Ganesha Chaturthi

GANAPATI

There is no Hindu who does not revere Ganapati, also known as Ganesha, Vighneshwara or, with special respect, Mahaganapati.  Even those with little familiarity with Hinduism recognize the “elephant-headed” God.  Among Hindus, irrespective of geography or most denominations, all auspicious events begin with the invocation of the Remover of Obstacles, seeking his blessings to proceed so that all may follow smoothly and without adverse incident.  For example, Indian classical music concerts usually begin with a composition in praise of Mahaganapati. In the Hindu pantheon, Ganapati is the eldest son of Shiva and Parvati. His image has four hands, bearing a rope (to bind), an axe (to cut down or defend), and a modaka or sweet (prosperity); the fourth may carry the tusk used in transcribing the Mahabharata or is extended/lifted in blessing; his vehicle is a mouse (musaka).  His festival, Ganesh Chaturthi, generally falls in late August or early September. Devotees make images of Ganapati in clay, color them in gold, yellow, pink and red, worship them for ten days and at the end perform a visarjan by immersing them in water. Most Hindu households and businesses display his image or icon (picture). He is worshiped for siddhi, success in undertakings, and buddhi, intelligence.

How did Ganesha get his elephant head?  One day his mother Parvati (daughter of the Mountains) asked Ganapati to guard the entrance to her suite and admit no one while she took a bath. When her husband Shiva, one of the Hindu divine trinity, arrived and proceeded to enter, the son barred his way, following orders from his mother. No amount of persuasion or threats could sway the boy and a furious Shiva cut off Ganapati’s head. The grief-stricken Parvati demanded that Shiva find a way to restore the life of her obedient son.  Shiva immediately instructed his retinue to fetch the head of the first living being found asleep facing south. As it happened, the first creature found in this inauspicious chosen position was an elephant and its head was duly severed and brought to Shiva. Shiva in turn set the head on the body of Ganapati and, lo and behold, the boy came alive again as the handsome elephant-headed god.

Several interesting stories from Hindu mythology give us a glimpse of the importance of Ganapati.  Another episode from the Shiva Purana pertains to a boon Shiva offered to grant to whichever of his two sons could travel the three worlds and return first. Ganapati’s younger brother Skanda proceeded promptly to race through the universe while Ganapati, with folded hands and head bent in reverence, simply circumambulated Shiva and Parvati three times and declared, to their utter delight, that this circumambulation of his parents was in fact the equivalent of circling the three worlds! A pleased Shiva appointed Ganapati head of his army and thus the name Ganaadhipati came about.

The author of the epic Mahabharata, Veda Vyasa, needed a scribe to write down his poem as he recited it.  On the advice of Brahma, he began by meditating on Ganapati. When Ganapati appeared he consented to assist as long as the poet agreed to recite the story without stopping. Vyasa countered by requiring that Ganapati must understand the meaning of each shloka composed before writing it down! This matching of wits produced the glorious epic Mahabharata, a poem of 100,000 2-line stanzas, longer than the Iliad and the Odyssey combined.