What will you offer to Vinayaka on Vinayaka Chathurthi?

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People are under the false impression that today is the birthday of Vinayaka,

but He has neither birth nor death. He has neither beginning nor end. He is the

eternal witness.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba has said that on this sacred day of Vinayak Chaturthi,

people spend lot of money in offering various fruits to God. All these

offerings are made only as a ritual. Ultimately people themselves consume them.

Pathram, Pushpam, Phalam and Thoyam - these are the four things that you should

offer God. Here Pathram (leaf) means body. This body may wither away at any

moment. So never develop attachment towards the body; instead offer it to God.

Pushpam (flower) means Hridaya. This flower will never fade away. Mind can be

compared to Phalam (fruit) and Thoyam stands for tears of joy. Hence all these

four should be offered to God.

Three basic sounds - a, u, m - form the origin of all sounds. The three combined

constitute Aum, called pranava emanated from Brahman, the supreme soul of the

universe. It is from sound that all earthly forms are born. It is as the

sym­bol of pranava that Vinayaka began to be worshipped.

In Tamil Nadu, Ganesa has come to be known as Pillaiyar, because he is the

'Pillai' or son of the parents of the Universe, Parvati-Parameswara .

By indicating to mankind the goal of human evo­lution and the path to reach the

same, Lord Ganesha occupies a place of distinction in the Hindu pantheon."

Ganesha or Vignaharta shows humanity its goal not only with his teachings, but

also his physical appearance. So, the artisan's final touches to Lord Ganesha's

idol for Ganesh Chaturthi, being celebrated on August 22, are crucial as each

part of the popular God is symbolic and open to philo­sophical interpretations.

 

THERE is a deeper meaning to the form of Lord Ganesha that can be understood

when we dwell a little on the symbolism. To contemplate on the formless and

transcendental essence, some of us need an idol that can be seen and

worshipped. Thus the idol represents an ideal, a medium for us to get in touch

with our spirituality. So let's take a look at Ganesha's symbolic

representation in our scriptures and what they mean to us.

Our ancient seers or rishis discovered a basic unity or harmony underlying all

of life and its forms despite the apparent chaos Life has three stages of

evolution, according to Vedantic thought: Birth, growth and death - the

trinity, a continuous chain taking place again and again, with progress

achieved in each scale of evolution. And one supreme power controls and guides

this.

Our sages with their rich imagination, foresaw obstacles in cosmic progress, and

installed the first Worn of Shiva, the destroyer, and his consort Parvathi, as

the god to be propitiated, for removal of obstructions and to achieve success

in any work undertaken. This god is none other than Ganesha. His name is

invoked before starting any new venture. He is called Vighneswara, the lord who

is the remover obstacles. He is also called Ganapati, the leader of Shiva's

servants or ganas Vinayaka, the supreme leader. He is the master of knowledge

or vidya, and the champion of worldly achievement, avidya.

Ganesha is depicted generally in a seated pose. It signifies that in him the

mind and intellect are totally integrated. The entire world is at his feet,

waiting for his command. The pose also resembles that first primeval cosmic

sound in Sanskrit – OM – the beginning of creation itself. He has a bulky body,

symbolic of the entire cosmos. This big belly symbolizes space. The mastermind

has to digest all experiences of life. The snake around his expansive waist is

like a girdle. It symbolises energy in all forms.

"In Hindu mythological literature Ganesha is described as having a human form

with an elephant's head. An elephant's head on a human body indicates supreme

wisdom. The two main steps of spiritual education are sravana, which means

listening to the eternal truths of Vedanta and manana, which is reflection upon

those truths. And the large ears and head of Ganesha indicate that He has

acquired spiritual wisdom through both the steps.

He has an elephant's head, symbolic of the intellectual capacity one must have

to understand the supreme truth. The large ears are symbolic of the sravana or

careful listening one must give one's teacher, to understand Vedantic truth.

Not only must the student understand the concepts, he must also have the

sensitivity and the discriminatory power to distinguish the mortal from the

eternal, impermanence from permanence, the gross from the subtle. This is

symbolised by the trunk that starts from Lord Ganesha's forehead. An elephant's

trunk can lift a log of wood as well as a blade of grass. The two tusks on

either side of the trunk are symbolic of right and wrong, good and evil.

Ganesha possesses the faculty of being aware of the duality of the world.

The crooked trunk of Lord Ganesha wbich also gives him the name Vakratunda, too

has an interesting meaning. The trunk, which is able to uproot a tree and also

lift a needle, represents Lord Ganesha's intellect. A man of realisation like

Ganesha is one who has fully developed both his gross and subtle intellects.

"He has perfect understanding and knowledge of the terrestrial as well as the

transcendental". "Also, Vakratunda is one who punishes those who follow , the

wrong path and leads them to the path of righteousness".

But one tusk is broken. This means that as the perfect student, he has gone

beyond the pairs of opposites, beyond the subjective and the objective to a

higher plane of consciousness. The broken tusk also symbolises that nothing is

too precious to be sacrificed for intellectual progress.

Ganesha holds in his four hands an axe, a rope, and a rosary of beads, while the

last hand is held up in benediction. With the axe, he cuts off the worldly

attachments of his disciples. The rope brings them nearer the path of truth.

The beads remind one of the continuous pursuit of supreme knowledge that the

believer should engage in. His trunk holds the sweet stuffed rice­ball modak.

It is symbolic of the self that resides within us and which has to be realised

by each one of us. The fourth hand blesses his believers for success and joy

through life's journey. On another level, the obstacles in life subjective and

objective can be surmounted and realisation attained with Ganesha's blessing.

The modak signifies the sweet satisfaction one gets in travelling the spiritual

path.

The large belly denotes a perfect human being one who can "consume and digest"

life's experiences, both good and bad. A balance between material and spiritual

life is represented in Ganpati's sitting posture, with one leg folded up and the

other leg resting on the ground. "The leg on the ground indicates that one

aspect of his personality is dealing with the world while the other is ever

rooted in single­pointed concentration upon the supreme reality".

Though His body is of gigantic proportions He is yet a child. It is paradoxical

that with such a massive body, Ganapathi should have chosen the tiny mouse as

His vaahana or vehicle.

This conception of Vinayaka riding a mouse is illustrative of the Vedantic truth

that God alone matters and that all other external paraphernalia are illusions.

The mouse, at the feet of the lord symbolises material desires that can destroy

the good within us. Though it's a small animal, it can play havoc with many

things – foodgrains for one. Ganesha has subjugated this mouse of desire and

kept it under control.

"This mystical form of Lord Ganesha represents not only the supreme state of

human perfection but the practical path to reach that state. The details of his

description suggest deep philosophical significance which can guide you to reach

that ultimate state."

Ganesha thus represents, "The perfect wisdom of a fully realised vedantin a

follower, or student of Vedanta. He is the highest and the best that has ever

been given in our scriptures". Ganesha has an important position because he is

invoked not only by Hindus at the beginning of any work, but even the other

gods in the Hindu pantheon pray to him, according to the puranas.

With Sai love from Sai brothers - ''

Courtesy: http://www.geocities.com/sai_ram108/gana.htm

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