Ganesha chaturthi, legends, and prayers Ganesha in the Vedas vakratuNDa mahAkAya sUryakoTisamaprabha nirvighnaM kuru me deva sarvakAryeshhu sarvadA || O Ganapati, One with a curved trunk, a large body, and a brilliance equal to a crore (10 million) suns! O God, please make all my undertakings free from obstacles always. Ganesha chaturthi occurs on September 11th, this year. 1 Ganesha or Ganapati is an extremely popular God in India. He is called Vighneshvara or Vighnahartaa, 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. Ganesha is also one of the five Gods the worship of whom was popularized by Adi Shankaraacharya; the other four are Vishnu, Shiva, Devi and Surya. The worship of these five deities is called the panchAyatana pUjA. In some cases, a sixth God, Skanda is also worshipped. The rule for determining the Ganesha chaturthi is as follows: On any day, if bhAdrapada Shukla chaturthi prevails during the madhyAnha kAla, then Ganesha chaturthi is to be observed on that day. If bhAdrapada Shukla chaturthi prevails during two successive madhyAnha KAlas or if it does not extend over the MadhyAnha KAla of any day, then Ganesha chaturthi is to be observed on the day on which Tritiya ends. The puja of Ganesha on the Ganesha chaturthi day, extolled in various religious works, is to be performed at noon. A clay image of the God, painted beautifully, is installed on a raised platform. After the usual preliminary rituals, the prANapratishhThA must be done with the appropriate mantras. This prANapratishhThA is done for the purpose of invoking the presence of Ganesha into the image. This is followed by the worship with sixteen modes of showing honor, known as shhoDashopachAra. Offering of dUrvA (grass) blades and modaka, a delicacy prepared from rice flour, jaggery, and coconut, is an important part of the pUjA. Usually, 21 dUrvA blades and 21 modakas are offered to the deity, where the number 21 carries a symbolic meaning. The five jnAnendriyas or organs of perception , the five karmendriyas or organs of action, the five prANas or vital airs, the five bhUtas or elements, and the mind, together comprise 21 parts. The offering of dUrvA blades and the modakas teaches us that we should offer with humility, represented by the dUrvA blades, all the good things in life, represented by the modakas, to God. Ganesha is also offered red flowers, and anointed with a red unguent (rakta chandana). The immersion of the image in a body of water is ceremonially performed at the end of the chaturthi vrata, which could be anywhere from a day upto 10 days (Anantachaturdashi) after the Bhaadrapada Shukla chaturthi, depending on the customs of the particular family. I will try to describe the Vedic hymns commonly employed in the Ganesha puja. 2 Rg Veda contains the following verses (R^ich's) in praise of Ganapati. Ganapati is identified with Brahmanaspati or Brihaspati, and, sometimes with Indra or Maghavan, Agni and even Rudra. gaNAnAn.h tvA gaNapatiM havAmahe kavim kavInAm- upamashravastamaM | jyeshhTharAjaM brahmaNAn.h brahmaNaspata A naH shR^iNvannUtibhiH sIda sAdanaM || (Rg Veda 2.23.1) We invoke You, O Ganapati of the ganas (troops), Who are Brahmanaspati of the brahmas (prayers), the wisest among the wise, Who abound in treasure beyond all measure, the most brilliant one. Do listen to our prayers, come with Your blessings and assurances of protection into our home, and be seated. ni shhu sIda gaNapate gaNeshhu tvAmAhurvipratamaM kavInAM | na R^ite tvat.h kriyate kinchanAre mahAmarkaM maghavan.h chitramarcha || (Rg Veda 10.112.9) Sit down among the troops (or worshippers), O Ganapati, the best sage among the sages. Without You nothing can be done here or far. Accept with honor, O wealthy One, our great and variegated hymns of praise. (The translation of maghavAn into "wealthy One" (dhanavAn.h) is in accordance with sAyaNAchArya's commentary.) Both these R^ik's (verses) are part of the Ganesha sukta that is commonly chanted during the puja. The contents of the Ganesha sukta, according to the panchAyatana pUjA manual from Sringeri, is as follows (in order): Rg Veda Mandala 8, sukta 81, R^ik's 1-9, Mandala 10 sukta 112 R^ik's 9-10, and Mandala 2, sukta 23, R^ik 1. Another sukta that is chanted is the Brahmanaspati sukta, a collection of 62 R^iks selected from different parts of the Rg Veda. This sukta consists of the following R^iks (in order): Rg Veda Mandala 1 sukta 18 R^iks 1-5, Mandala 1 sukta 40, R^iks 1-8, Mandala 2 sukta 23, R^iks 1-19, Mandala 2 sukta 24, R^iks 1-16, Mandala 2 sukta 25, R^iks 1-5, Mandala 2 sukta 26, R^iks 1-4, 3 Mandala 7 sukta 97, R^ik 3, Mandala 7 sukta 97, R^ik 9, Mandala 10 sukta 155, R^iks 2-3, and Mandala 10 sukta 128, R^ik 11 (khila portion). By far the most important hymn related to Ganesha upasana is the Ganapati Atharva Shirsha Upanishad. This remarkable upanishad seeks to equate Ganeshavidya with Brahmavidya. For example, it says: namaste gaNapataye | tvameva pratyakshhaM tat.h tvaM asi | Tr: Salutations to You Ganapati. You are indeed the perceptible representation of (the Vedic utterance) ``tat tvam asi". Shri upanishhadbrahma yogin's commentary: AUM laM oN^kaaralakshhyaturyaruupaM te tubhyaM gaNapataye namo .astu, aavayoraikyamastvityarthaH | yadvaa laM iti muulaadhaarabiijaM muulaadhaarasya gaNapatisadanatvaat.h | yadoN^kaaraarthagaNapatitattvaM lakaaravaachyapaarthivaaMsha- muulaadhaare vibhaati tasmai lakaaravaachyamuulaadhaarasadanaaya gaNapataye namo .astviti | ... tvameva shrotraadi pratyakshhaM pratikaraNaM tattadvishhayapravR^ittinivR^ittinimittatayaa yachchaitanyaM vartate tattvamasi sarvaniyantaa .asiityarthaH| AUM laM. I offer obeisances to You Ganapati who are of the form of the turiiya (fourth state), indicated by the Omkara syllable. May there be complete identity between You and me. Or, my obeisances to You who are the Ganapati-tattva, the meaning of the Omkara, who abide in the Muulaadhaara (chakra) as Your abode. This muulaadhaara is indicated by the laM, the seed-syllable of the elemental earth standing for the muulaadhaara. You guide the organs such as that of hearing, and control their respective activity and withdrawal from activity. You are the inner consciousness and the controller of all. Later: tvameva sarvaM khalvidaM brahmAsi | Tr: You are the all pervading reality, the Brahman OR You are the representation of the Vedic utterance, "sarvam khalvidam brahma." The upanishad was commented upon by Sri Upanishad Brahma Yogin, who is said to have been the only commentator on all the 108 upanishads. The GaNapati atharva shiirsha is the most widely recited Sanskrit text among devotees of Ganesha, atleast in Maharashtra. One can find the entire text of the upanishad on the doorway to the temple hall in the aShTavinAyaka temple in Rajangaon. Seven other centers of Ganesha worship in 4 Maharashtra are Morgaon, Thevur, Mahad, Lehyadri, Ojhar, Siddha-tek, and Pali. Five of these 8 centers are located in the vicinity of Pune. Other relevant upanishads are the Ganeshapurvatapini, Ganeshottaratapini, and Heramba upanishads; these are generally not counted as belonging to the collection of 108 upanishads. Just as there are Vaishnavas, Shaivas, Shaktas, Sauras, and Skandas, attached to the worship of respective deities, there are Ganapatyas, who are ardent devotees of Ganesha. One can find them mainly in Maharashtra, which has long been associated with Ganesha worship. Philosophical significance of Ganesha's form Ganesha's elephantine head and human body are explained as follows in the Mudgala Purana: tvaMpadaM narashcha tatpadaM gajashcha etayorabhedAtmako gaNeshadehaH pratyakshhabrahmAtmakatvAt.h || Ganesha's human body representing "tvam", His elephantine countenance representing "tat" and their joining together signifies the nondifference of "tvam" (You) and "tat" (Brahman). Thus, the body of Ganesha is the visible representation of the highest reality, Brahman, realized from "tat tvam asi." Another explanation has it that Ganesha's head signifies Atman the Highest Reality, while the body below the neck represents mAyA, the principle of phenomenal existence. The Atman's involvement with the world is characterized by the assumption of mind and speech. Ganesha's ears, which appear like large winnowing baskets, have a philosophical significance too. Just as one uses a winnowing basket to separate grains from dirt, one must use discrimination (viveka) to separate the real (Brahman) from the unreal (mAyA) in life. Here the grains stand for Brahman and the dirt signifies mAyA. Or, Ganesha's ears indicate that such discrimination between Brahman and mAyA is to be gained by taking recourse to shravaNa or hearing. Listening to the scriptures from a Guru will lead to proper discrimination and Brahman realization. GaNapati's vehicle is the rat, although a form called Heramba-GaNapati is depicted as riding a lion. There are also rare references to the peacock as the vehicle in some texts. The significance of the rat (muushhaka) as the vehicle of Ganesha is 5 explained by the Mudgala Purana. IshvaraH sarvabhoktaa cha choravattatra saMsthitaH sa eva muushhakaH prokto manujaanaaM prachaalakaH maayayaa guuDharuupaH san.h bhogaan.h bhuN^kte hi choravat.h || The Lord (Ganesha) resides in all things and experiences everything. He is called muushhaka because He operates unseen like a thief, concealed by maayaa, and experiences all phenomena. Ganesha Legends 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.