Sri Ganesha

"Vakrathunda mahakaaya koti soorya samaprabha,
nirvighnam kurume dheva sarva kaaryeshu sarvadhaa"

Ganapathi is the deity common to all the religions of India. Devotees propitiate him first and seek his sanction and aid to their worship of their respective chosen deities. Even a religion like Buddhism, which excludes the worship of God, provides an adorable place to Sri Ganesh in the Vihar, the Buddhistic temple. Lord Buddha's statues in various postures are installed there for drawing inspiration. Gananatha, otherwise known as Ganapati is one among them. Now Jainism recognizes no God other than the perfected beings known as the 'Tirtankaras.' But the followers of that religion ardently pay homage to Ganesa propitiating him for success in all of their endeavours. While Buddhism and Jainism choose to be outside the pale of the Vedas, all the other creeds and sects in Hinduism derive authority and inspiration from them. These sects are therefore classified as the orthodox Vedic religions.

Vaishnavism among them does not approve of the adoration of the Almighty under nomenclatures other than those pertaining to Vishnu. Even such an exclusive sect gives sanction to the worship of Ganesha who does not belong to the Vaishnavite pantheon. It is but natural that He occupies a prominent place in the Siva and Sakti creeds. He is the elder of Siva and Sakti. In all the ritualistic worships of all the sects the very first offering goes to Ganesa. This tradition is maintained all over India among all the sects belonging to Hinduism.

This elephant-faced god has his place duly allotted in temples dedicated to all the gods. Over and above them, the temples dedicated exclusively to Ganesa exceed in number all the others put together. However humble a hamlet may be, at least the semblance of a Ganesa temple is sure to be found in its proximity. A newly built house is turned in a trice into a Ganesa temple for the purpose of ritualistic sanctification. In other words, it would not be made a dwelling place without invoking the grace of Ganesa into it.

No conventionalism or formalism offers any restriction to the worship of Ganesa. The promptings of the heart is the code to be followed. A child resorts to a playful puja of this deity. Next comes a priest to carry on rigidly the enjoined ritualistic adoration. In between these two extremes the grown-ups, the teenagers, the learned, the ignorant, the man, the woman, the boy, the girl -- all can adore the elephant headed deity according to their tastes, temperaments and dispositions.

 Science of Symbology

Adoring the Absolute Reality through a concrete symbol is practised all over India. The science of symbology and the methods of worship are all evolved quite in tune with the working of the Cosmos. Any ritualistic deviation from the set principles is held heterodox. But these rules and regulations are not rigidly adhered to in the worship of Ganesa. Every temple has no doubt a sanctum dedicated to Him in accordance with the scriptural injunctions. The image is sculptured in stone in perfect adherence to the science of symbology. That is as it ought to be. The substitutes to this, however, are of amazing interest. Men of means would have for their personal worship tiny images of gold and silver, while the commoner would provide himself with one made of copper or bronze. Ganesa carved out of ivory is piously owned by those of aesthetic taste. Figures of this deity sculptured in wood are hardly ever installed for worship, but they are commonly found at the top of doorways.

Every household will have a clay-modelled Ganesa for the annual worship in August and then it will ceremoniously consign it into water, the idea being that the Persisting Reality is worshipped with the aid of the perishing non-reality.

The month of 'Margasirsha' (December-January) is held particularly sacred for divine comunion. Early every morning that month, the front courtyard of the house is swept, sprinkled with cowdung water and decorated with flour designs. Cowdung balls are arranged on those designs viewing them as the figures of Ganesa. The picture is made complete by inserting a flower or blade of 'durva' grass on the head of each figure. The daughter of the home is in charge of this simple ceremonious worship. These cowdung-balls (Ganesa) are all preserved to serve as fuel for the cooking of the rice to be offered to that same god at the commencement of the next month, which is the harbinger of brighter days. At a moment's notice wet rice powder or turmeric powder is given the shape of a cone and treated as the image of Ganesa ready for offering worship. In the absence of all of these symbols, a blade of 'durva' grass is installed and through it adoration  is directed to this popular deity. His worship is the easiest and most informal of all the forms of homage to the Cosmic Being.

A mythological delienation of this cosmic fact may prove appealing to the ordinary person. The origin of Vigneswara is as follows:

The celestials gathered in large numbers before Parvati and Parameswara on the holy Mount Kailas and presented their case with all earnestness. Their entreaty was: "Any good cause undertaken by the pious and the righteous suffers  from a setback, humiliation and want of patronage. A questionable cause undertaken by the unscrupulous is forthwith backed up an pushed through. This anomaly may graciously be set right." This supplication made by the gods seemed sensible. So Parameswara nodded his head approvingly and glanced benignly at the Cosmic Mother. Consequently she brought forth Ganesa who was to guard and guide the doings of the mortals. His cosmic function is to approve of the good undertakings and remove the possible obstructions to them. Similarly sooner or later the bad undertakings would be set  at nought by him. This function of Vighneswara takes place inexorably everywhere. The votary of Ganesa is therefore obliged to fall in line with right conduct and noble undertakings.

The Hindu genius has provided concrete symbols in order to bring the abstract truths within the ken of the ordinary. It has advocated elaborate ritualistic puja that transforms subtle concepts into soul-stirring human relationship. Ganesa puja is illustrious in this respect. It rouses up the imagination of the child and creates a living contact between the visible human and the invisible superhuman. It induces devotion in the growing little one. It gives a practical shape to the urge in the child for a healthy and loving relationship with its comrades. Allotted duties in the ritualistic worship of Ganesa are willingly shared and executed with a team-spirit by the children. The edibles dedicated to the deity are impartially and dutifully distributed among themselves. So far, the Vigneswara puja proves itself the agency for the removal of the obstruction of the inherent selfishness in the budding little ones.

With the grown-ups Ganesa puja assumes gravity and self-effacing elaboration of the rituals associated with it. Physical fitness for this prupose is brought about by evacuation and a plunge-bath early in the morning; washed clothes are then put on; food and drink are completely abstained from until the worship is over. With a clean body and devoted mind the worshipper applies himself to the ritualistic worship of the deity invoked on the image. The duration and the details of worship expand or contract according to the time available. But the exertion purposely entailed is physically exacting.

It is a religionized physical exercise beneficial to the performer. The more the food articles employed in the puja, the better is the merit derived thereby. All the food-stuffs  used in the worship are then to be devotionally distributed among people who in turn receive them as grace from God. This is the symbolic beginning of the attitude  and service of the individual to the community.

The Mouse as His Vehicle

All beings high and low are the vehicles of the Divinity enshrined in their hearts. They have no existence independent of it. In order to drive home this truth in the minds of the ordinary people, birds and beasts are allotted to the several gods to function as their vehicles. And there is an appropriateness in this allottment. The assignment of the mouse to  Ganesa clarifies the point. To the superficial observer this design may seem both ludicrous and impossible. But the principle involved in it is bound to stir up a spirit of inquiry.

Viewed physically the elephant is the biggest vertebrate and the mouse about the smallest. The massiveness of the one contrasts well with the minuteness of the other. The one can trample on the other and make it untraceable. But the bulkiness of the body does not count when the study of the life-principle is taken into consideration. Life as such is neither heavy nor light. And Atman or the Self is the same in all. It may be said to be the greatest of the great and the smallest of the small. Atman is as expansive as the sky and as interpenetrating as the atom. Ganesa installed on the mouse is suggestive of these cosmic facts.

Ganesa is given a human body with an elephant's head. Several are the stories current relating to Ganesa happening to be elephant-headed. The one point on which they are all agreed is that this strange personification represents AUM, the symbol of the Cosmic Reality. The languages of India have their conventional figures indicating AUM. Those figures resemble to a great extent the elephant's head, ears and trunk twisted into various poses.

The bulky body of Ganesa stands for the cosmos in its entirety. Not only is it ever perfect but it is also beaming with intelligence.

This plumpy god has a snake for his bell-band. The snake is the symbol of energy in all forms. The idea contained in this concept is that all beings have their allotted place in the womb of Nature and that they are all supported by the cosmic energy.

Text reproduced from Swami Chidbhavananda's article titled"Ganapati" printed in "Bhavan's Journal", September 16, 1985.

Note: Today i.e. on 24th December, 2010, people in India celebrate Sri Sankatahara Ganesha Chathurthi.