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Home > Temples of Kerala > What could be the form of this almighty God Ganapati ? What could be the form of this almighty God Ganapati ?For a simple aboriginal living in a group (= gana) near a forest or a mountain, the mighty elephant might have provided the clue. This might have led to the worship of an elephant like god. He being the Pati (= lord) of the Gana (clan or group) might have obtained the name Ganapati. As the group became more refined and cultured, this Elephant god might have been transformed into the present form. However plausible or attractive this hypothesis may be, it is at best a guesswork, if not an invention. Since Ganapati had gained de facto recognition in the hearts of millions of votaries, over several centuries, the Puranas rightly struggled to make it de jure. True, they have given very confusing accounts. Nevertheless they have succeeded in fusing together the votaries by giving them a scriptural or authoritative base. There is certainly no contradiction or confusion in the accounts as far as the worship and its results are concerned. It is a favourite pastime of some western scholars and their Indian counterparts to discover a Dravidian base for may interesting developments in our cultural and religious life and then to unearth the further fat of the white skinned Aryan conquerors graciously and condescendingly absorbing these, tactfully elevating the same to higher levels all the while. This has naturally led to a vigorous reaction and these reactionaries go the whole hog to prove it the other way round. When our Ganapati is caught in the web of such controversies one may be driven to the ridiculous conclusion that he is not an Aryan deity at all, but most probably, imported from Mongolia. It is therefore better to play safe, rescue our deity from embarrassing situations and get the best out of him for our spiritual life. The most commonly accepted form of Ganapati depicts him as red in colour and in a human body with an elephants head. Out of the two tusks, one is broken. He has four arms two of the arms hold the Pasa (noose) and Ankusa (goad). The other two are held in the Abhaya and Varada Mudras. The belly is of generous proportions and is decorated with a snake belt. There is also a Yajnopavita (sacred Brahminical thread), either of thread or of serpent. He may be seated in Padmasana (lotus posture) when the belly does not permit this, the right leg may be shown bent and resting on the seat. Apart from beautiful robes and ornaments, he wears a lovely carved crown. The trunk may be turned to the left or to the right. He is normally seen helping himself to liberal quantities of Modaka (a kind of sweet). A mouse of ridiculously small proportions, is seen near him, nibbling at his share of the sweets, hoping perhaps, to gain enough strength to carry his master. A third eye may sometimes be added on the forehead, in the centre of the eyebrows. The number of heads may be raised to five. The arms may vary from two to ten. Lotus, Pomegranate, Water vessel, battle axe, lute, broken tusk, sugarcane, ears of paddy, bow and arrow, thunderbolt, rosary, book – these are some of the other objects shown in the hands. His Sakti is often shown with him as sitting on his lap. Sometimes two Saktis, Riddhi and Siddhi are also shown. Let us now make an attempt at unraveling this symbologyGana means category. Everything that we perceive through our senses or grasp through our mind can be expressed in terms of kind, of category. The principle form which all such categories have manifested themselves is Ganapati, the lord of categories. In effect, it means the origin of the whole creation, God himself. A common Sanskrit word to denote the elephant is Gaja. Hence the name Gajanana or Gajamukha (elephant faced) for Ganapati. But the word Gaja has a much deeper connotation. Ga indicates Gati, the final goal towards which the entire creation is moving, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Ja stands for Janma, birth or origin. Hence Gaja signifies God from whom the worlds have come out and towards whom they are progressing , to be ultimately dissolved in him. The elephant head is thus purely symbolical and points to this truth. Another factor we observe in creation is its two fold manifestation as the microcosm (suksmanda) and the Macrocosm (Brahmanda). Each is a replica of the other. They are one in two and two in one. The elephant head stands for the macrocosm and the human body for the microcosm. The two form one unit. Since the macrocosm is the goal of the microcosm, the elephant part has been given greater prominence by making it the head. Perhaps, the boldest statement concerning philosophical truths ever made is contained in that pithy saying of the Chandogya Upanisad tat-tvam-asi, That thou art. It simply means; You, the apparently limited individual, are in essence, the Cosmic truth, the Absolute. The elephant human form of Ganapati is the iconographical representation of this great Vedantic dictum. The elephant stands for the cosmic whereas the human stands for the individual. The single image reflects their identity. Among the various myths that deal with Ganapati’s origin, the one that attributes it to the scurf of dirt taken out of her body by Parvati seems to be the most widely known, and considered as odd and odious. It is therefore worth while to delve a little deeper into this mystery. One of the epithets by which Ganapati is well known and worshipped is Vighnesvara or Vighnaraja (The lord of obstacles). He is the lord of all that obstructs and shades of the powers of obstruction under his control, he can create a hell of trouble for us if he wants. In fact, according to the mythological accounts, the very purpose of his creation was to obstruct the progress in the path of perfection. How does he do it? If he is not appeased by proper worship, all undertakings, whether sacred or secular, will meet with so many obstacles that they will simply peter out. This is to show that nothing can succeed without his grace. If he is pleased by worship and service, he will tempt his votaries with success and prosperity (Siddhi and Riddhi) the very taste of which can gradually lead them away from the spiritual path. Why does he do it? To test them thoroughly before conferring upon them the greatest spiritual boon of moksa. Being the master of all arts and sciences, and the repository of all knowledge, he can easily confer success of perfection in any of these. However, he is unwilling to give spiritual knowledge leading to the highest spiritual experience, lest it should appear easy of achievement in the eyes of men. Hence the severity of the test. The path of the good is fraught with innumerable obstacles, sreyamsi bahuvighnani. Only the very best of heroes, who can brave the roughest of weathers, deserve to be blessed with it. Human beings by nature are inclined towards the enjoyments of the flesh and intoxications of poser and pelf. It is only one in a million that turns towards God. Among many such souls, very few survive the struggles and reach the goal. When compared to the highest spiritual wisdom, which alone is really worth striving for, even Rddhi and Siddhi (success and prosperity) are like impurities, Mala, as it were. Since Ganapati’s consorts are Riddhi and Siddhi (personifications of the powers of success and prosperity), he, their spouse, has been described as created out of Parvati’s bodily scurf. Again the word Mala need not have any odium about it. If Siva represents Paramapurusa, the supreme person, Parvati stands for Parama Prakrti, Nature Supreme, considered as his power, inseparable from him. She is, in the language of philosophy, Maya prakrti, comprising the three Gunas Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Sattva is stated to be pure and as compared to it, Rajas and Tamas are said to be impure. Since creation is impossible out of pure sattva, even as pure gold does not lend itself to be shaped into ornaments unless mixed with baser metals, it has got to be mixed with Rajas and Tamas to effect it. This seems to be the import of the story of the impure substances being used by mother Parvati to shape Ganapati. Let us now try to interpret the other factors involved in the symbology of this god. His ears are large, large enough to listen to the supplications of everyone, but, like the winnowing basket, are capable of sifting what is good for the supplicant from what is not. Out of the two tusks, the one that is whole stands for the Truth, the one without a second. The broken tusk, which is imperfect, stands for the manifest world, which appears to be imperfect because of the inherent incongruities. However, the manifest universe and the unmanifest unity are both attributes of the same Absolute. The bent trunk is a representation of Onkara or Pranava which, being the symbol of Brahman. The Absolute, is declaring as it were that Ganapati is Brahman itself. His large belly indicates that all the created worlds are contained in him. The Pasa (noose) stands for Raga (attachment), and the Ankusa (goad) for Krodha (anger). Like the noose, attachment binds us. Anger hurts us like the goad. If god is displeased with us, our attachments and anger will increase, making us miserable. The only way of escaping from the tyranny of these is to take refuge in God. Or it can mean that it is far safer for us to surrender our attachment and anger to him. When they are in his hands, we are safe. How we wish that lord Ganapati had chosen a big bandicoot at his mount. The fact, however is otherwise and that privilege has been conferred on a small mouse. The word Musaka (=mouse) is derived from the root mus which means to steal. A mouse stealthily enters into things and destroys them from within. Similarly egoism enters unnoticed, into our minds and quietly destroys all our undertakings. Only when it is controlled by divine wisdom, it can be harnessed to useful channels. Or, the mouse that steals, can represent love that steals the human hearts. As long as human love is kept at the low level, it can create havoc. Once it is directed towards the Divine, it elevates us. The mouse that is wont to see the inside of all things can stand for the incisive intellect. Since Ganapati is the lord of the intellect, it is but meet that he has chosen it as his vehicle. Article courtsey : Sri Ramakrishna Math Mylapore, Chennai. Related Reading
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