Ganesha, the First God
Being considered the first god, it is our main duty to first worship Lord Ganesha before doing our daily routine work. Being the leader of the Vedas, he is also called Veda Ganesa, and since he is a master of dance, he is called as Narthana Ganapathy. Lord Ganesha is a very simple god, and that’s why we can find a lot of his temples situated under holy trees like the Vanni Tree and Arasa Tree.
Ganesha, also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon.
Although Ganesha has many attributes, he is readily identified by his elephant head. He is widely revered, more specifically, as the remover of obstacles and thought to bring good luck; the patron of arts and sciences; and the deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rites and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as a patron of letters and learning during writing sessions. Several texts relate mythological anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits.
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| Narthana Ganapathi |
While some texts say that Ganesha was born with an elephant head, he acquires the head later in most stories. The most recurrent motif in these stories is that Ganesha was created by Parvati using clay to protect her and Shiva beheaded him when Ganesha came between Shiva and Parvati. Shiva then replaced Ganesha's original head with that of an elephant.
Popular stories associate him with the concepts of Buddhi (intellect), Siddhi (spiritual power), and Riddhi (prosperity); these qualities are personified as goddesses, said to be Ganesha's wives. The Shiva Purana says that Ganesha had begotten two sons: Kşema (safety) and Lābha (profit). In northern Indian variants of this story, the sons are often said to be Śubha (auspiciousness) and Lābha. The family includes his brother, the god of war, Kartikeya, who is also called Skanda and Murugan.
Ganesha's earliest name was Ekadanta (One Tusked), referring to his single whole tusk, the other being broken. Some of the earliest images of Ganesha show him holding his broken tusk. The importance of this distinctive feature is reflected in the Mudgala Purana, which states that the name of Ganesha's second incarnation is Ekadanta.
Ganesha's protruding belly appears as a distinctive attribute in his earliest statuary, which dates to the Gupta period. This feature is so important that according to the Mudgala Purana, two different incarnations of Ganesha use names based on it: Lambodara (Pot Belly, or, literally, Hanging Belly) and Mahodara (Great Belly). The Brahmanda Purana says that Ganesha has the name Lambodara because all the universes of the past, present, and future are present in him.
The number of Ganesha's arms varies; his best-known forms have between two and sixteen arms. The serpent is a common feature in Ganesha iconography and appears in many forms. According to the Ganesha Purana, Ganesha wrapped the serpent Vasuki around his neck.
Of the eight incarnations of Ganesha described in the Mudgala Purana, Ganesha uses a mouse (shrew), as a vehicle in five of them, a lion in his incarnation as Vakratunda, a peacock in his incarnation as Vikata, and Shesha, the divine serpent, in his incarnation as Vighnaraja. Mohotkata uses a lion, Mayūreśvara uses a peacock, Dhumraketu uses a horse, and Gajanana uses a mouse, in the four incarnations of Ganesha listed in the Ganesha Purana.
The mouse symbolises those who wish to overcome desires and be less selfish. The rat is destructive and a menace to crops. The Sanskrit word mūṣaka (mouse) is derived from the root mūṣ (stealing, robbing). It was essential to subdue the rat as a destructive pest, a type of vighna (impediment) that needed to be overcome. Showing Ganesha as the master of the rat demonstrates his function as Vigneshvara (Lord of Obstacles).
The epic poem Mahabharata says that the sage Vyasa asked Ganesha to serve as his scribe to transcribe the poem as he dictated it to him. Ganesha agreed but only on the condition that Vyasa recites the poem uninterrupted, that is, without pausing. The sage agreed but found that to get any rest he needed to recite very complex passages so Ganesha would have to ask for clarifications.
According to Kundalini yoga, Ganesha resides in the first chakra, called Muladhara (mūlādhāra). Thus, Ganesha has a permanent abode in every being at the Muladhara.
Ganesha is identified with the Hindu mantra Om. The term oṃkārasvarūpa (Om is his form), when identified with Ganesha, refers to the notion that he personifies the primal sound. The Ganapati Atharvashirsa attests to this association. Swami Chinmayananda, in Glory of Ganesha, translates the relevant passage as follows:
(O Lord Ganapati!) You are (the Trimurti) Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa
You are Indra. You are fire [Agni] and air [Vāyu]
You are Indra. You are fire [Agni] and air [Vāyu]
You are the sun [Sūrya] and the moon [Chandrama]
You are Brahman
You are (the three worlds) Bhuloka [earth], Antariksha-Loka [space], and Swargaloka [heaven]
You are Om. (That is to say, You are all this).
Devotees offer Ganesha sweets such as modaka and small sweet balls called laddus. He is often shown carrying a bowl of sweets, called a modakapātra. Because of his identification with the colour red, he is often worshipped with red sandalwood paste (raktachandana) or red flowers. Dūrvā grass (Cynodon dactylon) and other materials are also used in his worship.
Females, especially married women circumambulate the holy trees, in order to give birth to a pious child. Vinayaka means the giver of happiness to us, and once we recite any one of his several names, we would become calm, and we would get good peace of mind.
Vinayaka's worship can be traced back to several millions of years, and still, his worship is going strong day by day. People consider Lord Vinayaka as one of their family members, and they affectionately offer his favourite food Modhakam to him in their homes, and also some would distribute it amongst the devotees in the Vinayaka temples. Vinayaka can also be described as a one-man army, and he is the only god, who removes the obstacles in our lives within a fraction of a second if we worship him sincerely.
The great almighty takes various forms in order to make us worship him easily. By worshipping a formless god, we would not get full confidence in our life. If we worship the god in some form, then we would get great confidence in our life, and we would get more happiness by enjoying the divine beauty of the god.
Thirty-two Forms of Ganapathi
Thirty-two forms of Ganesha are mentioned frequently in devotional literature related to the Hindu god Ganesha (Ganapati). The Ganesha-centric scripture Mudgala Purana is the first to list them.
Detailed descriptions are included in the Shivanidhi portion of the 19th-century Kannada Sritattvanidhi. There are also sculptural representations of these thirty-two forms in the temples at Nanjangud and Chāmarājanagar, both in Mysore district, Karnataka, done about the same time as the paintings were done and also at the direction of the same monarch. Each of the thirty-two illustrations is accompanied by a short Sanskrit meditation verse (dhyānaśloka), written in Kannada script. The meditation verses list the attributes of each form. The text says that these meditation forms are from the Mudgala Purana.
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| Nritya Ganapathi |
S K Ramachandra Rao, in The Compendium on Gaņeśa, says that:
"The first sixteen of the forms of Gaṇapati shown [in the Sritattvanidhi] are more popularly worshipped under the name shoḍaśa-gaṇapati. Among them, the thirteenth, viz. Mahāgaṇapati is especially widely worshipped. There is a tāntrik sect which is devoted to this form. Śakti-gaṇapati, Ucchishṭa-gaṇapati and Lakshmī-gaṇapati are also tāntrik forms, which receive worship which is cultic and esoteric. Heraṃba-gaṇapati is popular in Nepāl".
Significance of Narthana Ganapati
Nritya Ganapati is regarded as the 15th among the 32 different forms of Ganapati. The Sanskrit word ‘Nritya’ means ‘dance.’ Nritya Ganapati, as the name suggests, is a dancer or a happy dancer, and thus represents the relaxed and enjoyable form of the Lord. This Ganapati is depicted dancing under the divine, wish-fulfilling Kalpa Vriksha tree. With one foot placed on the ground and the other raised, as during a dance, he is shining in golden yellow colour and has four hands. While he holds his own broken tusk in his principal right hand, an elephant goad, a battle axe, and a noose are there in his other hands. Rings are seen in his fingers and his trunk, curled in the end, is holding his favourite snack, Modak (dumpling). In some depictions, one of his hands is shown as holding the sweet meat.
This form of Ganesha can be seen as a painting in the Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram and also as a sculpture in the Pazhavangadi Ganesha temple there. The sculptures showing this form of Ganesha can also be found in some temples in the Mysore region, where all the 32 Ganapati forms are on display. Nritya Ganapati can also be worshipped in an idol form, in the Magudeshwarar temple in Kodumudi near Karur town, in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Magham Star, also known as Magha Nakshatra is said to be related to this aspect of Ganapati.
Nritya Ganapati is a happy and kind-hearted aspect of the Lord. This dancer form also shows Ganapati as a connoisseur of fine arts. Hence his worship is believed to bestow the devotees with an aptitude for learning fine arts, proficiency in them, and also success and fame in that field. Hence this Lord is widely worshipped by artists, and especially by dancers.
The mantra, which reads as under in Sanskrit, sings the praise of this ‘dancing Lord,’ describes his appearance and prays for his blessings.
Paashamkushaa Poopakutaar Dhanta-
Chanchath Karamkluptha Varaanguleeyakam
Peethaprabham Kukshihikarastha Dhantam
Bhajaaminruththop Padham Ganesham
Dancing under the boon tree, He has four arms. He is golden in colour. His hands hold the single tusk, the elephant goad, the noose, the axe (parashu) or the hatchet (kuthâra).
The dhyâna sloka specifies that one of the four hands can show a cake apûpa.
Chanting the Nritya Ganapati mantra with faith can be an effective means of propitiating the powerful Lord. Dancers and musicians, particularly in southern India, begin art performances such as the Bharatnatyam dance with a prayer to Ganesha.
© Ramachandran
