Ganesh Worship, Mantras, etc.

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Lord Ganesha is the elephant-headed God. He is worshipped first in any prayers.

His Names are repeated first before any auspicious work is begun, before any

kind of worship is begun. He is the Lord of power and wisdom. He is the eldest

son of Lord Shiva and the elder brother of Skanda or Kartikeya. He is the

energy of Lord Shiva and so He is called the son of Shankar and Umadevi. By

worshipping Lord Ganesha mothers hope to earn for their sons the sterling

virtues of Ganesha.

His birth and how He came to have the head of an elephant:

Once upon a time, the Goddess Gauri (consort of Lord Shiva), while bathing,

created Ganesha as a pure white being out of the mud of Her Body and placed Him

at the entrance of the house. She told Him not to allow anyone to enter while

she went inside for a bath. Lord Shiva Himself was returning home quite thirsty

and was stopped by Ganesha at the gate. Shiva became angry and cut off Ganesha’s

head as He thought Ganesha was an outsider.

When Gauri came to know of this she was sorely grieved. To console her grief,

Shiva ordered His servants to cut off and bring to Him the head of any creature

that might be sleeping with its head facing north. The servants went on their

mission and found only an elephant in that position. The sacrifice was thus

made and the elephant’s head was brought before Shiva. The Lord then joined the

elephant’s head onto the body of Ganesha.

Lord Shiva made His son worthy of worship at the beginning of all undertakings,

marriages, expeditions, studies, etc. He ordained that the annual worship of

Ganesha should take place on the 4th day of the bright half of Bhadrapada.

Without the Grace of Sri Ganesha and His help nothing whatsoever can be

achieved. No action can be undertaken without His support, Grace or blessing.

Common Names of Lord Ganesha:

Dhoomraketu, Sumukha, Ekadantha, Gajakarnaka, Lambodara, Vignaraja,

Ganadhyaksha, Phalachandra, Gajanana, Vinayaka, Vakratunda, Siddhivinayaka,

Surpakarna, Heramba, Skandapurvaja, Kapila and Vigneshwara. He is also known by

many as Maha-Ganapathi.

Ganesha Gayatri Mantra

Tat purushaaya vidmahe Vakratundaaya dheemahi Tanno dhanti prachodayaat.

Lord Ganesha is an embodiment of wisdom and bliss. He is the Lord of

Brahmacharins. He is foremost amongst the celibates. He has as his vehicle a

small mouse. He is the presiding Deity of the Muladhara Chakra, the psychic

centre in the body in which the Kundalini Shakti resides.

The significance of riding on a mouse is the complete conquest over egoism. The

holding of the ankusha represents His rulership of the world. It is the emblem

of divine Royalty.

Ganesha is the first God. Riding on a mouse, one of nature’s smallest creatures

and having the head of an elephant, the biggest of all animals, denotes that

Ganesha is the creator of all creatures. Elephants are very wise animals; this

indicates that Lord Ganesha is an embodiment of wisdom. It also denotes the

process of evolution—the mouse gradually evolves into an elephant and finally

becomes a man. This is why Ganesha has a human body, an elephant’s head and a

mouse as His vehicle. This is the symbolic philosophy of His form.

The Vaishnavas also worship Lord Ganesha. They have given Him the name of

Tumbikkai Alwar which means the divinity with the proboscis (the elephant’s

trunk). Lord Ganesha’s two powers are the Kundalini and the Vallabha or power

of love.

He is very fond of sweet pudding or balls of rice flour with a sweet core. On

one of His birthdays He was going around house to house accepting the offerings

of sweet puddings. Having eaten a good number of these, He set out moving on His

mouse at night. Suddenly the mouse stumbled—it had seen a snake and became

frightened—with the result that Ganesha fell down. His stomach burst open and

all the sweet puddings came out. But Ganesha stuffed them back into His stomach

and, catching hold of the snake, tied it around His belly.

Seeing all this, the moon in the sky had a hearty laugh. This unseemly behaviour

of the moon annoyed Him immensely and so he pulled out one of His tusks and

hurled it against the moon, and cursed that no one should look at the moon on

the Ganesh Chaturthi day. If anyone does, he will surely earn a bad name,

censure or ill-repute. However, if by mistake someone does happen to look at

the moon on this day, then the only way he can be freed from the curse is by

repeating or listening to the story of how Lord Krishna cleared His character

regarding the Syamantaka jewel. This story is quoted in the Srimad Bhagavatam.

Once Ganesha & His brother Lord Subramanya had a dispute. The matter was

referred to Lord Shiva for final decision. Shiva decided that whoever would

make a tour of the whole world and come back first to the starting point had

the right to be the elder. Subramanya flew off at once on his vehicle, the

peacock, to make a circuit of the world. But the wise Ganesha went, in loving

worshipfulness, around His divine parents and asked for the prize of His

victory.

Lord Shiva said, “Beloved and wise Ganesha! But how can I give you the prize;

you did not go around the world?”

Ganesha replied, “No, but I have gone around my parents. My parents represent

the entire manifested universe!”

Thus the dispute was settled in favour of Lord Ganesha, who was thereafter

acknowledged as the elder of the two brothers. Mother Parvati also gave Him a

fruit as a prize for this victory.

On the Ganesh Chaturthi day, meditate on the stories connected with Lord Ganesha

early in the morning, during the Brahmamuhurta period. Then, after taking a

bath, go to the temple and do the prayers of Lord Ganesha. Offer Him some

coconut and sweet pudding. Pray with faith and devotion that He may remove all

the obstacles that you experience on the spiritual path. Worship Him at home,

too. You can get the assistance of a pundit. Have an image of Lord Ganesha in

your house. Feel His Presence in it.

Take fresh spiritual resolves and pray to Lord Ganesha for inner spiritual

strength to attain success in all your undertakings.

May the blessings of Sri Ganesha be upon you all! May He remove all the

obstacles that stand in your spiritual path! May He bestow on you all material

prosperity as well as liberation!

Mushikavaahana modaka hastha, Chaamara karna vilambitha sutra, Vaamana rupa

maheshwara putra, Vighna vinaayaka paada namasthe

Visit this page for more information : http://www.SivanandaDlshq.org/

==

How to perform Ganapathy poojai?

First light the lamps.

Place the Ganesh idol or Photo frame facing the East or West. But not facing the

South. Apply sandal paste and kumkum on the forehead, palms and feet and then

garland with flowers.

Aachamaniyam :

Achyutaya Namaha Ananthaya Namaha Govindaya Namaha Keshava,

narayana, madhava ……………….padmanabha, damodara

Ring the bell as you chant the following mantra :

Aagamartha tu devanam, Gamanartha tu rakshasam Kurvey ghantaaravam

ramyam Devat ahvaan laanchanam

Guru dhyanam : With folded hand chant :

Guru brahma guru vishnu gurudevo maheshwaraha. Guru saakshaat param brahma

Tasmai shree guravey namaha.

Nidhayey sarva vidyanaam, bhishajey bhavaroginaam. Guravey sarva lokaanam,

dakshina murthayey namah.

Ganapati Dyanam :

Om shuklambaradharam vishnum Shashi varnam chaturbhujam, Prasanavadanam

dyayetha, sarva vignobha upashanthaye.

Prana Yamam:

Om boohu, Om bhuvaha, Oghum suvaha, Om mahaha, Om janaha, Oghum satyam, Om

tat sa vithurvarenyam, Bhargo devasya dhimahi, dheeyo yonah pracho dayathu.

Om aphaha, Jyothi rasa, amrutham brahma, bhurbhuvasuvaram.

Sankalpam :

Mamopatha samastha, duritha kshaya dwara, shri parameshwara

preetheyartham, karishya manasya karmanaha nirvignam parisamaptyartha aadhao

vigneshwara poojam karishyey.

Pour a spoonful of water on your palms, wipe them and say :

Apah upasprashya.

Take some flowers and rice (akshata) in your hands and chant :

Om gananaanthva ganapathing havaa mahey, Kavim kavinam, upavashravastamam.

Jyeshta rajam brahmanam, brahmanaspatha, aanushrunvan oothi bhi Seedha

saadanam. Om mahaganapathayey namaha.

Aavahanam (Invoking the God) - Place left palm on the centre of the chest and

with the right palm touch the

feet of the idol (or frame)

simultaneously and chant the mantra :

Asmin haridraa bimbey sumukham Mahaaganapathim dyayaami,

Mahaaganapathim aavaa hayaami.

Aasanam - After chanting the following mantra, offer one flower or tulsi leaf :

Aasanam samarpayami

Paadhyam and snaanam : Offer one spoon of water into a plate or bowl after

chanting each line of following mantra :-

i) Paadhyo paadhyam samarpayaami ii) Hastyo ardhyam samarpayaami iii)

Aachamaniyam samarpayami iv) Snanaan tharam aachamaniyam samarpayaami

Vastram, Upavitham and Aabharanam - After chanting each mantra, offer akshata

(rice) with flowers or

tulsi leaf:

i) vastrartha akshataan samarpayaami ii) upavitaartha akshataan

samarpayami iii) aabharanartha akshataan samarpayaami

Chandanam - Apply sandalpaste on the forehead of the idol (or photoframe) and chant

Divya Parimalla gandhaan-dharayaame

Kumkum - Apply kumkum on top of the sandal paste and chant :

Haridra kumkumam samarpayaami.

Akshata - offer some akshata (rice) and chant.

Akshataan samarpayaami

Pushpam - offer some flowers and chant :

Pushpaanni samarpayaami

Now you have invoked Lord Ganesh for the Pooja, and you are ready for the

Pushpaanjali and naamavali (praising the Lord by his different names) After

each of the following mantra offer a flower :

Om sumukhaya namaha Om ekadantaaya namaha Om kapilaaya namaha Om gajakarnakaaya

namaha Om lambodaraaya namaha Om vikataaya namaha Om vignaraajaya namaha Om

vinayakaaya namaha Om dhuma ketavey namaha Om ganadyakshaaya namaha Om

faalachandraya namaha Om gajananaaya namaha Om vakratundaaya namaha Om shoorpa

karnaaya namaha Om Heyrambaaya namaha Om skandapoorvajaaya namaha Om moola

prakrutayey namaha Om kshetra paalaya namaha Om gurubhyo namaha Om siddhi

vinayaka swaminey namaha Nana vidha parimala - patra - pushpani samarpayaami

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