstacles. He becomes free of all defects. He

becomes devoid of all dangers. He becomes Knower of everything. Know

these to be the words of the Upanishad.

 

Om Peace, Peace, Peace