Ganesha's Trunk

[Guest guest]

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. But why is

the trunk curved to right so special and so strict ? The iDa naaDii is on the

left side, while the pingalaa naaDii is on the right. The left-turning trunk

has easy rules and one can do puja however one wants with respect since the ida

naadii is the moon. but the right turning nadi is the sun and will burn one if

rules are violated. When the trunk is facing straight forward, then it

signifies the sushumna is entirely open. Idols such as these are very rare and

special. Even more special is the trunk where the trunk is swung up right in

the air. It means the kundalini shakti has reached the sahasra permanently. The

single tusk is because the tusk was broken when Ganesha killed Gana, the demon.

Another incident is related to the breaking of the tusk to write the

Mahabharata. The following are other incidents. The name ekadanta is from the

incarnation to subdue mada-asura (pride). The asura after surrendering to

ekadanta describes that eka is the embodiment (maayaa) and danta stands for

truth (satya). Thus, ekadanta stands for the supreme truth that weilds maya.

Who weilds the maya ? Mahamaya. Who is Mahamaya ? Ekadanta. Ganesha ate all the

modhakas and became very fat. When he could not move, the moon laughed at Him.

Ganesha broke his tusk and threw it at the moon. Thus he became ekadanta.

Later, the moon apologized. The inner meaning is that the light was covered by

the maya. How does eka stand for maya ? Mudgala purana says so. the

interpretation is that eka means one. Everything is one. But maya is the bija

of the brahman. Only the maya makes it seem it is many. Mudgala purana says

that the tusk stands for both creation and the one who supports creation. the

creator and the created are not different. Why is Ganesha red-eyed ? I don't

know. Maybe he is crying at my ignorance and became red-eyed. :-) Generally, it

is referred to the slaying of the slaying of the demon sindura. Gajavaktra means

elephant faced. Perhaps the most popular story regarding Ganesha's origin is the

one derived from the Shiva Purana. Mother Parvati once wanted to take a bath and

created a boy from the dirt of Her own body, asking him to stand as a guard

outside while She bathed. In the meantime Lord Shiva returned home to find a

stranger at His door, preventing Him from entering. In anger, Shiva cut off the

boy's head, upon which Parvati was stricken with great grief. In order to

console Her, Shiva sent out His troops (gaNa) to fetch the head of anyone found

sleeping with his head pointing to the north. They found an elephant sleeping

thus and brought back its head. Shiva then attached the elephantine head to the

body of the boy and revived him. He named the boy Ganapati or commander of His

troops, and granted Him a boon that anyone would have to worship Him (Ganesha)

before beginning any undertaking. Of course, there are several esoteric

meanings to having an elephant head. An elephant is strong, but always calm. It

is the one of the few animals which is self-aware and even has rituals for

funerals. Despite its strength, it is vegetarian. Hinduism allows for animals

to be worshipped, because essentially everything is Divine. We should see

Divinity in every living being. gajavaktra has an inner meaning also. gao is

sound and ja is to be born. Thus, gajavaktra is one who is born from sound.

Another derivation is ga is goal and ja is origin. Thus, Ganesha is the origin

and goal of life.

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[Guest guest]

I have one of these right curving rupas. It was listed on Ebay and

last summer absolutely SHOUTED at me to bid on it. It's very old,

the seller says he found it in a Nepalese shop...a very old wooden

piece...the kick is: I had it around for 2 months before I realized

it was right pointing! It has a very special niche in a Tibetan

cabinet that serves me as a shrine stand/box...and one has to make a

special effort to see it, even though I've put a spotlight on it.

 

I'd like to say it did this or did that but there are somewhere over

a dozen Ganesh rupas in this apartment (to say nothing of all that's

stored on my hard drive) so it's impossible to say who's

transponding what...but this l'il right curver...well, there's

something special about 'm. And I'm leavin it to him to out himself

in his own time.

 

BTW, that Ganesh is an Indian god who only blesses Indian soccer

players? Twaddle. Ganesh is older than India.

 

 

 

 

 

 

, SY Zenith <syzenith> wrote:

>

> Excerpted from: http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/1415/gan.html

>

> 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.

> But why is the trunk curved to right so special and so strict ?

The iDa naaDii is on the left side, while the pingalaa naaDii is on

the right. The left-turning trunk has easy rules and one can do puja

however one wants with respect since the ida naadii is the moon. but

the right turning nadi is the sun and will burn one if rules are

violated. When the trunk is facing straight forward, then it

signifies the sushumna is entirely open. Idols such as these are

very rare and special. Even more special is the trunk where the

trunk is swung up right in the air. It means the kundalini shakti

has reached the sahasra permanently.

> The single tusk is because the tusk was broken when Ganesha killed

Gana, the demon. Another incident is related to the breaking of the

tusk to write the Mahabharata. The following are other incidents.

> The name ekadanta is from the incarnation to subdue mada-asura

(pride). The asura after surrendering to ekadanta describes that eka

is the embodiment (maayaa) and danta stands for truth (satya). Thus,

ekadanta stands for the supreme truth that weilds maya. Who weilds

the maya ? Mahamaya. Who is Mahamaya ? Ekadanta.

> Ganesha ate all the modhakas and became very fat. When he could

not move, the moon laughed at Him. Ganesha broke his tusk and threw

it at the moon. Thus he became ekadanta. Later, the moon apologized.

The inner meaning is that the light was covered by the maya. How

does eka stand for maya ? Mudgala purana says so. the interpretation

is that eka means one. Everything is one. But maya is the bija of

the brahman. Only the maya makes it seem it is many. Mudgala purana

says that the tusk stands for both creation and the one who supports

creation. the creator and the created are not different.

> Why is Ganesha red-eyed ? I don't know. Maybe he is crying at my

ignorance and became red-eyed. :-) Generally, it is referred to the

slaying of the slaying of the demon sindura.

> Gajavaktra means elephant faced. Perhaps the most popular story

regarding Ganesha's origin is the one derived from the Shiva Purana.

Mother Parvati once wanted to take a bath and created a boy from the

dirt of Her own body, asking him to stand as a guard outside while

She bathed. In the meantime Lord Shiva returned home to find a

stranger at His door, preventing Him from entering. In anger, Shiva

cut off the boy's head, upon which Parvati was stricken with great

grief. In order to console Her, Shiva sent out His troops (gaNa) to

fetch the head of anyone found sleeping with his head pointing to

the north. They found an elephant sleeping thus and brought back its

head. Shiva then attached the elephantine head to the body of the

boy and revived him. He named the boy Ganapati or commander of His

troops, and granted Him a boon that anyone would have to worship Him

(Ganesha) before beginning any undertaking.

> Of course, there are several esoteric meanings to having an

elephant head. An elephant is strong, but always calm. It is the one

of the few animals which is self-aware and even has rituals for

funerals. Despite its strength, it is vegetarian. Hinduism allows

for animals to be worshipped, because essentially everything is

Divine. We should see Divinity in every living being. gajavaktra has

an inner meaning also. gao is sound and ja is to be born. Thus,

gajavaktra is one who is born from sound. Another derivation is ga

is goal and ja is origin. Thus, Ganesha is the origin and goal of

life.

>

> *********** Check out the rest at:

http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/1415/gan.html

>

>

>

>

>

> U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive medley & videos from Greatest Hits CD