Lord Ganesha

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Lord Ganesha

Ganesha or Ganapati is an extremely popular God in India. He is called

Vighneshvara or Vighnaharta, the Lord of and destroyer of obstacles. People

mostly worship Him asking for siddhi, success in undertakings, and buddhi,

intelligence. He is worshipped before any venture is started. He is also the

God of education, knowledge and wisdom, literature, and the fine arts. In

reality, He is Brahman. Ganesha is also one of the five Gods the worship of

whom was popularized by Adi Shankaracharya; the other four being Vishnu, Shiva,

Shakti and Surya. The worship of these five deities is called the panchaayatana

puja. In some cases, Skanda is also worshipped. It is said that Ganesha was

born when the eternal couple contemplated on AUM. If you view Lord Ganesha

sideways, then you will see the symbol AUM in sanskrit. That's why Ganesha is

called AUMkara and worshipped first. AUM is praNava. What is meant by praNava.

pra is short for prakriti and navam means excellent boat. That is, AUM is the

way to cross the ocean of worldly existence.

Ganesha Legends and names

The following stotra is from the narada purana, and is recited to remove all

troubles and get liberation. praNamya shirasaa devaM gaurii putraM

vinaayakaM |

salutation head god gaurii son vinaayakaM

 

bhaktaa vaasaM smaren.h nityaM aayuH kaama artha siddhaye ||1 ||

devotee stays remember always longlife desired wealth powers

 

One should bow the head and offer obeisance before the

son of Gauri, Vinayaka, whose abode is the devotees, and

remember Him always for the purpose of obtaining longevity,

desired powers and prosperity.

Vinakaya is like all of us, never born and eternal. But it is our nature to

associate a naama-ruupa to everyone including Gods. The divine, pleased with

this, bestows forms on themselves (Shankara). All devotees start with the

purpose of obtaining desired powers or with a wish to live long. Eventually,

all of the true devotees see the futility of such a venture. Why live long ? As

long as one earns money and is fit, everyone fawns on him but when one gets old,

everyone forgets him. When life leaves the body, even the spouse who enjoyed the

body runs away from it fearing that death will touch that person too (Shankara).

Why live long in a body when one can realize that the person is immortal by

letting go of the notion there is a body-mind. As long as the body lives, the

mind should be fixed on Divinity. The life lived catering to the senses should

not counted as living. prathamaM vakratuNDaM cha eka dantaM dvitIyakaM |

first curved trunk and one tusked secondly

 

tR^itIyaM kR^ishhNa pi.ngAkshhaM gaja vaktraM chaturthakaM || 2 ||

thirdly black red-eyed elephant faced fourth

 

(Now the twelve names of Ganesha are mentioned. One must

utter) first the name Vakratunda, One with a curved trunk,

second ekadanta, the single-tusked One, third Krishnapingaksha,

the black and red-eyed One, fourth gajavaktra, the God with the

face of an elephant.

 

The trunk should be curved to the left for normal idols. If it is curved to the

right, it is called siddhi vinakya and needs special worship. One should be

very careful in worshipping such idols. The trunk of Ganesha reaches the sweet,

modaka. Ganesha is known as modaka priiya. When Ganesha was "born", the Gods

were very happy and presented Parvati Devi with modaka. They said anyone who

smells it realizes he/she is immortal. He who eats it will become great in both

spiritual and worldly knowledge. This is said in the padma purana. Trunk is also

an unique instrument. It can pick up a needle and also a huge tree. No man made

instrument can do both. Similarly, Ganesha will give you wealth, health etc. or

liberation (we will see that in the later verses). He will give you what you

sincerely ask unless there is a reason (see under large ears). If you ask Him,

he will grace you with the touch of his trunk, and smash all the obstacles with

the same trunk. The trunk hangs between the two tusks signifying discrimination

between the worldly and spirituality. Ganesha, beyong all dualities, is

attached to neither.

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