Thus Spake Venkatesa Iyer: Lord Vigneswara: Part 2

 I have continued from Part 1 after a gap of 8 years, on Pillayar Chaturthi (Fri Sep 6, 2024). May Lord Vighneshvara remove all obstacles in completing this post quickly, at least by next (2025) Pillaiyar Chaturthi 😀!

Ganesha, Ganapati or Gananaatha all mean the same. It is also identical with Lord Shiva, who is the Lord of the  Bhuta-Gana-s. The whole universe consists of the Pancha-Maha-Bhuta-s, viz., Earth (पृथ्वी), Water (आपः), Fire (अग्नि), Air (वायु) and Akasha (आकाश). These are otherwise known as Prakriti and Her Lord is Shiva or Ganesha. Gana-s or Bhuta-s are not to be confounded with hobgoblins or ghosts, they are simply the five elements and their manifestations.

 

 Ganapati: ga = wisdom, na = mukti, pati = Lord, so Ganapati is the Lord who bestows wisdom and mukti

 

Vinayaka:  one above whom there is no other Lord. He leads all good people along the righteous path.

 

Vighneshvara: He is the Lord who creates obstacles and also the Lord who removes them. The universe is a mixture of good and evil. The Gita describes it as daivAsura sampat. There is a constant conflict between the two - sometimes daivi-sampat dominates and sometimes the other. This is described in all the purANA-s as the struggle between the devA-s and asurA-s. Whenever the devA-s are defeated, they seek the Lord's help to overcome the asurA-s. Symbolically, Lord Vighneshvara is said to hold a goad (ankusha) in one hand a noose (pAsha) in another. He goads people to activity and gives them the power to control nature and utilize it or various purposes. When they misuse the power to do wrong things, He binds them with His noose.

Lord Ganesha (source: https://glorioushinduism.com/2016/07/26/ganesha/)

This idea has taken such a deep root in the faith of all the people and so they worship Him before undertaking any secular or sacred venture, so that their endeavors may  be successfully carried out. They believe that if they do not offer worship to Lord Vighneshvara they may meet with failure. All obstacles are either due to ignorance or want of control over the senses. Only the right knowledge and mastery over the sense organs helps us to overcome them. So we have always to tread the right path and this can be achieved only with God's grace, as he is the source of all knowledge. 

 

Ganesha is also a Nitya Brahmachari, i.e., one who keeps all the organs under check. He is the personification of strength, intelligence, orderliness, and brahmacharyA, which generates tremendous spiritual power.

 

श्रीकान्तो मातुलो यस्य जननी सर्वमंगला ।

जनकश्शंकरोदेवः तं वन्दे कुंजराननम् ॥ 

 

(to be continued)