THE REMOVER OF OBSTACLES 4

August 25, 2006

Om Namah Sivaya

By Sri Swami Krishnananda

The philosophy behind all these traditional worships and Puranic allegories is that the path of spiritual Sadhana is a mystery by itself and it is not a heroic activity of the Sadhaka, as sometimes he may imagine. No heroism will work there. Even the so-called heroic attitude, which we sometimes put on, is an entry of divine force into us. Just as a child's or a little baby's walking is the strength of the mother who is holding it with her hand, whatever intelligence we have, whatever satisfaction we enjoy in this life, whatever strength we possess, whether physical or psychological, whatever security we have, whatever is worthwhile in our existence is a modicum of the reflection of God's power. The worship of Maha-Ganapati, with the Mantra "Om Gam Ganapataye Namah," is a humble submission of the true circumstance of oneself before the might of God's glory. Who can open one's eyes before God! Who can utter one word before Him! Who can boast of one's learning, greatness,

etc., before Him! We would be ashamed even to present ourselves before Him. Consider the might of the Creator, the magnitude of His power, the depth of His Wisdom, His Knowledge and His Omniscience, and your present condition! Compare it and contrast it. What Sadhana, what meditation, what Yoga can you do! The moment you begin to take one step in the direction of this holy movement towards God, the world pounces upon you with all its army, because the world is quantitatively larger. We live in a world of quantities. We require quantitative food, quantitative drink, quantitative physical appurtenances, and everything we require and ask for in life is only a quantity rather than a quality. So the quantity of the world being larger than the quantity of our physical personality, we cannot face it. So there is this humble acceptance of submission and a prayer to the great Almighty as manifest in Ganapati.

There is another story as to why He is worshipped first on all occasions. It appears Parvati, the consort of Lord Siva, went for a bath, may be in the Ganga. She scrubbed her body and out of the dirt of her body she made a small image of a boy, gave life to it by her touch and ordained him not to allow entry to any person when she is taking bath in the river. Accordingly, that boy stood guarding. At that moment, the great Lord Siva Himself came and the boy prevented His entry, because he cannot recognise Lord Siva, whom he has not seen. He has only the order of his Mother that nobody should enter. He immediately objected to the brave entry of Lord Siva into the vicinity where Parvati was taking bath. You can imagine the feeling of Lord Siva. "What is this? The little chap is standing and preventing me from seeing my own consort!" He immediately chopped off Ganapati's head and he fell down dead. When Parvati came up, she was aghast and said: "Oh Lord, You have killed my

boy, he is my own child, and I am deeply hurt. What have you done! Oh, my Lord!" She bet her breast and would not speak. She started weeping. The Lord Siva said, "Do not weep, I shall give life to him." But ironically enough, He would not put the same head back. We do not know the reason why He did this. He told, "Bring the head of someone who is sleeping with his head towards the north." This is why it is said that you should not sleep with your head towards the north. Otherwise, Siva will search for you! And they found nobody except an elephant lying with its head towards the north. Its head was severed and brought. The elephant's head was attached to the trunk of this boy and life was given by the Great Siva. He became alive and was named as Ganapati, which designation was bestowed upon him by Lord Siva Himself, may be to pacify Parvati or to bring about a peaceful atmosphere around. Lord Siva not only gave him life, but also made him the leader of His hosts. Ganapati,

is therefore, the leader of the hosts of Lord Siva Himself. There is a large audience before Lord Siva, consisting of varieties of Ganas. Ganas are demigods; they are neither human nor superhuman, but a peculiar type. Sometimes they look like astral beings. These Ganas are ruled by Ganapati under the order of Siva. So Ganapati means the Generalissimo, as it were, of the hosts who always live in Kailasa. Apart from making Ganapati the Leader of hosts, Lord Siva bestowed another blessing on Him, saying: "You shall be the first one to be worshipped on all occasion." So this is the order or the ordinance of Lord Siva. The ordinance stands for ever. It is a permanent ordinance from the Great Master: "No one will be worshipped before you, not even me. After you are worshipped alone, will anybody else be worshipped." We won't worship Lord Siva or Lord Narayana without first worshipping Ganapati. "Om Gam Ganapataye Namah," is a Mantra to propitiate Ganapati.

Sivaya Namah

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