Lord Ganesha

Not that everything old is good or that everything new is bad. The wise examine and take the best from everything. Only the fools are swayed by others.So said the famous poet Kalidasa.



Vakrathunda mahakaya Suryakotisamaprabha
nirvgnam kuru me deva sarvakaryeshu sarvada


O Lord , with a curved trunk and a huge body, your lustre is equal to that of a crore Suns. Kindly remove all the obstacles in all my endeavours always.

This verse dedicated to the lord Ganesha is recited at the start of all undertakings and auspicious occasions.


The son of Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha has an elephant face with a curved trunk, and big ears and a huge pot bellied body of a human being . He is the lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles . He is also worshipped as the god of knowledge ,wisdom and wealth .


Symbolism of the form.


Ganesha's head symbolizes the Atman or the soul ,which is the ultimate supreme reality of human existence , and his human body signifies maya or the earthly existence of human beings . Thus the entire form represents the fundamental identity of macrocosm and microcosm .


Elephants are a symbol of wisdom in Asian culture and are famed for their memory and intelligence . Aristotle once said the elephant was the beast which passeth all others in wit and mind .


Ganesha's elephant head denotes wisdom. The lord represents ' Om ' , the sound symbol of cosmic reality for his figure with an elephant's trunk resembles the form of Om . His curved trunk is the symbol of power . The trunk of an elephant can pick up a pin and at the same time it can uproot a tree . The broken tusk is a symbol of sacrifice , which he broke for writing the great epic Mahabharata .His large flapping ears indicate continuous and intelligent listening to his teacher . Ganesha agreed to write the big book Mahabharata with a condition that the sage Vyasa should dictate it non-stop. Ganesha broke his tusk and wrote down continuously without leaving a word and at the same time understanding the meaning fully. This shows how sharp his listening was and how deep his concentration was . For acquisition of knowledge , listening , concentration and deep understanding are a must .


His large belly indicates that all created worlds are contained in him . It can also mean that he is full of knowledge. He is omniscient . Therefore he has the brilliance of a crore Suns.


He has four hands. In his upper right hand Ganesha holds ankusha , a goad . Goad is the insignia of the ruler of the universe with which he propels mankind forward on the eternal path and remove obstacles from the way .Ankusha represents anger also . He has pasha , a noose or rope in his left upper hand . Noose signifies worldly attachments which are a bondage like a rope . Anger and attachment make life miserable . By praying to Lord Ganesha our minds becomes pure and all impurities vanish . Along with rope sometimes a lotus flower is also seen in his hand . Lotus is a symbol of purity and beauty . Lotus 's rise to faultless beauty untouched by water and mire in which it is born indicates the possibility of evolution of man from instinctive impulses to the highest state - a state of Satyam , Shivam, Sundaram . Lotus represents unattachment . Doing one's duty without attachment and in the public interest leads to enlightenment . The lower right hand of the lord is in abhaya mudra , assuring fearlessness and granting divine protection . In some pictures he is shown holding a rosary in his lower right hand. It suggests that the pursuit of knowledge should be continuous . The modaka (sweet) he holds in his lower left hand ( sometimes in the trunk) indicates that one must discover the sweetness of the Atman- one's own inner self of bliss . The snake that runs round his waist represents energy in all forms .

His vahana or the mount the mouse represents the worldly desires which are to be overcome. Mouse can signify ignorance as it roams in darkness which is a symbol of ignorance .Wisdom or knowledge alone can have control over ignorance .

Lord Ganesha is fond of Kapittha fruit (wood apple) and Jambu fruit (Indian blackberries).Durva grass and Arka flowers are offered to Ganesha in his worship . All these are veritable pharmacy of Ayurveda's secret curative and preventive medicinal potencies . All these show us the path to good health. Health is real wealth . A healthy body is the fittest vehicle for wisdom and self-realisation .

The Swastika (su+asti +ka) meaning good fortune, luck ,auspicious forms the graphic symbol of Ganapati. It is represented by a cross , being the development of the multiple from the basic unity, its central point ,with its ends bent at an angle of ninety degrees .This shows the origin of creation is Ganesha and the ends pointing all directions indicate the all pervasive nature of the god .

Brahman or the supreme consciousness is without attributes and is not directly accessible to worship , but its radiance is refracted through the images of gods. Thus each deity, itself an aspect of the universal consciousness , is at the same time intimately associated with the world of particulars through its connection with a specific name(nama),form(rupa) , sound(mantra), color(rasa), diagrammatic representation(yantra),a symbol(linga) and so on .

An image can serve to expand one's perspective , acting as a daily reminder either of the invisible celestial realms , and one's own potential divinity and at the same time ,of the essentially ephemeral nature of the world and one's own limitations set by ignorance .

The primary purpose of prayer and worship is to refine and develop the mind's ability to perceive the subtle depths of life and realize our identity with the Divine from which all life springs .

Ganesha stands for wisdom and its supremacy .The special feature in Ganesha's worship is kuttu kutti and thoppukaranam. Knocking the two ends of forehead with closed fists is called kuttu kutti.It is done before the the image of Ganesha and also at the beginning of every puja . It is believed that the nerves connecting to the intellect passes through these two ends and knocking is to invoke the lord Ganesha , the god of intellect. Keeping the two arms crossed across the chest and holding ear tips is thoppukaranam . Thoppukaranam is performed before Ganesha by holding the left ear with right hand fingers and the right by left hand fingers and doing the sit ups .

As per the modern medical research and subsequent report , doing these special sits ups while holding the opposite ear lobes help stimulate brain power and remember things better and is called 'Super Brain Yoga'.

Hindus have been doing 'Super Brain Yoga' for ages in front of Ganesha . Ganesha is associated with knowledge / memory , a point which is now proved by this research .

During the festival of Diwali , along with Lakshmi , the goddess of wealth , Ganesha is worshipped( Shubha Labha). Shubha, auspicious is Ganesha , Labha is wealth , Lakshmi .It is to be remembered that wealth can be earned only by means of knowledge and preserved by knowledge. Money without brain can be dangerous. It can also mean that real wealth is knowledge. Ordinary riches can be stolen., real riches cannot .

' In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you . ' - Oscar Wilde .

Wisdom develops mental purity and strength and helps man to overcome obstacles and reach the goal . By mere prayer to Ganesha , one cannot achieve anything. By imbibing (listening ,pondering and assimilating )the qualities for which Ganesha stands for , one can make one's life divine .