ganesha sloka

[Guest guest]

agajaanana padmargam gajananam ahar nisam

anegadandam baktanam egatandam upasmhe,

 

Can any one explain the meaning of this ganesha sloka?

 

Thanks.

[Guest guest]

advaitin , Sundaram Seshadri <seshadri.sundaram

wrote:

>

> agajaanana padmargam gajananam ahar nisam

> anegadandam baktanam egatandam upasmhe,

>

> Can any one explain the meaning of this ganesha sloka?

>

> Thanks.

>

Namaste.

 

The meaning, along with the correct reading of the words is as follows:

 

agajaanana-padmaarkam :

 

agajaa - aga is a mountain. jaa means the daughter of Himalaya, that is,

Paarvathi.

 

aanana - face ( Her face)

 

padmaarkam - padma is a lotus. Lotus like face of Parvathi.

 

arkam - Sun (A lotus blossoms when the Sun rises)

 

gajaananam - the elephant-faced (Ganesha)

 

ahar-nisham - day and night

 

So far, the meaning is: Ganesha is like the Sun, at the sight of Whom Mother

Parvathi's face brightens up. In other words, Ganesha brings joy to Mother

Parvathi.

 

Second line:

 

bhaktaanaam anekadam tam - He (Ganesha) Who gives plenty of boons, blessings, to

His devotees. tam - Him

 

Eka dantam - Ganesha's elephant-face has one full tusk and a half. So, it is

just one full tusk. (While scribing the Mahabharatha upon Sage Veda Vyasa's

dictating, it is said that Ganesha's pen broke and He immediately broke the

pointed portion of His right tusk and continued the writing.)

 

upaasmahe - we meditate upon.

 

The full meaning is: We meditate upon Lord Ganesha day and night (always) Who

has only one tusk, Who blesses His devotees abundantly, and is the Sun Who

brightens up His Mother Parvathy's lotus-like face.

 

This is the meaning that comes to my mind based on past reading, hearing from

others, etc. Other readers could correct/add to this.

 

Om Tat Sat

[Guest guest]

agajaanana padmargam gajananam ahar nisam

anegadandam baktanam egatandam upasmhe,

 

 

 

Meaning:I worship day and night that elephant faced Lord Ganesha who

is like sun to the lotus face of Mother Parvati. Giver of many boons,

the single tusked Ganesh, I salute Thee.

 

suresh.

[Guest guest]

-- In advaitin , " subrahmanian_v " <subrahmanian_v wrote:

> > agajaanana padmaarkam gajaananam aharnisam

> > anEkadantam baktaanaam Ekadantam upaasmahE,

 

> The meaning, along with the correct reading of the words is as

> follows:

> agajaanana-padmaarkam :

> agajaa - aga is a mountain. jaa means the daughter of Himalaya,

> that is, Paarvathi.

>

> aanana - face ( Her face)

> padmaarkam - padma is a lotus. Lotus like face of Parvathi.>

> arkam - Sun (A lotus blossoms when the Sun rises)

> gajaananam - the elephant-faced (Ganesha)

> ahar-nisham - day and night

>

> So far, the meaning is: Ganesha is like the Sun, at the sight of

> Whom Mother Parvathi's face brightens up. In other words, Ganesha

> brings joy to Mother Parvathi.

>

> Second line:

> bhaktaanaam anekadam tam - He (Ganesha) Who gives plenty of boons,

> blessings, to His devotees. tam - Him

> Eka dantam - Ganesha's elephant-face has one full tusk and a

> half. So, it is just one full tusk. (While scribing the

> Mahabharatha upon Sage Veda Vyasa's dictating, it is said that

> Ganesha's pen broke and He immediately broke the pointed portion

> of His right tusk and continued the writing.)

>

> upaasmahe - we meditate upon.

> The full meaning is: We meditate upon Lord Ganesha day and night

> (always) Who has only one tusk, Who blesses His devotees

> abundantly, and is the Sun Who brightens up His Mother Parvathy's

> lotus-like face.

 

Hari OM!

Beautiful explanation! It is much more beautiful to read now the

Sanskrit Sloka, because the beauty of word play in it is even more.

Each line has seemingly opposite words but deftly used.

 

First word " agaja " = aga + ja. " aga " meaning that which does NOT move

- mountain and " ja " is born to- so " agaja " refers to one born to

mountain- Parvati. " gajaanana " =gaja + aanana - meaning elephant face

Thus, seemingly but not real, antonym word play " agaja " to " gaja " !

 

Second line begins with " anEkadaMtaM " =anEka(many)+daM(giver)+taM(He)

-meaning he who bestows many boons. Ends with

" EkadaMtaM " = Eka(one)+ daMtaM(tusk)- refers to one who has single

tusk - Lord Vinaayaka. Again seemingly antonym-word play of " anEka "

and " Eka " in same line.

 

Also, Vinayaka is worshipped first in any traditional worship. And

first letter in Sanskrit, and any language possibly, is letter " a " .

So the verse begins with letter " a " (agajaanana) very appropriately.

 

Furthermore, there are two aspects indicated- " svaroopa " form and

" svabhaava " - function. It says His form delights mother Parvati

like sun delights a lotus. Parvati is compared metaphorically to

lotus. Lotus grows from murky, muddy, wet lands, but stays untouched

by it. Not even a drop of water, and no tinge of muddy smell stick

to it. It is in mud and water, but yet stands out of it. So too Lord

delights minds of those in the world, but untouched by worldliness!

 

Mere delight is not what Lord is all about. His " svabhaava " -function

is also pointed by " daMtaM " - the tusk he used to write, arguably,

the longest epic ever- Mahabharata. He worked actively-indeed

very much speedily- to produce a work that bestows auspiciousness.

 

Finally, Lord remains as " EkadaMtaM " - meaning single tusk, even

though began orginally with two tusks. From duality " dwaita " to

" advaita " (not two) is the transition symbolically and profoundly

indicated. I worship day and night (duality) the Lord that remains

" EkadaMtaM " and bestows boons on all devotees.

====================

Hari OM!

-Srinivas