Massive & Good site

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Having a bit of trouble signing in with my normal addy so here I am, with

my other one. Would like to share with you one of my favourite sites which has

got just about everything that is interesting, informative and makes good

reading! There are many articles there but I haven't been able to copy those

links here due to some techinicalities. The url is below.

Om Shanti,

Sy

http://www.hinduism.co.za/newpage24.htm

Some excerpts:

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GANAPATI AND `MAKKHAN-CHOR' GOPALNANDA

 

In Sanskrit language, there are more than one meaning attached to a word. For

example, the word GO means cow as well as sense organs. Gopal means cowherd.

Gopal also means a yogi whose sense organs are completely under his control.

This dual meaning enables poets to bring out their best on the physical plane

as well as on the spiritual plane.We have Krishna the cowherd boy in Vraj and

Vrindavan, and we have Gopalnanda Krishna, the yogeshwar, milking the

Upanishads, and the milk is the great nectar of the Bhagavad Gita.(Gita

Dhyanam, verse 4, usually found at the beginning of Bhagavad Gita books). The

maakhan (cream) or the gist or essence of the Upanishads is presented in the

Bhagavad Gita. This is what the `makkhan chor' took from the Upanishads and

distributed for the benefit of mankind.

Similarly, a common Sanskrit word to denote elephant is GAJA. Here Gajanan means

elephant faced - a name for Ganapati. But the word Gaja has a much deeper

connotation. GA indicates gati, the final goal towards which the entire

creation is moving, whether knowingly or unknowingly. JA stands for janma,

birth or origin. Hence GAJA signifies GOD from whom worlds have come out and

towards whom they are progressing, to be ultimately dissolved in Him. The

elephant head is thus purely symbolical.

We observe creation in its two fold manifestation as the microcosm (sukshmanda)

and the macrocosm (brahmanda). Each is a replica of the other. They are one in

two and two in one. The elephant head stands for the macrocosm (representing

vastness or bigness), and the human body for the microcosm. The two form one

unit. Since the macrocosm is the goal of the microcosm, the elephant part has

been given greater prominence by making it a head.

The Chandogya Upanishad has pronounced a philisophical truth as TAT-TVAM-ASI,

THAT- THOU -ART. It simply means "You, the apparently limited individual, are

in essence, the cosmic Truth, the Absolute". The elephant-human form of

Ganapati is the iconographical representation of this great Vedantic dictum.

the elephant stands for the cosmic whereas the human stands for the individual.

The single image reflects their identity.

Vedanta is the synthesis of the `within' and the `without'; the macrocosm and

the microcosm. The study of this `within' of nature through an inquiry into the

`within' of man, who is the unique product of nature`s evolution, is religion

according to Indian thought. The synthesis of the knowledge of the `without' ,

which the physical sciences give, and the `within' which religion gives, is

what India achieved in her Vedanta. This she calls BRAHMA - VIDYA or

philosophy; God or Brahman(`BRAHMAN' is the Upanishdic term for the Supreme

Reality, God) standing for the totality of reality, physical and non-physical.

Brahma - vidya is Sarva - vidya- pratishtha (philosophy is the basis and

support of all knowledge) says the Mundaka Upanishad (i.i.i.).

The Ganapati Upanishad identifies Lord Ganesh with the Supreme Self. Lord Ganesh

represents the Pranava (AUM) which is the symbol of the Supreme Self. Taitiriya

Upanishad (1.8.1.) states: "AUM ITI BRAHMAN -AUM is Brahman (GOD). AUM is all

this . Nothing can be done without uttering it. This explains the practice of

invokong Lord Ganesh before beginning any rite or undertaking any project.

Lord Ganesh removes all obstacles on the path of the spiritual aspirant, and

bestows upon him worldly as well as spiritual success. So he is called VIGNA

VINAYAKA or VIGHNESHWAR.

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