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A water colour rendering of Ganapathy
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Ganapathy and His Personality:
Ganapathy
is undeniably one of the most favourite Gods in Hinduism. This cute looking God
with his elephant face and chubby look will surely bring cheer to anyone at
first look. Ganesha, Vinayaka, and Vighneshwara are few of his many names. In
Tamil, he is referred to as Pillayar. While some experts opine the word Pillai may have originated from a
root word referring to a young elephant [*],
the direct meaning of the word is a child, and when addressing with respect it
becomes Pillayar. The son of the Gods, Siva and Parvati is this cute little boy who is
very easy to please and is also easily upset, true to the nature of a kid. To
give an example, it is common for a Hindu to pray to Ganesha, which pretty much
turns out as a deal, that they would offer modhakam (a sweet dumpling), his
favourite snack, in return for some material favour, like to pass in an exam,
or get a promotion at work. For some reason, if the offering is delayed or
forgotten, Ganesha behaves the same way a child behaves to a broken promise and
will ensure the deal is fulfilled. For this reason, he is called Vighneshwara
(God of obstacles) who creates obstacles (Vighnakarta), and also who destroys
them (Vighnaharta). Not even the Gods were excused for testing His patience.
When we refer to various purānas (stories of the ancient times), one can see
how at some instance a God had prayed to Lord Ganesha. In the above example, it
may sound as if people use Him for only material desires to get fulfilled.
Well, yes, most of them do. And that is how one starts building a rapport with
this divine child to spiritually progress further.
Origin of Ganapathy worship:
Ganapathy or Ganesha literally means the Lord of Gana
(plural). Depending on the context, Gana could mean the chants in the Vedas
(scriptures), the Gods, or the beasts of Siva [*]. Although historically, the origin of Ganesha worship is
not certain, Hinduism believes it to be since time immemorial. The earliest
reference of the name Ganapathy occurs in Rg Veda (RV 2.23.1)[*].
गणानां त्वा गणपतिं हवामहे
कविं कवीनामुपमश्रवस्तमम् ।
ज्येष्ठराजं ब्रह्मणां ब्रह्मणस्पत
आ नः शृण्वन्नूतिभिः सीद सादनम् ॥
Gaṇānāṃ tvā gaṇapatiṃ havāmahe
kaviṃ kavīnām
upamaśravastamam |
jyeṣṭharājam brahmaṇām brahmaṇas pata
ā naḥ
śṛṇvann ūtibhiḥ sīda sādanam ||[RV_2,023.01]
[Please refer to this link for Sanskrit phonetics]
The above hymn means thus [*]:
For the
Gana, You, who is their chief (Ganapathy), to whom
we offer our sacrificial oblations; You are the wisest among the
wise and who is in the highest state of fame; the foremost king of the Hymns,
the Lord of all sacred prayers (Brahmanaspati); please come to us on hearing
this and be seated by this Altar.
Clarification to conventional theory:
According to the western school of thought, there is
uncertainty whether the above verse refers actually to Ganesha. And these
scholars contend that the God Ganesha, as we know him today, is only a recent
introduction to the Hindu fold. Well, it turns out they are not completely
wrong. The literal translation of the above verse, in fact, refers to
Brahmanaspati, the Lord of all sacred prayers. Having said that, this mantra
has almost always been associated with the Ganesha we know even though the
popular opinion says otherwise. For instance, Chaturvarga Chintamani Dharma
Sastra is a work by Hemadri (13 CE) cites from the ancient Devi Purana
(variously dated) on Ganapathy Vratam where this exact mantra is used [*][*].
Another instance can be referred from Amarakosha (4 CE),
the Sanskrit lexicon which lists the following synonyms for Ganapathy [*].
विनायकोविघ्नराज-द्वैमातुर-गणाधिपाः॥४०ख्।
अप्य्एकदन्त-हेरम्ब-लम्बोदर-गजाननाः।४१क्।
vināyako vighnarāja dvaimātura gaṇādhipāḥ ॥
apy ekadanta heramba lambodara gajānanāḥ।
The
above verse lists eight names of Ganesha:
- Vināyaka
(Extraordinary Leader)
- Vighnarāja (King/Lord of
obstacles)
- Dvaimātura (One who has
two mothers)
- Gaṇādhipāḥ (Lord of
Gana)
- Ekadanta (One with one
tusk)
- Heramba (Protector of the
weak)
- Lambodara (One with a big,
hanging belly)
- Gajānanāḥ (One with an
elephant face)
Similarly, there are quite a few references that
consistently describe Ganesha and His attributes as we know Him today. Adi
Sankaracharya, an expounder of Advaita philosophy channelized the worship of
Ganesha, known as Gānapathyam, as one of the six representations of the One
formless God [*]. When two different words are defined the same, they
become synonyms. Similarly, when there is only one Absolute God which is
referred by different names, they all still refer to that same Entity. One must
understand that the rules to use a particular mantra with a particular deity
are based on shāstra (the rule book). So, even if the meaning of a mantra may
not actually be a literal reference to that particular deity, it is used with
that deity because of the rules and not because of any mistaken identity. When
one gets the context of the reference without having a narrow view of the
deities, one understands why things are the way they are. Thus, one can say
with confidence that the Hindus always had a single notion of Ganesha and the
idea did not evolve based on any new requirements.
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The unbroken chain of love towards Lord Ganesha is only
getting stronger as the years pass by. The love (or bhakti) is shown in various
ways. Among the very many deities in Hinduism, Ganesha is certainly one of the
most loved ones for His child-like nature. At a philosophical level as the
scriptures state, Ganesha is indeed the Absolute God, the manifestation of the
universe [*]. That is why He is associated with the primordial sound
'OM', the sound of Creation, Sustenance, and Annihilation. It is very
interesting to note that The Absolute God acts like a child, just like how a
parent comes down to the level of a toddler to entertain their children.
Let us
pay obeisance to Lord Ganesha, who is none other than That Supreme Being.
