Sri Ganesha (lord of the attendants)
last updated 27th August 2006
About Ganesha - who he is and how he came to look how he does:
About Ganesh Chaturthi - his day:Ganapati stotram prayers:
Ganesha Puja Page
What the Vaishnava Acharyas say about Ganapati puja:
Sri Ganesha Gayatri mantra:Ganesha as remover of all obstacles - impediments to our progress:
A Simplified Ceremony One Can Easily Perform:
Links to related Ganesha / Ganapathi sites:
The Devas and Devis page:
The Ten primary incarnations of Vishnu page and Gallery:
Laxmi Puja page:The Vaishnava Calendar and Events Panjika - Fasts, Festivals and Feasts:
The
Story Behind The Appearance of Ganesha:
There was a demon called Gajasura. He was all-powerful and an ardent
devotee of Lord Shiva. He underwent penance for many years to receive
special boons from Shiva. Lord Shiva, the god, who is easily pleased by
prayers, is deeply moved by Gajasura's devotion. He blesses the demon
and offers him a boon. But the devotee is not as innocent as Shiva. He
pleads with Shiva to reside in his belly. Left with no option but to grant
the boon, Shiva gets into Gajasura's stomach.
Meanwhile on Mount Kailash, Parvati - Shiva's wife becomes anxious
not knowing the whereabouts of her husband for a long time. She
searches through the whole universe but to no avail. Finally she
approaches Lord Vishnu - the preserver of the world.
Vishnu assures Parvati to find Shiva out. He disguises himself in the
form of a street player along with Nandi - the sacred bull of Shiva and
sets out in search of Shanker (another name for Shiva). They go to
Gajasura's kingdom and Nandi performs a dance to please the demon.
The demon is delighted to see the bull dancing in his honor and wishes
to reward the bull. The bull asks for Shiva as a reward. Hearing this,
the
demon realises that the entertainer is none but Lord Vishnu himself. He
also realises that Shiva cannot be made to live in his stomach forever
because he has his role to play in the world. He lets Shiva out of his
stomach. But he prays to him, that he be made immortal in the
memories of people.
To fulfill this wish, Shiva severs Gajasura's head and frees him from the
cycle of birth and death. He carries the head along with him. On Mount
Kailash, in the Himalayas, Parvati comes to know of Vishnu's victory
and is very happy. She makes arrangements to receive her Lord and
goes to bedeck herself. She wants somebody to stand guard. So she
creates a doll out of the dough that she uses in her bath. She calls him
Vinayak - the one who puts off all obstacles. This boy having never seen
Shiva, prevents his entry into the palace. In a fit of fury Shiva beheads
the boy and enters the palace. Parvati is unaware of the happenings and
receives Shiva with warmth, for he had returned after a long period.
During the course of their conversation, Shiva mentions the incident at
the palace gates and tells her about severing the child's head. Parvati
is
shocked to hear the news and pleads with Shiva to bring the child back
to life for he is like a son to her.
Shiva who has with him the head of Gajasura, immediately puts it on the
torso of the dead child. Thus the child comes back to life. That day is
Bhadrapad Chaturthi. Shiva blesses him with a boon that the entire
world would worship him on that day and also would propitiate him
before any auspicious event.
At the same time, all the Gods approach Shiva and request for a leader.
To select the best one of Ganseh and Kartikswami as a leader of all the
Gods, Shiva conducts a test between the two. He says that whoever
makes three rounds of the earth sooner than the other, will be made the
Ganaadhipati. Kumarswami seated on a peacock, his vahanam
(vehicle), and starts off for the test. Vinayak is given a rat which moves
swiftly. Vinayak realises that the test is not so easy but he cannot
disobey his father. He reverently pays obeisance to his parents and
goes around them three times and completes the test before
Kumarswami. He says, " my parents pervade the whole universe and
going around them, is more than going round the earth." Everybody is
pleasantly surprised to hear Vinayak's logic and intelligence. Meanwhile,
Kartik is amazed to see Ganesh completing the holy bath at each river
that he reached at and ready for another round of the universe. When he
comes back to Kailas, Shiva had already declared Vinayak as the
winner. He is blessed as the Supreme God of the universe. After this,
Vinayak is called as Ganaadhish, Ganapati and Ganesh. All the gods
worship him.
Ganesh and
Moon:
An interesting story associated with Ganesh Chaturthi and its
significance is as follows. It so happens that Ganesh is worshipped by
all the Gods. Kuber, the wealthiest among the residents of paradise
hosts a feast in honor of their new lord. A joyous Ganesh feasts himself
to his heart's content. But he grows very restless and feels that his
stomach would burst out. In order to prevent the stomach from bursting
out, he ties one snake around it and goes to pay obeisance to his
parents. But his stomach has now acquired a huge shape. With the tiny
stature and a round belly, he is unable to prostrate before his parents.
When he tries to bend, he turns turtle. The moon watches the scene
from the sky and laughs at Ganesh. Parvati detests this ridicule and
curses the moon that whoever sees him on Vinayak Chaturthi will be
accused of a wrong doing. According to another version of the story,
Ganesh falls down from the rat much to the amusement of the moon,
who bursts out laughing and invite
The Composite
Image of Lord Ganesha:
When looking at the lord Ganesha, a question that comes toevery
inquisitive mind is: Wow could the concept of a human being with an
elephant head, have come into being Claims are made that this is an
evidence of the development of surgery in India. Although nothing can be
said assertively, piecing together of facts and hypothesis can afford a
convincing answer. Gana-esha (eshwara) or Gana-pati means Lord of
the tribe (Gana means a collection of people or a "tribe"; Esha, Eshwara
or Pati roughly mean "lord"). Thus, these names convey the meaning of
a tribal title. The second set of names by which he is referred are
Gajanana and Gajamukha which seem similar to the names Ganapati
and Ganesha but have an entirely different meaning. Gaja means
elephant while mukha or anana mean face or head. Gajanana and
Gajamukha mean elephant headed. Thus although Gana meaning a tribe
or a collection of people sounds similar to Gaja which means elephant,
their connotation is totally different. The onl
Hasti-Gumpha (meaning an "elephant cave") in eastern India contain a
curious carving that conveys the story of a battle between an elephant
clan (Hasti-gana) and a mouse clan (Mushika-gana) This battle, the
carving says, led to the victory of the elephant clan over the mouse clan.
The subjugation of the mouse clan by the elephant clan might be the
explanation behind how the elephant-God got to ride a mouse. It need
not be underlined that an elephant riding a mouse seems somewhat
incongruous. But the narration of this episode at Hasti-Gumpha throws
up circumstantial evidence on the coming together of two totems as a
result of a tribal war
An Anthropological Hypothesis:
Research in social anthropology has established that in a tribal society
every tribe has a totem. A totem is normally a caricature of a bird or
animal that is in some way important to a tribe's survival or is an object
of fear and awe. A totem becomes the sign of a tribe's individuality and
it
plays the same role which the national flag or national emblem play in
relation to modern nation states. But even if we accept the elephant to
have been a tribal totem, the question remains - how anthropology can
explain how the composite totem of a man-elephant come into being? A
possible explanation could be the tendency of mergers between two or
more tribes that is made necessary by war and subjugation of one tribe
by another, famine, floods, attack by a powerful common enemy, etc. A
merger of two tribes with two different totems could have made
necessary the merger of the two different totems resulting in a
composite totem. This could be a possible anthropological explanation
behind mytho
Instances of Composite Divine Objects in Other Culture
But instances of such composites is found not only in Indian mythology
but also in other countries. The idea about Centaurs (man-horse),
Mermaids (woman-fish), Winged Angels, etc., are examples of this in
other parts of our globe.
But this is all pure hypothesis, and could be written off as 'grotesque'
imagination for explaining a result of divine action. Is there anything
to
substantiate this theory, it may be asked?
The Hasti-Gumpha Bas Relief
Fortunately there is at least one rock carving that lends credence to this
theory. Hasti-Gumpha (meaning an "elephant cave") in Orissa in eastern
India contain a curious carving that conveys the story of a battle
between an elephant clan (Hasti-gana) and a mouse clan
(Mushika-gana) This battle, the carving says, led to the victory of the
elephant clan over the mouse clan. The subjugation of the mouse clan
by the elephant clan might be the explanation behind how the
elephant-God got to ride a mouse. It need not be underlined that an
elephant riding a mouse seems somewhat incongruous. But the
narration of this episode at Hasti-Gumpha throws up circumstantial
evidence on the coming together of two totems as a result of a tribal
war.
Used courtesy of http://www.ganeshfestival.com/
Ever wondered
why Lord Ganapati has one broken tusk?
Legends abound but here we present three of the most
popular tales.
Well, according to one of the myths, Ganesha was returning from his
birthday feast, from Indra, the god of the skies. Having eaten a lot of
modaks, which he is so fond of, he mounted his mouse carrier and
started his night journey back. But the mouse could not carry his weight
and Ganesha lost his balance and fell. As a result of this all the modaks
fell out of his stomach. Seeing this, the moon shining brightly in the
night sky, laughed at him. An angry Ganesha put all the modaks back
in his belly and tied it with a snake. To get back at the moon, he broke
off his left tusk and threw it at him, cursing - that whoever looked at
it on
the Ganesh Chaturthi night would be accused of theft/robbery. It is said
that the dent, which we see in the moon's surface, was caused due to
this. Till this day devotees avoid looking at the moon on Ganesh
Chaturthi.
The Padma Purana has another explanation for the broken tusk.
One-day the great sage Parashurama came to visit Lord Shiva. But Lord
Shiva was sleeping, so Ganesha refused to allow Parashurama in, lest
his father was disturbed. When Parashurama insisted, a fight ensued.
Both were equally strong and capable. During this struggle, an angry
Parashurama threw his axe at Ganesha. Lord Shiva, himself had
presented this axe to him. Ganesha refused to counter this weapon
recognising it to be his father's. Respectfully, he bowed and took its
impact on one of his tusks, which broke. Such was Ganesha's
reverence for his parent and the learned.
There is yet another explanation as to why Lord Ganesha has a broken
tusk. It is said that Lord Ganesha broke one of his tusks to write the
great epic, Mahabharata. Maharshi Vyas asked Ganesha to write the
Mahabharata to his dictation. Ganesha agreed to do so on the condition
that his pen would not stop writing till the work was concluded. Vyasa
agreed, but made another condition-that Ganesha would write only after
he completely understood what was narrated to him. So whenever
Ganesha thought over some complicated verses, Vyasa took that time
to compose further verses. Obviously, it has been this combined effort
that has made Mahabharata the fine work of wisdom that it is.
Used courtesy of The Mid-Day http://www.chalomumbai.com/
Lord Ganesh’s MarriageAfter the birth of Ganesha, one more son was born to Lord Siva and Parvati. He was Kartikeya. The two childrer grew up in the divine abode of Kailash. One day, the parents were casually discussing about their marriage, when both the sons happened to be around. Both of them said : "I want to marry first". The Mother said : "All right, but we will keep one condition. Between you two, the one who will go round the whole world and return first, shall be married first". Kartikeye immediately took off on his peacock and started his journey round the earth. Ganesh was in a fix. On the one hand, he was bulky and short-legged, and on the other, his vehicle was a tiny mouse. He thought for a while brought two cushioned seats and made his parents sit on them. Then he went round them seven times and stood before them with folded hands and said ' "I have gone round the world not once, but seven times. Now please arrange for my marriage". The parents were amused. They asked : ''How? How have you gone around the whole world, over the great oceans and mountains and continents ?"
Ganesha smiled and said: "The shastras say that worshipping one's parents and going round them is equal in merit to going round the world". The parents were happy at the intelligence of Ganesha and they decided to perform his marriage. At an auspicious hour, they married him to the two beautiful daughters of Viswaroopa, namely Siddhi and Buddhi.
Kartikeya returned from his journey round the earth only to discover that Ganesh's marriage had already been solemnized. He became so sad that he decided to relinquish Kailash. The parents tried to console him, but in vain. He also decided not to marry, and remain a “Kumara" for ever. So, after taking the parent's permission and prostrating to them he went to the mountain called Kraunch. The Mother was indeed very sad at the separation of Her darling son.
One day both Shiva and Parvati went to the Kraunch mountain to see their son. They were over joyed to see him surrounded by learned men. Yogis and Side/has. That was the Kartik Purnima day. After spending a few days with Kartikeya, they persuaded him to return to Kailas with them. Kartikeya agreed, but when he started, the Rishis and others entreated him to stay with them and impart to them divine knowledge and devotion Kartikeya consented to do so, and thereafter stayed permanently on the Kraunch mountain. Thereafter, Kartik Purnima became a very auspicious day for the darsan of Lord Kartikeya.
From that time onwards, Shiva and Parvati decided to visit Their son by turns on Amavasya (New Moon day) and Purnima (Full Moon day) respectively.
Ganesha Gets Modaka (Laddu)
The story of how Ganesha came to acquire the Modaka which he always holds in his hands, runs as follows :
Once all the Devas decided to visit Kailas to pay their respects to Lord Siva and Parvati They took with them a specially prepared sweet Modaka, and presented it to Mother Parvati. Both Ganesha and Kartikeya demandid the iwiet, whereupon the Mother said : "First, listen to the glory of this Modeka. It is prepared wHh rare inifedients and dipped in nectar. One would attain Immortality by merely smelling this sweet. And he who eats it will become greater than gods in all respects — in arts, literature and knowledge. Therefore, between you two he who can prove his worth as the best and righteous one, can have the Modaka." Kartikeya, to prove his sense of righteousness, immediately took off on his peacock and dipped himself in all the sacred ponds and rivers of the world and worshipped all the gods and goddesses and returned to Kailas within a Muhurtha. But by that time, Ganesha had already acquired the Modaka by simply going round Lord Siva and Parvati with a heart full or devotion and humility. The argument was that he who Is devoted to his parents is sixteen times more meritorious than one who leaves them at home and goes about dipping in all sacred ponds and worshipping the various gods. Pleased with Ganesha's brilliant intelligence. Mother Parvati gave him the Modaka and made him the leader of the Ganas.
Ganesha Learns A Lesson
Ganesh was one day playing with a cat in Kailas. In a playful mood, he pulled the tail of the cat and it started crying. Then he rolled it over on the ground and let it go After some time, when he was tired of playing, he ran to his Mother and cuddled on Her lap. When he looked up to Her face, he saw Her twisting with pain, and observed that Her body was smeared with dirt. He was surprised to see the Mother in this condition which was very unusual. Ho asked: "What happened to you Mother? What causes pain to you and how did you become dirty ?" She looked lovingly at Ganesh and said: "You did alt this mischief on Me, that is why my limbs are paining and my body is dirty I" Ganesh protested : "How can it be ? I never hurt my dear Mother, nor have I smeared dirt on your lovely body." "You did," said the Mother. Ganesh could not understand Then She said, "You pulled my rail and rolled me over on the ground" Ganesh immediately understood what the Mother meant- "I now understand Mother, that all bodies and forms are but Yours only; and I shall never harm anyone, lest I may hurt You," he said.
Kubera's Pride Humbled
Kubera, the Treasurer of the Heavens, was proud of his riches. He had all the comforts and conveniences of the heuven at his command. He once paid a visit to Kailash and had the 'darshan' of Lord Siva and the whole family. In his vanity, he thought he would show-off his glory to the Lord and so invited Him to his city, Alakapuri, for a lunch. The Lord smiled and said: "I am not coming. You can take Ganesh along, and mind you, he is a voracious eater!" “Oh, that's nothing," said Kubera, "I can easily feed him to his heart's content".
And so, the little child Ganesh, caught hold of the little finger of Kubera and walked down to the magnificent "Pushpaka" (the celestial aircraft of Kubera) and took off to Alkapuri. He was given a ceremonial bath with fragrant waters, and dressed in costly and beautiful clothes. Then they all settled down for lunch. Kubera had already ordered a great meal to be prepared; and then, one by one the items started arriving. Ganesh, comfortably seated, went on eating all the items served to him. And as he ate on, his appetite grew more and more and he started eating faster and faster. The army of servants had a tough time serving the child, because the moment an item was put on the plate, it disappeared straight Into his stomach.
Ganesh started becoming impatient at the slow pace of serving, and he started taking the food straight from the serving dishes of the servants He started eating the dishes also, and then he got Up and went straight to the kitchen and ate all the cooked and uncooked food. The cooks and servants were aghast at the hunger of Ganesh. They screamed in horror. Kubera was struck with fear. Ganesh went on eating everything that came on his way—the furniture, the decorative pandal the gardens and trees and ail. Then he started for Kubera's apartments. Kubera with his folded hands appealed to him not to destroy his palace. "I am hungry", said Ganesh. "If you won't give me food, I will swallow you also". The terrified Kubera flew down to Kailash and implored Lord Siva to appease Ganesh. "I warned you he is a voracious eater", said the Lord. "Lord, please forgive me for my foolishness and vanity. If you won't rescue me now from the situation, I will be eaten up" cried Kubera "All right, give this to him" said the Lord, giving Kubera handful of roasted rice. "This will satisfy his hunger". Kubera prostrated at the feet of the Lord, took the put fed rice and rushed back to his city. The city was almost eaten up by Ganesh. With all humility, he offered the puffed rice to Ganesh, and eating it, he became calm and contented.
Kubera took Ganeshji back to Kailash and entrusted him to Lord Shiva.
Moon Deity Cursed By Ganesha
Once Brahmaji, the creator, was sitting along with Lord Siva in Kailas, discussing the affairs of the world. At that time Devarshi Narada came there and presented to Lord Siva a divine fruit. The children, Ganesh and Kartikeya saw the beautiful fruit in the hands of the Father and they both started demanding it. Lord Siva turned to Brahmaji and asked : "Whom do you think should the fruit be given?" Brahmaji considered for a while and said "Being younger, Kartikeya can be given the fruit". Ganesh was unhappy at the decision.
When Brahmaji went back to his world and started his work of creation, a number of obstacles came on his way. Soon after, Ganesh appeared in front of him, in his terrible form. Seeing the form of Ganesha, Brahmaji started shivering with fear The Moon deity who was watching the scene, burst into laughter by seeing the Grandsire shivering at the sight of the awkward form of Ganesha. Ganesha became angry and cursed the moon that he would also have an ungainly countenance and those who see him will become wretched. Moon became repentent He lost alt his grace and charm. He implored for forgiveness, and Ganesh yielded a little. He said : "Those who look you on this day of Bhadrapada-SukIa-Chaturthi (the fourth day of the bright half of Bhadrapada month) will be cursed to wretchedness and will undergo lot of suffering and ill-fame".
And thus it became the tradition that on this particular day the moon should not be seen.
There is another version of the same story which says that Ganeshji, one day, had taken so much of the offering of his devotees, that while returning to his abode on his mouse, he was dis-balanced and he tumbled down. The Moon seeing the funny sight burst into laughter and Ganeshji cursed him that whoever who would see him on that day (Bhadrapada-Sukla-Chathurthi) would be subjected to scandals.
The Puranas also state, that the antidote for seeing the Moon on that day is to recite the story of Syamantaka, wherein Lord Krishna had laboriously worked to prove his innocence in the scandal of the gem, Syamantaka.
Fight With Parasuram
Bhargawa Rama was one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu to destroy the evil minded Kshatriyas (ruling class). He was born of sage Jamadagni and Renuka. After obtaining thorough education in all fields of knowledge from his learned father, Bhargawa went to the Himalayas and did penance on Lord Siva. Pleased with his tapas, and keeping in view the mission for which he had taken birth. Lord Siva imparted to Bhargawa the secrets of weapons and also presented to him a Parasu (axe) with divine powers. Oh account of his obtaining the Parasu he became famous as Parasuram.
Parasuram was deeply devoted to Shiva. One day, he paid a visit to Kailash to pay respects to the Lord, his teacher. He passed through various gardens and lakes, diamond studded palaces and serene temples and ashrams that surrounded the holy Kailash and at last reached the sacred abode of Lord Shiva.
At the gate he met Kartikeya and Ganesh and after saluting them he tried to enter the palate. Ganesh stopped him, saying that the Lord was resting at that time in the inner chambers, and that he might wait for a few minutes till he (Ganesh) could go and obtain permission from the father. Parasuram argued that it was not necessary for an ardent disciple tike him to obtain prior permission from the revered Teacher and that he just wanted to go in, prostrate at His feet and come back. But Ganesh did not yield. A wordy duel brew up, developed into a scuffle and deteriorated into a real fight. In a fit of anger, Parasuram struck on the face of Ganesh with his axe, and down came the right tusk of Ganesh, with a thunderous noise which shook the entire earth. The people of Kailash all ran out of their homes and work-places. Lord Siva and Mother Parvati also came out, only to see their dear son lying unconscious and bleeding profusely from the mouth, and ashamed Parasuram standing with his head cast down in repentance. Ganesh was immediately nursed back to consciousness. Then the Mother looked at Parasuram and said, "You have done great harm to this great son of ours. He could have easily crushed you out of existence if he wanted; such is his immense power. But he had been very cautious and cool. On the other hand you had been so rude, that you just cut down his trunk. What a pity" By that time Lord Krishna appeared on the scene and begged forgiveness on behalf of Parasuram. The matter slowly cooled down. Parasuram, thereafter, took a holy bath and worshipped Lord Siva, Parvati and Ganesh individually and extolled them with divine hymns. After receiving their blessings, became down from Kailash.
Tulsi Cursed By Ganesh
Tulsi, the daughter of Dharmaraja. the God of righteousness, was roaming about in the world in ecstatic devotion to Lord Narayana, in her youthful days White thus going about, she came upon the banks of the sacred river Ganga. There she wandered into a serene ashram full of fragrant flowers and plants swaying in cool breeze. She saw Ganeshji, who was in the prime of his youth, beautifully dressed in yellow silks, and lost in deep contemplation on Lord Krishna. She was captivated by the beauty of Ganeshji, and entreated him to marry her. Ganeshji turned down the proposal, saying that he was least interested in married life. Tuisi became angry and cursed Ganeshji saying : "You shall surely marry !", whereupon Ganeshji also pronounced a counter—curse on her : "You too shall get married, but to an Asura, and thereafter you shall be cursed to be born as a plant by the wise men". Realising her mistake, Tulsi pleaded for mercy, and extolled Ganeshji with divine hymns. Ganeshji relented and said: "Though you shall be born as a plant, you will inherit the essence of all fragrance. All the gods will be happy with your fragrance, and Lord Hari will be specially glad to receive worship with your leaves. But you shall not be acceptable in the worship offered to me". So saying, Ganeshji left that place and went to Badrikashram.
Lord Ganesha - The First Stenographer
Lord Ganesha is the first stenographer that the world eve had, and he had taken down the largest ever book composed ii the world, viz. The Mahabharata dictated by Sage Veda Vyas who is revered as Lord Vishnu Himself~ The story goes thus:
Sage Veda Vyasa had conceived the great theme of Mahabharata in his fertile mind. He developed the whole theme mentally, and was full with the great idea. He wanted to bring it out in writing so that others could study and benefit by it. As he was deeply thinking over how this could be done Brahmaji, the Creator, appeared in his ashram. Vyasa was thrilled to see the grandsire, and after worshiping and setting him respectfully, posed his problem to him. “1 have conceived this great poem, which I am sure will receive the adoration of the world. It will be expounding the imports of Vedas and Upanishads, it will cover everything in this universe. But I am not finding a scribe who can take it down as I expound it." Brahmaji praised the theme that Vyasa had conceived and said : 'Remember Ganeshji for this purpose After Brahmaji's departure, Vyasa sat in meditation and remembered Ganeshji.
Immediately the merciful Lord appeared before him. Vyasa worshipped him and after seating him properly, placed his request before him : "Please be my scribe for this great poem that I have composed mentally." Ganeshji agreed, but on one condition. He said : "I will be your scribe if you assure me that my writing shall not stop even for a moment (waiting for your ideas to crystallize)." To this Vyasa said "One condition from my side also. You should not write even a single letter without understanding the import of the theme" Ganeshji consented, and so the writing of Mahabharata began.
Vyasa first of all meditated on the Supreme Power which had manifested as Narayana and Nara and then on Saraswati the Goddess of Knowledge, and started the dictation by pronouncing the sacred mantra “0m".
Use Courtesy of http://www.mantraonnet.com/ganesh-epic/ganesh-tales.html
What you need:
A nice new, but washed piece of cloth about the size of a book - to make an ad-hock altar.
A packet of nice quality incense - joss sticks.
A box of matches.
A clean bowl or cup filled grains of rice to put incense after lit (if you don't have an incense holder or boat)
A handfull of fragrant flowers but "un-smelt".
A couple of nice sweets - see recipe below on an unused clean plate or bowl
The Simple Ceremony:
After washing one's hands, sit in front of a nice picture of Ganesh placed on a clean area on the cloth before you.
Light a candle or small oil or ghee lamp and place it before the picture.
Offer respects by placing one's hands together Indian/Asian style.
Offer your prayers for Him to remove the impediments in your life, and place a flower at the foot of the picture.
Now take the incense stick and holding it in your right hand, light the incense stick from the candle/lamp, and gently make clockwise circles around His picture as you meditate on your purpose.
Take a small handful of nice flowers and again in respects, with your right hand, place them before the picture.
Now place the sweets in front of the picture as you would at any altar anywhere.
Again with your hands guestured in respect bow your head toward the picture.This simple ceremony is the essence of all Deity worship in its simpliest form. Find out more here.
After a few minutes remove all the items from in front of the picture. You can now smell the flowers, and as prasadam (merciful remnants of your sacrifice) you may after clearing everything away and washing the special plate you make this offering on, eat the sweets or distribute them to friends.
Copy and paste this section into a place where you can print it, and have it next to you, until you can fly solo.
The consciousness behind the offering the sweets is not even that Ganesh will immediately partake of them. He is subserviant to God, just as you and I are. So when we make an offering to Him, He in turn offers that offering to His Lord, Sri Nrisimhadeva. After He makes His offering He partakes of the prasadam remnants. then after some time those remnants come to us.
Recipe:
Take 100grams melted butter
100 grams Milk Powder
100 grams White Sugar
Mix together in a bowl - DO NOT TASTE THE MIXTUREPress together into balls the size of a walnut
As a variation you can add; Vanilla essence, or Vanilla sugar, or Raisins or Sultanas, or Crushed Nuts...these balls are known as "Simply Wonderfuls".
They can also be flattened into cookie shapes and cooked in an oven to make cookies for 15-20 mins until light brown.
Gaëeça - Remover of Obstacles
by Satyaräja DäsaTHE JOYOUS ELEPHANT-FACED DEITY known as Gaëeça is revered by one billion Hindus worldwide, and though his worship has little place in the modern-day Hare Kåñëa movement, his personality and pastimes are part of ISKCON’s heritage.
Gaëeça 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 Gaëeça, 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 çré gaëeça karëe (“doing the Çré Gaëeça”). Another such expression is gaëapatéce keÿe (“to conceive a child”). Similar phrases are found in other Indian languages.
Since Gaëeça 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.
Gaëeça 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, Gaëeça 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. Gaëeça is at times depicted with quill on palm leaf, for as Vyäsa dictated the Mahäbhärata, Gaëeça served as the scribe to write it down.
Gaëeça 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 (paraçu), which, according to some texts, is for cutting away illusion and false teachings. Another of Gaëeça’s hands often gestures fearlessness and reassurance (varadä-hasta-mudrä). He also holds a goad (aìkuça), like that used by an elephant trainer, symbolizing his insistence on proper training or spiritual discipline. He sometimes holds a noose (päça) 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 Kåñëa or Viñëu?
Vedic texts reveal that Gaëeça is the son of Çiva and Pärvaté, although his sonship, like that of his half-brother, Skanda-Subrahmaëya, is peculiar. According to one version, Çiva “emits” from his body a handsome son who becomes a seducer of women. Pärvaté 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, Gaëeça becomes the commander of Çiva’s troops (gaëa-éça or gaëa-pati), and because he becomes famous as one who creates obstacles for the demons and removes obstacles for the demigods or the devotees, he is known as Vighneçvara (“lord of obstacles”) and Vinäyaka (“one who removes [obstacles]”). The “obstacle” theme also tells us why Gaëeça uses a rat as his vehicle. As rodents generally succeed in gnawing their way through any obstruction, the rat, it is said, symbolizes Gaëeça’s ability to destroy every obstacle.
In another, more popular version of the Gaëeça story, Pärvaté, wanting to seclude herself from her passionate husband, Çiva, especially while bathing, creates a son from her perspiration and appoints him the guardian of her quarters. Soon after, when Çiva seeks admission into Pärvaté’s inner chambers, Gaëeça, unaware of Çiva’s identity, refuses him, pushing him away from Pärvaté’s door. Not one to be slighted, the enraged Çiva summons his attendants (gaëas) to do away with this bothersome upstart. But Gaëeça defeats them one by one. Finally Viñëu arrives, and drawing upon His mäyä (mystic potency) He creates confusion on all sides. This enables Çiva to cut off Gaëeça’s head.
Pärvaté, 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. Çiva 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 Gaëeça, 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 Gaëeça stories described above—found primarily in the Çiva Puräëa and the Brahma-vaivarta Puräëa—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 Çiva Puräëa explains, “the story of Gaëeça’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, Gaëeça is a benign and helpful deity who brings success and assures worldly well-being. Since devotees of Kåñëa are more interested in spiritual realization than in worldly security, ISKCON tends to forgo the worship of Gaëeça. Lord Kåñëa says in the Bhagavad-gétä (9.23), “Those who are devotees of other gods and worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kunté, but they do so in a wrong way.” Lord Kåñëa uses the word avidhi-pürvakam: “in an inappropriate way.” Why is such worship of demigods inappropriate? Because it is materially motivated. As Lord Kåñëa 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 Çréla Prabhupäda, concurring with the above two Gétä texts, says, “[To worship] Gaëapati is not required, but sometimes we do it. Just like the gopés—they worshiped Goddess Durgä, Kätyäyané. They did not require to worship her, but that was part of the social system. But they asked, ‘Mother Kätyäyané, give us the opportunity to have Kåñëa as our husband.’ Their aim was Kåñëa.” (Morning walk, Los Angeles, January 10, 1974)
So the worship of Gaëeça, like that of his mother, Durgä (Pärvaté), is not condemned, but it should be done for the proper reasons: Gaëeça is a devotee of Lord Kåñëa, and we can pray to him to remove obstacles on the road to Kåñëa consciousness. In this regard, Brahma-saàhitä (5.50) explains that Gaëeça is Kåñëa's devotee. The success achieved by worshiping Gaëeça depends on Lord Kåñëa, and therefore such worship should ultimately be directed to Kåñëa: “For the power to destroy all obstacles to progress in the three mundane worlds, Gaëeça holds on his elephant head the lotus feet of Govinda. I worship Govinda, Kåñëa, the primeval Lord.”Satyaräja Däsa is a disciple of Çréla Prabhupäda and a regular contributor to Back to Godhead. He has written several books on Kåñëa consciousness. He and his wife live in New York City.