Guest guest Posted July 6, 2003 Report Share Posted July 6, 2003 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. ** Note: If interested, please read the rest at: http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/1415/gan.html SBC DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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