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Ganesa: Remover of Obstacles (fwd)
Article forwarded from alt.religion.vaisnava
(originally posted by Vijay Pai)
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Ganesa
Remover of Obstacles
by Satyaraja Dasa
THE JOYOUS ELEPHANT-FACED DEITY known as Ganesa is revered by one billion
Hindus worldwide, and though his worship has little place in the modern-day
Hare Krsna movement, his personality and pastimes are part of ISKCON's
heritage.
Ganesa is often seen as the creator and remover of obstacles, as the guardian
at entrances, and as a spiritually potent figure who can avert all evil
influences. In popular Hindu lore he is thus the god to be worshiped first,
before all religious ceremonies, public and private. Things tend to start off
with Ganesa, and this is reflected even in common idiomatic phrases. For
example, in Maharashtra when a dedication or inauguration is to be performed, a
Marathi speaker may refer to the occasion as Sri ganesa karane ("doing the Sri
Ganesa"). Another such expression is ganapatice kele ("to conceive a child").
Similar phrases are found in other Indian languages.
Since Ganesa is considered the lord of beginnings, for the first installment in
this series about the demigods we start with him.
According to the Vedic literature, behind the workings of the cosmos stand
powerful controllers, known as devas, or demigods. As we people in this world
control our cars or homes, the devas control various aspects of the cosmos.
Ganesa is a popular hero whose image adorns the walls of shops, homes, and
temples throughout India. Even for people unfamiliar with Indian culture or the
Vedic literature, Ganesa is perhaps the easiest of all demigods to identify,
with his human body, elephant head, and potbelly. He is usually pictured
standing, sitting, or dancing, with his jolly elephant face looking straight
ahead. Ganesa is at times depicted with quill on palm leaf, for as Vyasa
dictated the Mahabharata, Ganesa served as the scribe to write it down.
Ganesa is missing one tusk, a piece of which can sometimes be found in one of
his four hands. In another hand he sometimes holds a hatchet (parasu), which,
according to some texts, is for cutting away illusion and false teachings.
Another of Ganesa's hands often gestures fearlessness and reassurance
(varada-hasta-mudra). He also holds a goad (ankusa) like that used by an
elephant trainer, symbolizing his insistence on proper training or spiritual
discipline. He sometimes holds a noose (pasa) used for restraining wild
animals, here representing the restraint of passion and lustful desires.
Sometimes he is seen holding sweets (modaka), for which he is said to have an
inordinate fondness. Hence the belly.
Who is this strange-looking god, and what, if anything, does he have to do with
the worship of Krsna or Visnu?
Vedic texts reveal that Ganesa is the son of Siva and Parvati, although his
sonship like that of his half-brother, Skanda-Subrahmanya, is peculiar. Ac
cording to one version, Siva "emits" from his body a handsome son who becomes a
seducer of women. Parvati is offended by her son's exploits and curses him to
have the head of an elephant and a big belly-in other words, to be ugly. Though
with this he would seem fated to celibacy, he gradually settles down with two
wives: Buddhi ("wisdom") and Siddhi ("success"), who can see beyond his
physical ugliness.
As time passes, Ganesa becomes the commander of Siva's troops (gana- isa or
gana-pati), and because he be comes famous as one who creates obstacles for the
demons and removes obstacles for the demigods or the devotees, he is known as
Vighnesvara ("lord of obstacles") and Vinayaka ("one who removes [obstacles]").
The "obstacle" theme also tells us why Ganesa uses a rat as his vehicle. As
rodents generally succeed in gnawing their way through any obstruction, the
rat, it is said, symbolizes Ganesa's ability to destroy every obstacle.
In another, more popular version of the Ganesa story, Parvati, wanting to
seclude herself from her passionate husband, Siva, especially while bathing,
creates a son from her perspiration and appoints him the guardian of her
quarters. Soon after, when Siva seeks admission into Parvati's inner chambers,
Ganesa, unaware of Siva's identity, refuses him, pushing him away from
Parvati's door; Not one to be slighted, the enraged Siva summons his attendants
(ganas) to do away with this bothersome upstart. But Ganesa defeats them one by
one. Finally Visnu arrives, and drawing upon His maya (mystic potency) He
creates confusion on all sides. This enables Siva to cut off Ganesa's head.
Parvati, furious at what has become of her "son," decides to send a multitude
of goddesses to harass the demigods. These celestial women succeed in making it
clear to the noble gods that their queen can be appeased only if her guardian
is revived. Siva then tells the gods to go north and cut off the head of the
first living being they see. The head is to be mystically placed on the body of
the decapitated Ganesa, who will then come back to external consciousness. As
fate would have it, the first living being to cross the path of the gods is an
elephant.
The various Ganesa stories described above -- found primarily in the Siva
Purana and the Brahma-vaivarta Purana -- are somewhat divergent, and tradition
accounts for this by placing the variations in different cycles of cosmic time.
"Because of the distinction between kalpas [ages]," the Siva Purana explains,
"the story of Ganesa's birth is told in different ways." The cyclical structure
of Vedic time allows for repeated descents of the Lord and His devotees, so
details of the pastimes may vary.
According to popular Indian tradition, Ganesa is a benign and helpful deity who
brings success and assures worldly well-being. Since devotees of Krsna are more
interested in spiritual realization than in worldly security, ISKCON tends to
forgo the worship of Ganesa. Lord Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita (9.23),
"Those who are devotees of other gods and worship them with faith actually
worship only Me, 0 son of Kunti, but they do so in a wrong way." Lord Krsna
uses the word avidhi purvakam: "in an inappropriate way." Why is such worship
of demigods inappropriate? Because it is materially motivated. As Lord Krsna
says, "Men in this world desire success in fruitive activities, and therefore
they worship the demigods." (Bg. 4.12)
Since we are essentially spiritual beings in a material body, material rewards
can never truly satisfy us. Only spiritual rewards are satisfying for a spirit
soul. Therefore Srila Prabhupada concurring with the above two Gita texts, says
"[To worship] Ganapati is not required, but sometimes we do it. Just like the
gopis-they worshiped Goddess Durga, Katyayani. They did not require to worship
her, but that was part of the social system. But they asked, Mother Katyayani,
give us the opportunity to have Krsna as our husband. Their aim was Krsna."
(Morning walk, Los Angeles, January 10, 1974)
So the worship of Ganesa, like that of his mother, Durga (Parvati), is not
condemned, but it should be done for the proper reasons: Ganesa is a devotee of
Lord Krsna, and we can pray to him to remove obstacles on the road to Krsna
consciousness. In this regard, Brahma- Samhita (5.50*) explains that Ganesa is
Krsna's devotee. The success achieved by worshiping Ganesa depends on Lord
Krsna, and therefore such worship should ultimately be directed to Krsna: "For
the power to destroy all obstacles to progress in the three mundane worlds,
Ganesa holds on his elephant head the lotus feet of Govinda. I worship Govinda,
Krsna, the primeval Lord."
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Satyaraja Dasa is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and a regular contributor to
Back to Godhead. He has written several books on Krsna consciousness. He and
his wife live in New York City.
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(Appeared in Jan/Feb 1995 _Back To Godhead_ magazine.
(c) BBT International)
* yat-pAda-pallava-yugam vinidhAya kumbha
dvandve praNAma-samaye sa gaNAdhirAjah
vighnAn vihantum alam asya jagat-trayasya
govindam Adi-puruSham tam aham bhajAmi
(I tried to use the transliteration guide that Anand Hudli posted earlier)
