Ganapathy, and origin of His worship

A water colour rendering of Ganapathy

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:

1. Vināyaka (Extraordinary Leader)
2. Vighnarāja (King/Lord of obstacles)
3. Dvaimātura (One who has two mothers)
4. Gaṇādhipāḥ (Lord of Gana)
5. Ekadanta (One with one tusk)
6. Heramba (Protector of the weak)
7. Lambodara (One with a big, hanging belly)
8. 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.