Ganesa

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V.Krishnaraj

11/17/2008

    Ganesa = Gana + Isa = Troops + leader, superintendent, chief, master....

Gana is commonly translated as attendants. It also stands for class of animate and inanimate entities, flock, multitude, number, series, tribe, troop.... Thus Ganesa is the superintendent of Siva's troops. A troop consists of 27 chariots, 27 elephants, 81 horses, and 135 footmen. Thus, he is the leader of Ganas (Ganapati = Gana +Pati).

Ganesa is the first son of Siva and Parvati.  Since Ganesa is the creator and remover of obstacles, he is worshipped at the beginning of any undertaking or any composition. His invocatory Mantra is OM Sri Ganesaya Namah among others.

Vighneswara is the Lord of obstacles. (Vighna +Iswara = obstacles + Lord).

Vinayaka is the remover of obstacles.  Ekadanta = the one-tusked; Danta is tooth or tusk. It is cognate with dental.  Gajamukha and Gajanana = the elephant face; Pilliayar = (honorific) son, Ganesa. Lambodara = the pot-bellied.

Ganesa and the West

West is intrigued by Ganesa. They don't know what to make of the Hindu God, Ganesa. Ganesa, according to the students from West, was not present in the Hindu scene anterior to the fifth century. He did not figure in Mahabharata, though Hindus are of the belief that Ganesa was the scribe of Mahabharata when Vyasa narrated and dictated the Great Story. Because of his theri-anthropomorphic appearance, the western students are of the opinion that Ganesa was the god of elephant cult. Ganesa might have been the successor to the evil spirits, Vinayakas. One thinks that Ganesa is the Sun-God of the Dravidians and his Vahana (vehicle) the rat stands for darkness, which the sun dissipates. They quote Koomaraswamy saying that Ganesa is the godling related to Yaksas and Nagas. Monier williams says Ganesa and his brother Skanda are the head of tutelary village divinities, offering protection against evil. They attribute the rise of Ganesa to the forefront to the aggressive promoting by his followers and worshippers. Others point to the mention of Ganesa in Vedas, as the one with elephant face and one tusk. Speculations abound as follows. Siva defeated Ganesa the non-Brahmanical, Non-Vedic godling and later conferred Ganesa the honor of the leader of Siva's attendants.  Parallels are drawn to show the simultaneous acceptance of Ganesa in the Brahmanical fold and the assimilation of the tribals in South India into the Varnasrama dharma of Brahmanical Vedic practitioners after the Buddhist and Jain decline.

Ganesa made of scruff

Ganesa, a case of Xenograft Transpantation

    One legend says that scruff (dross) from the nape of Parvati's neck was the origin of Ganesa. Parvati was alone in her abode, when Siva went to Kailāsa (abode of snow--Himalayas) which is a mountain in the Himalayan range;  Kubera and Siva live in the loftiest peaks north of Manasa Lake. When Siva came back, he tried to force his way past anthropomorphic Ganesa, who would not allow that because his mother was in the bath and he did not know who Siva was. Siva ordered one of his Ganas to cut his head off. Parvati was angry and grief-stricken. Vishnu went searching for a head and found a young elephant, whose head was transplanted on Ganesa's body.  Another legend says that Sani looked at Ganesa and his evil eyes beheaded his head and Vishnu replaced it with the elephant's head. Go to Supplement and look at ChitraRadha's Curse for more details.

A question may be raised: If xenograft was possible then, why did Vishnu not put his own severed head back in its place? I guarantee that my statement does not constitute any disrespect; actually Hindu gods invite queries like this from devotees. But the fact that Ganesa carries an elephant head needs an explanation more so than why his own severed head was not put back in its place. We do not know the motive behind the xenograft, while Vishnu had the technical ability to transplant and we have to find an explanation on why he has the elephant head. Life and story of Ganesa according to Hindus have metaphorical significance with relevance to his elephant head, broken tusk.... Indian Gurus concentrate on the symbolism of the anatomical peculiarities.

Linga Purana and Vinayaka's birth, Chapter105

The origin of  Vighnesvara and Vinayaka (the dispenser and remover of obstacles)

The Devas came to Siva who greeted them with his blessings. The Lord of word and speech addressed Siva saying that the Asuras were causing harm to the Suras (gods) and begged that Siva should throw impediments on the evil ways of Asuras (demons). The trident-bearing Lord of Devas, Siva entered the womb of Uma, the Universal Mother, and emerged as Ganesvara. (The concept of God entering the womb of his spouse without insemination and emerging as a divine being and thus making his wife his own mother is special in Hindu religion.) Ganesvara is the Master of Ganas, that is Siva.  All Devas and Ganas euologized Siva-Mahesvara, the source of the universe and the glorious remover of miseries of human and worldly existence. Ambika-Uma received with gladness her elephant-faced Lord Gajānana (Gajanana), the creator of the world and the wielder of the trident and noose. Devas and others eulogized and bowed to Mahesa and Ganesa.

    Ganesa the elephant-faced God dances and offers homage to his father and mother. Mahadeva-Siva picks up his son, kisses him on his forehead and says that he took his birth to destroy the Daityas (demons) and bring joy to Adityas (gods) and Brahmins, the Vedic scholars.  Ganesa is endowed with special powers: throwing obstacles in the performance of sacrifice by the Daityas; removal of vital breaths from those who are negligent in the performance of rites, and teaching and study of Vedas; removal of vital breaths from those who do not perform the duties of their castes; treating the worshippers as equal to him; protecting the old, the infirm, the young, and the devotees. Siva says that worship of Siva, Vishnu, or Brahma would commence with the worship of Ganesa. All auspicious rites and rituals would be ineffective unless Ganesa is worshipped first. Siva continues to eulogize Ganesa. "Ganesa is worthy of worship by Brahmins, Ksatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras with the offering of victuals for realizing their siddhis.  Devas (Suras, Adityas, gods) and others would not accomplish anything if they do not offer flowers, fragrance and incense to Ganesa. Brahma, Vishnu, Siva (includes himself) are no exception and if they do not worship you first, you will throw impediments in their path. Ganesa thus creates impediments in the rites and rituals of Daityas (Demons, Asuras)."

exoticindia.com

    Ganesa dispenses and removes obstacles. Man is essentially a polar animal, two poles being virtue and evil, and in-betweens. He is man and angel on the virtuous side, animal on the other end, and many times somewhere in-between.  Virtue and vice are Adityas (gods) and Daityas (demons). Man is a hybrid, part god and part demon and combination and  permutation thereof. Asuric (demonic) nature and pursuit someday will face obstacle while the reverse is true for the Suric.

    The large elephantine head of Ganesa is symbolic of immense intellect needed to understand Vedanta. Large ears represent constant listening and hearing of Vedanta from the teachers. The trunk represents versatility; it can lift heavy objects, pluck one blade of grass or pick a penny. The tusks stand for the discriminative power of Ganesa, while choosing from the dualities of opposites, right and wrong, love and hate.... Parasurama's axe thrown in anger was adroitly stopped by one of the tusks; the broken tusk is symbolic of transcending dualities. Another source tells that the intact tusk represents the maleness of Siva and the broken tusk the femaleness of Sakti. His humongous mouth, stomach and appetite stand for whopping love of life. A humorous story goes with his large appetite, by which Ganesa humiliated Kubera's vanity. Go to Children Eat Free under Supplement.  His large abdomen is symbolic of his ability to stomach the vicissitudes of life and vacillations of others. The victuals at his feet stand for nature's abundance and elements ready to serve and satisfy him. The mouse at the feet looking up to him gnaws at and depletes the merits of a human being and represents desire and its fateful consequences. Ganesa keeps the desire under his control.

    The moon once laughed at him for his rotund corpulent abdomen, ungainly walking, riding on a minute mouse of desire and wrapping his abdomen with the snake. Moon the deified form of intellect received a curse that he would be invisible one day on a periodic basis.

    He has four arms with accouterments and weapons. Axe cuts the attachments, desires,  sorrows and dualities of this world, while the rope pulls the devotee near him. The rice ball represents the reward he gives to his devotees. The fourth hand offers blessing, protection and removal of obstacles.

Padma Purana and Gangeya-Ganesa    

Another legend says that the dross from the nape of the neck of Parvati was thrown into the River Ganges and was swallowed by the elephant-headed goddess Malini, giving birth to five-headed elephant with four arms. Goddess Ganga claimed him as her son; Siva intervened and declared that he was Parvati's son. Siva excised the four heads leaving one head and anointed him as the Remover of obstacles. Other legends will be mentioned in the article elsewhere.  (Two Ganesas, credit: exoticindia.com)

    Obstacle and misery come in three flavors: Exogenous, endogenous, and Theogenous (Adibautika, Adiatmika, and Adidaivika). The word Theo-genous is  coined by me. Ganesa has the ability to ward off these miseries.

    Exogenous miseries and obstacles come from the outer world of beings and matter. Lifestyle change can help ameliorate this misery.

    Endogenous miseries and obstacles come from the body, mind and soul; they need mending from proper specialists.

    Theogenous miseries and obstacles are god-sent and include natural disasters like floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis.... They could be part of karmic baggage of an individual.

    He is the Lord of beginnings, the beginning of any task, undertaking or composition; the devotee needs his power of removal of obstacles which may crop up at any time.

    The Hindu stories are regarded by the west as Myth and Mysticism, while Hindus regard them as Truth and Mysticism. Scientist use intelligence, reason, prior knowledge, experience, intuition to arrive at physical truths. Transcendental Truths are beyond the scope and reach of the above faculties, which are of material origin. How can matter understand spirit? It is like the pot trying to figure out the composition of the clay.  The Rishis looked inside rather than outside to find the answers to the questions of the spirit. This is where the eight principles come into play. As the scientist needs training, discipline, and diplomas to perform his work and unravel exoteric truths, a Rishi needs the following to delve into the inner world and explain esoteric Truths.

(1) Yama (Don’ts): sexual abstinence, ahimsa (noninjury), no lies, no theft, no greed. 

(2) Niyama (Dos): meditation on Brahman or Isvara; mauna (silence); study of Vedas, Upanishads, and moksa-promoting literature; repeating of mantra OM; ascetic practice; clean body and mind; contentment; God-Pleasing actions.

(3) Asana: body positions and postures.

(4) Prānayama: breath control.

     (5) Pratyahara (withdrawal): no contact between senses and objects of senses. This          should come natural to him.

(6) Dharana: concentration and focus of mind on an object or idea.

      (7) Dyana: meditation.

      (8) Samadhi: Convergence, one-pointedness, Subject and object (Yogi) unity.

    Go to TMTM03 for details.

    Once the Rishi becomes an expert, he receives enlightenment and revelations. Esoteric Truths are rendered understandable to the ordinary people by way of stories, metaphors, analogies....  The contradictions, apparent moral turpitudes and dilemmas, fair and unfair means and the rest in the lives of gods, goddesses, men, plants, animals are embedded in the stories to elucidate the Truth.

    He is a celibate and yet he is married to Lakshmi and Saraswati, according to some pundits, thus having abundant wealth and knowledge. He is not actually married to them but what they represent.

To be continued