VINAYAKA CHATHURTHI GREETINGS AND PRAYERS TO ALL

[Guest guest]

OM VIGNESWARAYA NAMAHA

Ganesh Chaturthi

SALUTATIONS to Lord Ganesha who is Brahman Himself, who is the Supreme Lord, who is the energy of Lord Shiva, who is the source of all bliss, and who is the bestower of all virtuous qualities and success in all undertakings.

 

Mushikavaahana modaka hastha,Chaamara karna vilambitha sutra, Vaamana rupa maheshwara putra,Vighna vinaayaka paada namasthe

 

MEANING: "O Lord Vinayaka! the remover of all obstacles, the son of Lord Shiva, with a form which is very short, with mouse as Thy vehicle, with sweet pudding in hand, with wide ears and long hanging trunk, I prostrate at Thy lotus-like Feet!"

Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most popular of Hindu festivals. This is the birthday of Lord Ganesha. It is the day most sacred to Lord Ganesha. It falls on the 4th day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada (August-September) . It is observed throughout India, as well as by devoted Hindus in all parts of the world.

 

Clay figures of the Deity are made and after being worshipped for two days, or in some cases ten days, they are thrown into water.

 

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.

 

The following story is narrated about 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.

 

In his first lesson in the alphabet a Maharashtrian child is initiated into the Mantra of Lord Ganesha, Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah. Only then is the alphabet taught.

 

The following are some of the 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.

 

His Mantra is Om Gung Ganapathaye Namah. Spiritual aspirants who worship Ganesha as their tutelary Deity repeat this Mantra or Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah.

 

The devotees of Ganesha also do Japa of the Ganesha Gayatri Mantra. This is as follows.

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.

 

He is the Lord who removes all obstacles on the path of the spiritual aspirant, and bestows upon him worldly as well as spiritual success. Hence He is called Vigna Vinayaka. His Bija Akshara (root syllable) is Gung, pronounced to rhyme with the English word "sung". He is the Lord of harmony and peace.

 

Lord Ganesha represents Om or the Pranava, which is the chief Mantra among the Hindus. Nothing can be done without uttering it. This explains the practice of invoking Ganesha before beginning any rite or undertaking any project. His two feet represent the power of knowledge and the power of action. The elephant head is significant in that it is the only figure in nature that has the form of the symbol for Om.

 

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.

 

He is the Lord of Ganas or groups, for instance groups of elements, groups of senses, etc. He is the head of the followers of Shiva or the celestial servants of Lord Shiva.

 

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. Lord Ganesha was pleased to ordain thus. Glory to Lord Ganesha! How kind and merciful He is unto His devotees!

 

Ganesha and His brother Lord Subramanya once had a dispute as to who was the elder of the two. 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.

 

In the Ganapathi Upanishad, Ganesha is identified with the Supreme Self. The legends that are connected with Lord Ganesha are recorded in the Ganesha Khanda of the Brahma Vivartha Purana.

 

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.

 

Don't forget not to look at the moon on that day; remember that it behaved unbecomingly towards the Lord. This really means avoid the company of all those who have no faith in God, and who deride God, your Guru and religion, from this very day.

 

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!

 

1. Incarnations

1.1 Mahotkat Vinayak

He was born to Sage Kashyap and Aditi in the Krut era (yug). In this incarnation, He reinstated Righteousness (Dharma) by slaying the two demons, Devantak and Narantak and then ended this incarnation.

1.2 Gunesh

In the Tretayug, Ganapati was born to Uma on the fourth day (chaturthi) of the bright fortnight of the Hindu lunar month of Bhadrapad as Gunesh. In this incarnation, He slew the demon Sindhu and married Siddhi and Buddhi, the daughters of Lord Brahma.

1.3 Ganesh

In the Dvaparyug, once again He was born to Parvati as Ganesh. Since He was ugly by birth, Parvati deserted Him in the forest and He was brought up by Sage Parashar. Ganesh then slew the demon Sindurasur and set free several kings and valorous men whom he had imprisoned. It is in this incarnation that Ganesh preached the eternal philosophy in the form of Ganeshgita to His devotee named Varenya.

1.4 Dhumraketu

 

 

 

 

 

Dhumravarna Ganesh Idol (Sanatan Sanstha)

 

According to the Bhavishya Puran, the fourth incarnation of Ganesh by name Dhumraketu or Dhumravarna will take birth in the Kaliyug and de­stroy the evildoers.

2 Ganapati and others

2.1 Shiva and Ganapati

 

Though currently it is believed that Ganapati belongs to the family of Lord Shiva and is His son, yet ac­cording to one school of thought, Shiva and Ganesh were formerly one and the same, that is Shiva was Ganesh and Ganesh was Shiva. In Shriganapati Atharvashirsha,Ganesh is referred to as, meaning "You are Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra as well".

The similarities and prowess of Ganesh and Shiva are so outstanding that they can be easily perceived. The three special characteristics of Shiva, that is adorning the moon on the head, the third eye and embellishment with serpents are also seen in the idol of Ganesh. Ganesh is also named Bhalachandra, the one who adorns the moon on the head. He is also referred to as 'Trinetra (one with three eyes)' in the 'Gajavadanamchintyam', the holy verse of meditation on Ganesh. Ganesh too has a girdle of a serpent

around His waist. A legend says that Lord Shankar wore ornaments of the Sun and adorned the moon on His head in order to cool down the intolerable heat gener­ated after consuming poison. One comes across a similar story about Ganesh, in the Ganesh Puran. When the demon Analasur was destroying the world assuming the form of fire, Ganesh swallowed him. The deities then used cooling measures such as serpents, the moon, etc. to cool down the heat generated in Him.

2.2 Hanuman and Ganapati

Both of them have a red complexion and the eight great supernatural powers (ashtamahasiddhi). In the worship of Hanuman, flowers of the milkweed (rui) are offered while in that of Ganapati, leaves of the coral (mandar) tree are offered.

2.3 Omkar and Ganapati

If the Omkar is considered as the bijakshar from the Tantra path in the pre-Aryan times then it is but natural that Ganapati who is originally the deity of the tantriks should be endowed with the label of Omkar. One does not come across the Omkar anywhere in the Vedas. Rather, since the Vedic Aryans did not give much importance to the Omkar, natu­rally not even a single aphorism (sukta)or verse (rucha) on it was written in the Vedas. This implies that the Omkar was the bijakshar of the path of Tantra in the pre-Aryan era. Later, however the Aryans had to accept several spiritual tenets from the non-Aryans. It was possibly

around that time that the bijakshar Omkar acquired acclaim as the pranav worship and consequently, in the later period Ganapati who was considered to be the origin of the entire animate and inanimate creation came to be associated with the origin of all the words, that is Omkar.

'When speaking about the philosophy of creation of the uni­verse it is said, "Creation began with the sound Om ". The manifest form of this sound is described as "savai Gajakaraha", that is the sound Omkar is like the face of an elephant. Thus initially a sound was generated and that was Om. If viewed vertically, one will realise that the Omkar appears like the countenance of Ganapati. In short, Om and Ganapati are one and the same. Hence worship of Omkar is equivalent to that of Ganapati. At the time of creation of the universe, the two words Om and atha were emitted from the throat of Lord Brahma.

Hence these two words are said to be auspicious. Omkar is the very nature of Ganapati.'

2.4 Kundalini (spiritual energy) and Ganapati

 

In the Ganapati Atharvashirsha, Lord Ganesh has been described by the sage as meaning 'You dwell perpetually at the site of the Muladhar chakra in the body'. Lord Ganesh is considered to be the deity of the Muladhar chakra (a centre of the spiritual energy system). The Muladhar chakra and the lotus within it are both red in colour. Ganapa­ti's complexion too is red. The Muladhar chakra being the first of the six chakras, spiritual progress starts only

after its activation. Similarly before commencing any task, Lord Ganapa­ti is worshipped.

3 Pervasiveness

1.The moon symbolises the head.2. The earth symbolises the abdomen.3. The seven nether worlds (saptapatal) symbolise the legs.

Where will you find Swayambhu Ganapati and Mahaganapati?

Swayambhu Ganapati, the famous Ganapati idols in India and Mahaganapati

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ashtavinayaks (Eight Vinayaks )

 

The eight Vinayaks are famous. The eight supernatural powers (ashta-siddhi) are the consorts of Ganapati. Each of the eight Vinayaks have become famous as being representative of one supernatural power. The eight Vinayaks are also associated with the eight directions.

 

 

 

 

No

 

Name

 

Place

 

District

 

 

1

 

Moreshvar, Mayureshvar

 

Morgaon

 

Pune

 

 

2

 

BallaLeshvar

 

Pali

 

Raygad

 

 

3

 

Varadvinayak

 

Mahad

 

Raygad

 

 

4

 

Chintamani

 

Theur

 

Pune

 

 

5

 

Girijatmaj

 

Lenyadri

 

Pune

 

 

6

 

Vighneshvar

 

Ojhar

 

Pune

 

 

7

 

Ganapati (Mahaganapati)

 

Ranjangaon

 

Pune

 

 

8

 

Gajamukh

 

Siddhatek

 

Ahmadnagar

2. Twenty-one seats of Ganapati according to the Purans

 

 

 

 

Name

 

Place

 

District/State

 

 

1. Moreshvar, Mayureshvar

 

Morgaon

 

Pune

 

 

2. Chintamani

 

Theur

 

Pune

 

 

3. Ganapati

 

Ranjangaon

 

Pune

 

 

4. Girijatmaj

 

Lenyadri

 

Pune

 

 

5. Ballaleshvar

 

Pali

 

Raygad

 

 

6. Gajamukh

 

Siddhatek

 

Ahmadnagar

 

 

7. Chintamani

 

Kalamb

 

Yavatmal

 

 

8. Sharmavighnesh

 

Adasa

 

Nagpur

 

 

9. Vidnyanganesh

 

Rakshasbhuvan

 

Jalana

 

 

10. Mahaganapati

 

Rajur

 

Jalana

 

 

11. Bhalchandra

 

Gangamasale

 

Parbhani

 

 

12. Lakshavinayak

 

Verul (Ellora)

 

Aurangabad

 

 

13. Pravalganesh

 

Padmalay

 

Jalgaon

 

 

14. Ahundivinayak

 

Kashi

 

Banaras

 

 

15. Omkar

 

Prayag

 

Alahabad

 

 

16. Bhrushundiganesh

 

Namalgaon

 

Bid

 

 

17. Vighnaraj

 

Vijaypur

 

Andhra Pradesh

 

 

18. Vinayak

 

Kashyapashram

 

Near Kashi

 

 

19. Mangalmurti

 

Ganeshpur

 

Bangal

 

 

20. Shvetvighneshvar

 

Near Kumbhakonam

 

Tamilnadu

 

 

21. Mangalmurti

 

Pariner

 

Near Ujjain

3. Twelve famous Ganapati idols in India

 

 

 

 

Name

 

Place

 

Name

 

Place

 

 

Vakratunda

 

Madras

 

Vighnarajend

 

Near Kurukshetra,

 

 

Ekadanta

 

Bangal

 

Dhumravarna

 

Keral

 

 

Krushnapingaksha

 

Madras

 

Bhalachandra

 

Near Rameshvar

 

 

Gajavaktra

 

Orisa

 

Vinayak

 

Kashi, Banaras

 

 

Lambodar

 

Ganapatipule,Maharashtra

 

Mahaganapati

 

Mahabaleshvar, Maharashtra , Gokarna

 

 

Vikat

 

Himachal Pradesh

 

Shrigajanan

 

Himalaya

4. Mahaganapati

Ganapati along with Ruddhi-Siddhi [Divine Energy (Shakti)]. 'The Ganesh created by deity Parvati is an incarnation of Mahaganapati. She sculpted a form out of mud and invoked Ganapati into it. Before the creation of the universe, since The Supreme God (Mahat) principle existed in an unmanifest and eternal form, it is called Mahaganapati. When Mahaganapati is worshipped for acquisition of a particular supernatural power or purely for attainment of the Final Liberation (Moksha), it is customary to choose a Ganapati idol with the trunk curved towards the right. But in such circumstances, as far as possible the idol is made of earth. Rarely does one comes across gold and silver Ganapati idols

with the trunk curved towards the right'.

'It is believed that every male deity has a specific Energy (Shakti), for example Brahma - Bharati, Vishnu - Lakshmi, Shiva - Parvati. Thus it is not surprising that devotees of Ganapati believe in one Energy of Ganapati in the Parabrahman form. There is a sculpture which portrays Ganapati embracing His Energy, seated on His lap. Even today one can see such paintings. So also, sculptures with "Siddhi" and "Buddhi", His two consorts seated on either side of Him are also available. In the science of Tantra, Ganapati along with His Energy is referred to as "Mahaganapati" .'

What are the different variations of Ganesh idol?

1. Usual Idol

The science behind the idol of Lord Ganesh is given in the ‘Shriganapatyatharva shirsha’ as ‘Ekadantam, Chaturhas­tam ....(à¤à¤•à¤¦à¤¨à¥à¤¤à¤‚ चतà¥à¤°à¥à¤¹à¤¸à¥à¤¤à¤‚०)’,

meaning one who has only one tooth (ekadanta), four hands (chaturbhuj), adorns a noose (pash) and a goad (ankush), holds a (broken) tooth in one hand and holds the other hand in a posture bestowing blessings (varadmudra), whose flag bears the symbol of a mouse, who has a red complexion, a large abdomen (lambodar), whose ears are like sifting pans, who adorns red clothes, whose body is smeared with a paste of red sandalwood (raktachandan) and who is worshipped with red flowers.

2. Some Variations

1. Mudra : Sometimes one comes across Ganapati idols in the lotus posture (padmasan) or at times even in the dancing posture (nrutyamudra).

2. Mundkata Ganesh : There is a beheaded (Mundkata) Ganesh idol in the Himalaya . The name itself suggests that this idol is without a head. It is said that this is the idol of the son who was created by deity Parvati from the coating of sebum on Her body and who was later be­headed by Lord Shankar.

3. Other complexions : Haridraganapati and the Urdhvaganapa­ti have a yellow complexion. The Pingalganapati is tawny (pingat) while the Lakshmiganapati is white in complexion.

4. Divine phallus (linga) : Just like the divine phallus of Lord Shiva, that of Ganapati too exists. It is called Ganpatyalinga. It is shaped like a pomegranate, lemon, white gourd or jamun.

5. Nude : In the Tantra path of worship, the Ganesh idol is mostly nude. The Energy (Shakti) of Ganesh too accompanies the idol.

6. Feminine form : ‘In the Shakta sect, Lord Ganesh is worshipped in the feminine form. Some such examples are given below.

A. Ganeshvari : An extremely attractive sculpted idol of Ganeshvari is found in the Suchindram temple in Tamilnadu.

B. Ardha Ganeshvari : It has a highly meaningful form in the Tantra path of spiritual practice.

C. Ganeshani : This female deity is found in an extremely rare form of worship performed by tantriks and mantriks (followers of the Path of Tantra and Mantra).’

7. Types of Ganapati idols: There are several types of Ganapati idols like the Saumyaganapati, Balganapati, Herambganapati, Lakshmiganapati, Haridraganapati, Uchchishtaganapati, Suryaganapati, Varadganapati, Dvibhujganapati, Dashbhujganapati, Nartanganapati, Uttishthitganapati, Ganapati with the trunk curved towards the right, etc.

Why is Ganapati with the right Sided trunk not commonly worshipped?

1. Entire idol: Omkar, the unmanifest (nirgun) principle

2. Trunk: It is a popular belief that an idol with the tip of the trunk pointing towards the right and left are called right-sided and left-sided idols respectively; however this is not the case. One should not decide whether the idol is right-sided or left-sided depending upon which side the trunk is directed. It should be decided depending on the direction in which the initial curve of the trunk points. If the initial curve of the trunk in a Ganesh idol points towards the right and the tip of the trunk points towards the left yet the idol should be considered a rightsided idol. The reason for this is that, the initial curve of

the trunk pointing towards the right indicates that the right (that is Sun) channel (nadi) of Ganapati is active.

 

 

 

 

 

Right Sided Trunk

 

 

Right Sided Trunk Ganapati

 

2.1 Right-sided trunk: An idol of Ganapati with the trunk curved towards the right is called dakshinmurti or dakshi­nabhimukhi murti (the idol facing the south). Dakshin means the southern direction or the right side. The southern direction leads to the region of Lord Yama (Yamalok), the deity of death while the right side belongs to the Surya nadi (Sun channel). One who is able to face the direction of the region of Yama is powerful. So also, one with an activated Surya nadi is also radiant. Thus in both senses, the Ganapati idol with the trunk curved towards the right is said

to be ‘active (jagrut)’.

One feels repulsed by the south direction because it is in that direction that scrutiny of one’s sins and merits is carried out after death, in the region of Lord Yama. Scrutiny akin to that done in the south after death, begins when alive if one faces the south or sleeps with the legs directed towards the south. The dakshinabhimukhi idol is not worshipped ritualistically in the usual manner because tiryak (raja) frequencies are emitted from the south. The ritualistic worship of this idol is performed by observing all the norms of ritualistic worship meticulously. Consequently the sattva component is augmented and one is not distressed by the raja frequencies coming from the

south.

 

 

 

 

 

Left Sided Trunk

 

 

Left Sided Trunk Ganapati

 

2.2 Left-sided trunk: An idol of Ganapati with the trunk curved towards the left is called Vamamukhi. Vam means the northern direction or the left side. The Chandra nadi (Moon channel) is situated to the left. It bestows tranquility. Besides, since the northern direction is spiritually favourable and bestows Bliss (Anand), mostly the Vamamukhi Ganapati is worshipped. It is worshipped ritualistically in the usual manner.

3. Modak (a sweet delicacy)

 

3.1 'Moda' means Bliss (Anand) and 'ka' means a small part. So, modak is a small part of Bliss. A modak is shaped like a coconut that is it is like the cavity 'kha' in the Brahmarandhra. When the kundalini (spiritual energy) reaches the 'kha' cavity, the spiritual experience of Bliss is obtained. The modak

held in the hand signifies Bliss endowing energy.

3.2 'The modak symbolises spiritual knowledge (dnyan): hence it is also called dnyanmodak. Initially it seems that spiritual knowledge is little (the tip of the modak represents this); but as one starts studying Spirituality, one realises its vastness (the base of the modak symbolises this.) A modak is sweet in taste. The Bliss acquired through spiritual knowledge too is like that.'

4. Goad (ankush) : Destroyer of the energies which are harmful to the mission of acquisition of spiritual knowledge and Bliss.

5. Noose (pash): Worldly bondage. The noose wielded by Ganapati signifies that He will tie the noose around negative entities and take them away.

6. Serpent wound around the waist: The universal kundalini (spiritual energy)

7. Hood of the serpent: Activated (jagrut) spiritual energy

8. Rat: The rat which represents the raja component is within the control of Ganapati.

With pranam

with regards

dilip