The enchanting form of Lord Ganesha

Lord Ganesha represents the Adi Deva or the first manifested divine principle. His worship is so popular, especially in the South, that there is hardly any village which has no temple for Him. His very name implies that He is the lord of all Celestial beings. The Celestial beings or the Devas or Ganas are the symbolic representations of the various forms of energy that manifest out of the Supreme Consciousness, Lord Shiva. They all function under certain inviolable laws, laid down by the Supreme. Ganesha is also known as Vinayaka, the great leader of all devas.The form in which Ganesha is depicted has a great significance. It is a strange but enchanting and most lovable form with its head as that of an elephant and the body as that of a human being. The huge body with its large abdomen gave Him the name ‘Mahakaya’, signifying the vast expanse of the Universe. The origin of this form has a mythological story behind it, which, since most people are familiar with, need not be repeated here.
Those who are not happy with the mythological story would like to give a simple explanation. The primitive man who lived in the jungles was often confronted with frightening natural calamities. Since his mind and intelligence were still under-developed, and could not find an explanation for these happenings, he conceived of the existence of a superior power, which caused them. He called it ‘God’ or by some other name in his primitive language. When He wanted to propitiate that power, to pacify it, he wanted to give it a form so that he could worship it. That form had to be stronger than himself, and yet he could conceive of it basically like his own but it had to be different and more powerful than himself. So he decided to provide the form with the head of the strongest animal known to him, the elephant, and with four hands. However much this explanation may sound rational, it cannot be accepted. We do not know when the concept of lord Ganesha originated, but seeing the structural details, and their implcation, certainly it cound not have been as early as the times of the primitive man. As we proceed to understand the significance of this form, we cannot but appreciate the very high philosophical import behind it, one that obviously could not have been conceived by the primitive man.
The elephant head, so characteristic of the idol, leaving alone the mythological story behind it, represents the Cosmic mind, which could be introduced only by the Supreme Consciouness, Shiva, though the body was created by Energy represented by Parvathi. Speaking from the evolutionary angle, mind or the faculty of cognition was first introduced simultaneously with the introduction of the life force in matter. All matter resulted from energy, or shakti a manifestation of Consciousness, which is synonymous with Lord Shiva. In Indian tradition, Consciousness is conceived as masculine and energy and matter as feminine, Parvathi or Uma being two of the names assigned to it. When Consciousness enters matter, Its own manifestation, life force is introduced into it, and the first faculty to appear as the product of this union is that of cognition or the mind. That is how Ganesha came to be called the first son of Shiva and Parvathi! Most scientists accept the presence of a Cosmic mind, a minute share of which is gifted to man. Why should the mind be represented as the head of an elephant? If we watch the elephant, we see that it is not only very powerful but is also always active and is the wisest of all the animals.. It constantly keeps moving its trunk and its ears and keeps a constant vigil over its surroundings.With the powerful mind also goes high wisdom. The white tusks not only represent the strength but also the pure wisdom, through which He can achieve anything in the Universe.The piece broken off from His right tusk (Vakratunda) represents a bit of the Cosmic mind and intelligence bestowed upon man. Sage Vyasa, who was supposedly assisted by Lord Ganesha to write the Mahabharata, represents the human. The broken bit of the tusk which Ganesha used to write the scripture for Vyasa signifies the wisdom gifted to mankind. The loop of rope on the upper right hand depicts His determination and ability to control the universe and pull it back to Himelf. The weapon, called the ‘ankusa’ held in His left upper hand, is one that is used by a mahout to control the elephant. Here it can be taken as to represent buddhi, a faculty that is superior to the mind and can be used to control the latter.The lower right hand holds in it a bunch of palm leaves, representing knowledge. An idol of Ganesha with His trunk reaching out to this hand is very rare, implying that only a rare human mind goes after true knowledge.An idol with the trunk reaching out to the left lower hand is more common. This hand holds in it a ball like sweet dish called the ‘modhaka’ (Modhakahastha), one that is specially prepared and offered to Him, during the annual festival of Ganesh Chaturti. This sweet represents the earth, a part of the creation, very dear to the Lord, to which He pays special attention. The way this sweet is designed is significant. The outer coveing of it is made of salted rice flour, which has hardly any taste. Inside it is enclosed a very sweet filling made of cooked green gram dhal or channa dhal or coconut gratings, with jaggery. This sweet represents man’s view of earthly life. Most of humanity, especially of past middle age, having so far tasted only the outer covering, thinks that worldly life is generally miserable and tasteless, without realizing that behind that apparent tastelessnes lies a very sweet divine reality. Our scriptures say that only by being born as a human on the earth, one can reach the Supreme Being. Thus Ganesha is represented with four hands and an additional fifth hand, the trunk. Hence He is named ‘Aingarathan’, one with five hands.
Passing on to the large abdomen of Ganesha, it would be appropriate to consider it as representing the vast Universe, with all its manifold contents. Just as the common man does not know all the happenings inside his body, the Universe holds many secrets not known to the ordinary man of the world. The sacred thread worn by Him signifies His vow or determination to maintain and protect His creation. Often a cobra, with its hood open, is tied round His belly. It represents the ego, which afflicts all humans on the earth, but can be desroyed with His grace.
Lord Ganesha’s vehicle, according to many is the mole, while some depict it as the mouse. The mole is a rodent that often inhabits the drains in houses. Though comparatively a harmless animal, it is very timid and when confronted, it will stand still and stare at you. It thus signifies ignorance and stupidity, thamoguna. The mouse though small can be very elusive and active, rajoguna and when it gets into a book shelf, it simply shreds paper and books without any purpose, irrespective of the knowledge contained in them. Thus both these animals depict ignorance and lord Ganesha subdues them by ‘riding’ on them. Another plausible and equally valid interpretation is that God, the Consciousness inhabits all forms in creation, including small animals. Most of the divine forms depicted in the Hindu tradition are shown as riding some animal or bird, the significance being the same as mentiond above.
Unlike many of the deities in the Hindu pantheon, Ganesha is commonly depicted as a bachelor. But in some temples and pictures He may be shown as having two consorts, named Siddhi and Budddhi. These signify the power of achievement and intelligence, both being forms of energy and hence represented as feminine. These are already depicted in the form described in detail above, as the loop of rope and the ankusa held in His two upper hands.
Thus the figure of Ganesha can be considered as representing the whole Universe and beyond, that is the Supreme Consciousness Itself, with its two important maifestations, the Cosmic Mind and Universal Wisdom. Man being an integral part of the Universe and a manifestation of the Consciousness Itself, the Universe and the Consciousness are ‘obliged to’ protect him and look after his needs! That is the reason why Hindus worship Ganesha as the first Deity and believe that He will grant all their prayers without fail! He is also credited with the power to remove all obstacles that may confront us in all our undertakings. That is why He is called Vigneswara, and Vignavinasaka, the lord who removes obstacles. Only by a concerted action using the whole mind and intelligence together, can one succeed in one’s endeavours.
A few words about the festival called Ganesh Chaturti, widely celebrated in India during August-Septembar every year, on the fourth day after the new moon. Traditionally, people make His idol out of clay (of clay only and not of plaster of paris or any other material as practised by many these days), and worship Him as the Supreme God, offering Him special preparations like the modhaka mentioned above. In the Hindu tradition Ganesha is always worshiped as the first among deities and the worshipper mainly prays that all his worldly efforts during the coming year should proceed without hindrance and achieve the expected results. Usually on the third day after the worship, the clay idol is taken out and immersed in any water source, where during the next few hours the idol disintegrates and the clay is returned to the earth, from which it came. This ritual known as ‘visarjan’ has great spiritual significance, which is not appreciated by those who mould His idol with materials other than clay, materials which do not disintegrate in water after immersion. A careful analysis of the worship will show that man, himself a created object, creates an idol out of the mud from the earth, one of the created elements, and worships it as the Creator Himself.. After worship he destroys the idol, returning it to its source. This does not mean that he is no longer interested in Lord Ganesha. Now he has consciously discarded the form and henceforth he worships the formless aspect of the Lord. Incidently it also reminds him of the basic truth that all forms, including his own, are nothing but energy condensed into matter, and have to disappear some day and return to the elements from which they were created, only to be reused to create new bodies or objects.
The method of household worship of Lord Ganesha has certain important implications. While a temporary idol of the above description is made only during the annual festival dedicated to him, in every religious ceremony He is invoked first and an elliptical figure is made out of cow dung, or out of a paste of turmeric or sandalwood, and He is invited to inhabit it, a process known as ‘avahanam’. The inner meaning is that God manifests in every kind of matter, and nothing in His creation is good or bad, superior or inferior.Then the ‘Pooja’ is offered to this form. Interestingly the devotees use besides other flowers, especially the flowers of Calatropis (erukkam poo) and a type of grass (aruham pul) both considereed as favourites of Vinayaka. Neither of these two is particularly attractive or pleasantly scented. The significance is that the Supreme is pleased with the offering of any simple thing and that everything in His creation is important and valuable.