Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi

August 23, 2009

OM…OM…OM…

Sai Ram

With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of our most Beloved Bhagavan,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

WE CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF LORD VINAYAKA

My greetings to you all as we celebrate the birth of Lord Vinayaka (the elephant-headed god) with the festival of Vinayaka Chavithi today, the 23^rd of August. This is the first of many festivals to follow. On this day we express our gratitude to Bhagavan for all that we have accomplished up to now; and we pray to Him to continue to shower His blessings on our future plans and actions.

THANKS TO BHAGAVAN AND THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS

With the blessing of His Divine grace, and by His inscrutable will, I have been able to hold these satsang programs (spiritual meetings) every Sunday, from 1996. I thank Him profusely for taking me successfully through this period.

In the same period, Bhagavan has blessed about twenty books which have been published by the Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publication Trust. Most of the books are based on our Sunday talks. I thank Bhagavan for all the information now made available in book form for everybody. Of twenty-four books in production, sixteen are already on sale in the bookstall. There are five books in Telugu (the language of Andhra Pradesh state), and all the rest are in English.

I thank my brothers and sisters here who have been encouraging me every week by their gracious presence and their words of appreciation. I thank you also for all that you have contributed to my career.

I particularly thank those who have been putting these Sunday talks on the saiwisdom.com website in ten international languages. As I look back, I am naturally touched and even emotional, because I never thought that these things would happen. Impossible! It is only because of His grace that we could go as far as we have in bringing the words of Sai to so many people.

In all humility and love, I pray to Bhagavan to shower His choicest blessings on each and every one of you gathered here, your families, your friends, and everybody.

vinayaka HAS MANY NAMES

As this is the festival of Vinayaka Chavithi, I thought it necessary to mention a few of the concepts relating to it. I have gathered together a lot of information which, unfortunately, is impossible to cover within this short time. But yet, we must make an attempt to learn a few of the salient features, if not all of them.

Ganesha is the first deity to be worshipped

The first thing that we have to bear in mind is Ganesha or Vinayaka or Vigneshwara or Ganapathi (all these are His names) is the first deity of worship. We worship Him first; therefore He is prathama, first. He is not only first, He is also important, pradhana. So this is the first important deity whom we worship every day. We begin our day with respectful prayers to the foremost god, Ganapathi, or Gajanana, or Vigneshwara, or Vinayaka. All these names belong to the same deity, as I said before. Since we have a good number of people here who may not have heard these names before, I have chosen to go through them slowly, repeating them as I would in my classroom. It is so easy for a teacher to repeat that he does it—even when you don’t want him to!

ALL WORLDLY PURSUITS NEED THE BLESSINGS OF GANESHA FOR SUCCESS

So these are the important points that I want to share with you. Number one: be it a physical attempt, or a spiritual practice, we offer our prayers to Vinayaka first. It may be the beginning of a business or a factory, a project or the construction of a house, or some planning. Whatever it may be, all worldly pursuits and endeavours start by the offering of a prayer to Lord Ganesha. The meaning of this is that we need His blessings for all our worldly successes.

EVERY SPIRITUAL SADHANA NEEDS THE BLESSINGS OF GOD

The second point is that we need Vinayaka for carrying out our spiritual practices or sadhana. We want to do sadhana—but wanting to do it finishes there! We don’t begin most of the time. Every day we decide to start some sadhana; but despite this decision, we have not done so successfully. Days simply pass by, which only means we are yet to be blessed to start the sadhana. So every spiritual sadhana needs the blessings of God for its commencement and successful completion. That is what I want to impress upon you.

WE SEEK GANAPATHI’S BLESSINGS FOR ALL SPIRITUAL RITUALS AND MANTRAS

For the last couple of days, we have been listening to mantra (a sacred formula or hymn) in the Mandir (temple) from 8 o’clock to 9 o’clock in the morning, and in the evening, 4 o’clock to 5 o’clock.

We hear this mantra every time, repeated in the morning and evening.

Ganaaanaam Twaa Ganapathi Gum Hawa Mahe

Kavim Ka Veenam Upamastra Vastamam

Jyesta Rajam Brahmanam Brahmanaspatha

Aanah Shrunvan Nothi Vissi Dasadhanam

Pranodevi Saraswathi ….

What then does that mantra mean?

“Oh, God, I want You to sit in my heart. I want You to preside over this holy worship and this holy ritual. Whatever I do in Your name, I want You to preside over it. I want You to be there and confer all boons for the successful performance of these rituals. Let them be successfully completed, my Lord. I want You to grant all the boons, all the rewards, all the fruits of these rituals, my Lord.”

That is the meaning of ‘Gananaam twaa . . . ‘.the mantra that we repeat each time before the beginning of every spiritual ritual.

We see Ganapathi or Vinayaka being worshipped in yagas. Yagas and yagnas are spiritual rituals. When we worship Ganapathi at the time of any yaga or yagna, we seek His blessings for all the mantras that we utter.

WE PRAY TO GANAPATHI TO BLESS ALL THOSE AT THE RITUALS

We also pray for His blessings on all those who perform the rituals. Additionally, we pray for His blessings on all those who are following the proceedings with rapt attention, and who are listening to the mantras with sincerity, devotion and faith. We are seeking the blessings of Ganesha on everybody there. Therefore, Ganapathi represents a deity to whom we pray for collective blessings on everybody in the entire community.

OM is the ‘head’ of all mantras

Another thing which I want to share with you is that every mantra starts with an important letter. Without this letter at the beginning of the mantra, it has no value. So, this letter ‘heads’ it. Here is an example. The shoulders and thighs in a human body may be strong. The body may also be tall. But without a head, it is all useless. It does not matter how strong or tall a body is, a head is essential to give the body life, purpose and meaning. Similarly, however powerful the mantra is, without the first letter, the ‘head’, the whole mantra is useless.

What is that first letter? Om! It is Om (the primeval sound by which God sustains the cosmos) that gives life to the whole of the mantra. Therefore Om is the ‘head’ of every mantra.

WE PRAY TO Ganapathi FOR THE BENEFITS OF ALL MANTRAS

All mantras are called ganas. In other words, ganas are the mantras. Therefore Ganapathi is the Head of mantras, (‘pathi’ means Lord) So when you pray to Ganapathi, you will be naturally blessed with the benefits of all mantras.

GANAPATHI IS THE HEAD OF SEVEN MILLION MANTRAS

It is estimated that there are seven crores (millions) of mantras. Seven crores, not one or two crores! As I said before, ganas are mantras and therefore Ganapathi is the Head of mantras. So when we worship Ganapathi, we will have the benefit of the utterance of seven crores of mantras. A wholesale benefit! Instead of taking vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, D, E and so on, why not have one multivitamin tablet, Hari om! (Laughter) So, one prayer to Lord Ganapathi will give you the benefit of uttering seven crores of mantras.

WE PRAY TO vigneshwara TO REMOVE ALL obstacles

Then we should also think of another important aspect. If we start a yagnam or yaga, or a spiritual activity, it should continue without interruption. But if there is some sort of family problem, you may have to stop. Or there might be an accident, or a disaster caused by a fire. Or perhaps a very heavy rainfall prevents its completion.

Obstacles of different kinds can occur. For instance, the fellow who is carrying out the spiritual activity develops appendicitis and he has to have an immediate operation. So there may be personal problems; there may be natural calamities. Whatever it is, there ends the matter.

It is important that every activity is successfully completed. In order to prevent all obstacles and ensure continuity in the performance of the spiritual activity, we should pray to Ganapathi. Ganapathi has another name, Vigneshwara. Vighna means ‘obstacles’.

We therefore pray, “Oh, Lord Vigneshwara, see that all obstacles are cleared away so that I can successfully complete any activity that I have undertaken with Your blessings.”

we pray to Brihaspathi FOR WORDS OF WISDOM AND DIVINITY

Ganapathi has two other names. One name is Brihaspathi. Brihat means ‘words’ or ‘speech full of wisdom’, jnana. (The power of wisdom is jnana shakti.) So Brihaspathi (brihath, brihathi, pathi), is the Head for all our words of wisdom. Therefore, if we want to have words of wisdom, truth and Divinity, we have to pray to Brihaspathi.

BRAHMANASPATHA IS THE HEAD OF THE VEDIC RITUALS AND KNOWLEDGE

The other name is Brahmanaspathi. Brahmanas are the teachings and the rituals of the Vedas (the earliest Hindu sacred texts). So Brahmanaspatha is the Head of all the Vedic rituals and knowledge.

VINAYAKA HAS THE NAME BRIHASPATHI AND BRAHMANASPATHA

Vinayaka is named Brihaspathi (the Head of the words of wisdom) and Brahmanaspatha (the Head of all the wisdom and rituals contained in the Vedas). We salute Lord Vinayaka!

The whole world is within THE BIG STOMACH OF ganAPATHI

All of us would have seen the idol of Ganapathi. He has a very big paunch or stomach. Why should it be so big? There are two explanations: one is that the whole world is within that stomach. The meaning of this is that we are in God—there is no distance between us and God. When there is only Divinity everywhere, everything is Divine. He is everywhere, so how can we be away from Him? Lambodhara is the word for a broad stomach, and we are there, inside. No one can be outside.

The second explanation for the big stomach is that not only are all the living creatures in Him, but also all the mantras are in Him. That’s also the meaning of Lambodhara.

vakratunda can set straight our crooked mind

We have seen the idol of Vinayaka with a curved trunk at the entrance of the hall. Why is the trunk curved, and not straight? Is it the mistake of the painter or of the sculptor?

Vinayaka is called Vakratunda because of the curved trunk (vakra means ‘curved’; tunda means ‘the trunk’). His full title is Vakratunda Mahakaya (mahakaya means the ‘mighty form’).

So why has Vakratunda a bent trunk? There are two points here. (Being a teacher, I always mention two points, or three, or more. But don’t worry about the number; worry about the matter behind every point—there is no point in thinking about the number!).

The curved trunk represents two aspects: one, vakra, curved . . . that which is not straight is our mind. We are not straightforward. We are excellent in manipulation, in conniving against each other, in mud-slinging and character assassination.

Vakra is perversion, wickedness, cruelty, manipulation, connivance. Who can set straight our crookedness? Who can straighten our manipulative mind, the diverted, perverted mind? Only God, Vakratunda.

EKADANTA – GOD IS OUR ONLY STRENGTH

You would have noticed that Vinayaka has only one tusk; the other is broken. He is called Ekadanta - eka ‘one’, danta ‘tusk’. Eka not only means ‘one’, it also means ‘very important’. As well, Eka can be known as ‘Ekam’, ‘the only One’, ‘the only Truth.’ Danta, the single tusk, also has another meaning, ‘strength’. Ekadanta: eka, the One, danta, strength.

So what does Ekadanta represent? It is this: “God is our only strength.” We may feel, “Oh, no, my strength is my body.”

Last night I had a phone call from one of my friends, “Why don’t you ask Swami about my health? Would you please send some vibhuthi?”

I said, “What’s wrong with you?”

It seems he is suffering from the second stage of prostate cancer. He was physically very strong until yesterday.

Then only a couple of days ago, a gentleman performed the marriage of his son here, and waited for Swami’s darshan. He has been the editor of a spiritual magazine for thirty years. And all of a sudden, I received news of his death. So, what is our strength after all?

Looking in the mirror, we may feel that the body is our strength. Certainly not! We may feel the mind is our strength. Definitely not! The memory fades away with the passage of time. We think money is our strength. Not so. The rupee (Indian currency) is losing its value because of devaluation. Money has no value because of the economic recession. So money is not our strength. Scholarship also is not our strength because there are people who are more scholarly than us.

So what is our strength? Ekadanta, eka only, danta, the strength . . . God is our only strength and that we have to understand.

SWAMI IS THE ONLY LEADER

Then, who can lead us? Who is the best leader in this world? Once some students of the M.B.A department—business management people—presented a big article on leadership qualities to Swami. They had gathered together all this information about a leader and leadership qualities.

Swami was looking at it. (He knew what was written before they gave it to Him!) Then He laughed and said “Who is the leader?” meaning that because of this point, the whole article had no value at all. “Who is the true leader? This article does not tell Me that!”

Then Swami told them, “I am the only leader, understand that!” (Laughter)

He is Brahmanda Nayaka Baba, as in the bhajan song (devotional song) which you must have heard . . .

Brahmanda Nayaka Baba

Parthi Purishwara Baba

He is Brahmanda Nayaka, the super leader. He is not an ordinary leader because He leads the whole universe. He leads everybody.

THERE IS NO LEADER ABOVE VINAYAKA

In the army, there is one leader for every hundred soldiers. There is another leader above him for five hundred people. For the thousands in the army, there is the top leader. So, every leader has another leader above him.

In the police department there are so many ranks: police constable, sub-inspector, circle inspector, deputy superintendent of police, superintendent of police. Every post has a leader in charge of the others, and every leader has a boss above them.

But who is the boss of God? Nobody! He is the Nayaka, the leader, Vinayaka. There is no leader above Him. There is nobody to question Him. He is not accountable to anybody; He is not answerable to anybody. He is independent, the only, mighty leader, Vinayaka,

RAMBA JANANI, THE MOTHER, THE RULER

You must also have heard the bhajans, Hey Ramba Janani. What is the meaning of ‘Hey Ramba'? We know Ramba is a most beautiful angel; that is something different which I will talk about further on.

So when do you say ‘hey’? It is when you need someone’s help, “Hey, come on, come on! Help me! Hey!” You shout for somebody’s help. Then ‘ramba’ must be the one you are calling out to for rescue, the ‘angel’. So ramba means ‘the ruler’, ‘the rescuer’, ‘the helper’. Hey is the shout, the cry calling for some help.

If you are in need, if you are in trouble, don’t call out to Rao, Sharma or Shastri. They will not help you; they will plunge you in even greater trouble! (Laughter) It is useless to ask anybody for their help. Instead the call is for ‘Hey Ramba Janani’. “You are the Mother, you are the Ruler. I need only You to come to my help.” That’s what it is.

FALSE PRAYERS AND FALSE PROMISES ARE NOT HEARD

Ganesha also has the name ‘Surpakarna’, ‘the one with very broad ears, elephant ears’. The very big ears of Ganesha are symbolic of flaps that filter out or shut out words that have no meaning. They filter out all our false prayers, all our false promises and utterances.

Baba joked once, “I don’t hear all your prayers, as some of your prayers are not genuine. I don’t hear all your bhajans too, when they are out of tune and miss the beat. They come into My ears, but I don’t hear them.

“Arre, they get into Your ears, but You don’t hear them?”

“I use My hair to cover My ears!” (Laughter)

VINAYAKA IS THE HEAD OVER BRAHMA, VISHNU, AND MAHESHWARA

In the Puranas, (the ancient texts that elaborate the terse truths and that are enshrined in the Vedas), it is stated that three ‘heads of departments’ should have Vinayaka’s permission to discharge their duties. Who are these three heads of departments? One is the head of creation, Brahma; one is the head of sustenance, Vishnu; and the other is the head of annihilation, Shiva. These three heads have to have permission from the super head, Vinayaka. So Vinayaka is the head over these three—Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwara—creator, sustainer and annihilator. This is clearly said in all the Puranas.

vinayaka is the easiest deity to worship

Then, the process to worship Vinayaka is the easiest of all kinds of worship. I won’t mention the names of the more difficult gods to worship, because I don’t want to have any god turn against me! I don’t want them to say, “I will take care of you later!”

To worship some deities, you need money. For instance, you have to pay to enter the temple. Then to offer worship with flowers, you have to pay. If you want to do abisheka (a ceremonial pouring of water over a deity in worship), you have to pay heavily. It is very costly and it is a long process.

But to worship Ganesha is easy and simple. Why? You worship Him with grass which is everywhere. If you need flowers or fruits for the worship of other deities, then you have to go to a garden or a shop to get them. If you want water from a holy river, you have to travel to the river. But grass is right there under your feet! So very simple!

WORSHIP OF GANAPATHI GIVES MAXIMUM RESULTS WITH MINIMUM EXPENDITURE

Therefore the process to worship Ganesha is the easiest and simplest. You don’t need to spend money, yet the results are maximum. Minimum expenditure, maximum results! How economical it is, I tell you! No other theory of economics proposes such a beautiful principle—minimum investment, maximum results—except that associated with Ganapathi. So those who like to be thrifty can easily follow this formula to please God, provided there is sincerity and devotion. Sincerity and devotion certainly should be present in this worship.

ganapathi brings different groups together

Ganapathi is also important for another thing. He brings people together from different religions.

There are different schools of philosophy. Some worship Shakti, the universal energy, and are called Shakteyas. Some worship Vishnu, and are called Vaishnavites. Others worship Shiva, and are called Shaivites.

So, Shakteyas, Shaivites, and Vaishnavites are the three groups. And even among Vaishnavites, there are two groups split over the use of either the ‘U’ or the ‘V’ mark as a symbol. The matter has gone to the Supreme Court to settle because they had an argument in Tirupati over which mark to put on their elephant in the procession. Some people wanted a ‘U’ mark. But the others said, “Nothing doing! It should be a ‘V’ mark!” (Laughter) In the meantime, the elephant died, but the matter is still not settled in court! (Laughter)

So there are different groups and different modes of worship; but Ganapathi brings them all together under one common platform. Ganas means ‘groups’, and pathi, ‘the only head’. Thus Ganapathi achieves a unity or integration of all the different groups. They are brought together, offering worship in one voice, singing the praise of Ganapathi in unison.

This is what Baba is doing. We have Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Parsis, Vaishnavites, Shaivites. All ‘-ites’ and ‘-isms’ are here. I cannot stand up in Kulwant Hall and announce, “I am a Shaivite.”

“So what, sit down!” a devotee may say to me, for there are thousands of Shaivites there.

I cannot say, “I am a Christian.” There are ten thousand Christians there.

Name the religion, their representative is here. Name the group, their members are here. But all are sitting together at one place because of the one Master.

THE SIXTEEN FORMS OF ganapathi

It is said that Ganapathi has thirty-two forms, and He can be worshipped in any of these thirty-two forms. Of these, sixteen are very popular and well-known. One Ganapathi is green, one ash or grey, one red, one yellow, and so on. So the sixteen forms of Ganapathi are differentiated on the basis of colour.

You can choose which of the sixteen forms to worship for the fulfilment of your desire. One Ganapathi confers knowledge, another Ganapathi confers energy, and another Ganapathi cures your ailments. There is a Ganapathi to grant you wisdom, or another to give you profit in your business. You can worship a Ganapathi in order to have your enemies surrender to you; or another Ganapathi to help you proceed faster and faster in your spiritual practice. Another form will give you prosperity.

Then each form of Ganapathi can be distinguished by the kind of insignia or instruments He carries. One Ganapathi has flowers, one has fruits, and one Ganapathi has both flowers and fruits. Another Ganapathi has a bow and arrow, and an axe. This means He can finish you off, or He can protect you. If you are not doing the right thing, He can correct you.

So the sixteen forms of the Ganapathi classification is based on colour, the kind of reward that He grants you, the insignia, the number of hands He has, and the fruits or flowers or whatever He carries.

Because this day is totally dedicated to the worship and adoration of the first important god, Ganapathi, we can use these classifications to know something about a couple of forms of Ganapathi, at least.

WE SEEK GANAPATHI’S BLESSINGS

We want His blessings because we have a long way to go on our spiritual path. We have to seek His blessings for our repeated satsangs every Sunday. We want His blessings for the publication of more and more books in the future. We want His blessings for all our team members of saiwisdom.com website. We want His blessings for all the viewers of this website; and for all those that read our books. We want His blessings so that we may proceed further and further on our onward, forward spiritual journey. So for all of these reasons, we are trying to know more about Ganapathi this day.

THE FORM OF Bala Ganapathi, child ganapathi

The first form of Ganapathi is Bala Ganapathi. Bala refers to the infant stage, the child. Just as a child grows day-by-day, Bala Ganapathi signifies gradual growth, the continuous process of growth.

The nature of a child is innocence and Bala Ganapathi is innocent. We are ignorant, but our ignorance is quite different from God’s innocence. We are ignorant because we don’t believe in God without experiencing God. God is innocent because He believes our promises every time.

”Swami, I’ll be attending Suprabhatam (a hymn sung at dawn to awaken the Lord) from tomorrow” --which I never do.

But He will say, ”Good, I bless you.” Our innocent God, Swami.

Or: ”I shall not utter a lie from tomorrow.”

”Very good, my boy!” But we tell lies more and more. So He is innocent because He believes the promises of everybody. We break every promise—that’s where we excel. So He is innocent, while we are ignorant.

Bala Ganapathi has four hands: two hands that we see, and two hands behind Him. Of the two hands behind, one is for blessing, asirvachana, while the other hand is for protection, rakshana. He blesses you and protects you, invisibly and unseen.

These four hands hold certain important things like plantain fruit and mango fruit, sugarcane and jackfruit, all fruits. Why? Fruits are always good, fruits are healthy. The oil in them is very good for those who have high cholesterol levels or high blood pressure. Fruits are really nourishing, because they are not cooked but eaten raw. The plantain and mango fruit, the jackfruit and the sugarcane all represent health.

Bala Ganapathi does not carry any weapons with Him--no axe, no bow, no arrows, nothing. Children also don’t have weapons. They do not need weapons to defend themselves because they have no enemies as the child is always innocent.

BENEFITS FROM THE WORSHIP OF BALA GANAPATHI

When we worship Bala Ganapathi or the child Ganapathi, what do we get in return? (We are business people—we expect something in return. Otherwise, why should we worship? We don’t want to waste our time!)

So, if you worship the child Ganapathi, you will get two rewards or benefits. One: your desires will be fulfilled. What more can you want? Life is full of desires, more and more of them. And two: your power of observation will be increased. We have no observation at all. But by praying to Bala Ganapathi, we’ll gain the power of observation.

Children have very sharp observation. You can see that with grandchildren. They put such questions that no grandparent can ever give a satisfactory answer. That is my experience up to now. A child will observe the stars. “Oh grandfather, why do they shine?” The grandfather is clever enough to divert his attention because he has no answer, “See that cow?” The grandson then asks, “Why does the cow give milk?” “Go and play” is the answer. And so it goes on . . . “Why do flowers smell?”

So children put questions to which parents and grandparents have no answers. The questions come because they are very keen in their observation. We are not very keen because we look at somebody and think of someone else; we eat and think of something else. We are not keen; we are not concentrated. So for concentrated attention and the fulfilment of our desires, we should pray to Bala Ganapathi.

the form of taruna ganapathi, youth ganapathi

From balvikas (spiritual education for children), we now move to the youth wing of the Sai organisation; or to put it another way, from the form of child Ganapathi, we go to the form of Taruna Ganapathi, Taruna means ‘the youth, youthful’. This is the second form of Ganapathi.

The quality of youth is that they are not prepared to accept anything that is said to them.

“Arre, you are noisy.”’

“No!”

“You are a dunce.”

“Certainly not!”

“Arre, do this.”

“Why?”

“Don’t do this.”

“Why not?”

That is the quality of youth. If you say to me, “No sir, my son is not like that; he is so obedient,” then your son must be a member of the sheep family!

Youth always questions and challenges. They have a lot of valour and courage.

Bala Ganapathi has four hands, while Taruna Ganapathi has eight hands—double the number. So he is ready to fight. Two of the hands hold a pasha or rope, and one hand carries the ankush or iron rod. The rest of the hands carry fruits, paddy (rice in the husk), gooseberry, sugarcane, and other things.

He is red in colour which signifies the rajasic quality, full of emotion and passion. (An ash-coloured Ganapathi is for those over sixty years of age!) Redness indicates to react and retaliate.

BENEFITS FROM THE WORSHIP OF TARUNA GANAPATHI

What are the benefits of worshipping Taruna Ganapathi? You will get two things. One: He will cure your diseases, (if you have a disease.) We are sure to have something . . . dengue fever, bird flu, now swine flu; something or other is always there. You will be cured of all these ailments after praying to Taruna Ganapathi, the youth Ganapathi.

Two: the determination to achieve, just as youngsters have strong determination. “I will do that. . . I will work for a first class honour’s degree . . . I will achieve this.” It is that sense of determination you will get.

THE FORM OF BHAKTHA GANAPATHI, DEVOTEE GANAPATHI

Now we come to the third form of Ganesha: Bhaktha Ganapathi, who is devotee-oriented. Bhaktha is the word for ‘a devotee’.

Ganapathi, the head of devotees, is white in colour. Bhaktha Ganapathi holds coconut, mango fruit, plantain fruit, and rice pudding in His four hands. They are all offerings to God. Devotees offer fruits and rice pudding or porridge when they pray to Him.

BENEFITS FROM THE WORSHIP OF BHAKTHA GANAPATHI

Whiteness represents satwic qualities such as piousness, peace, calmness, quietness, sacrifice, balance, equanimity. These are the benefits from the worship of Bhaktha a Ganapathi.

THE FORM OF VEERA GANAPATHI, WARRIOR GANAPATHI

The fourth form of Ganapathi is Veera Ganapathi. Veera means ‘the hero’. He is the warrior, full of valour, full of strength, full of courage.

Bala Ganapathi has four hands, Taruna Ganapathi has eight hands, and then there is Veera Ganapathi with sixteen hands, meaning ‘many enemies’. He needs more hands to fight all these fellows. You cannot fight an enemy with a pot of honey or some sweets. So Veera Ganapathi has a bow, arrows, a wheel, a trident, a sword, a rope—all different equipment to finish off those fellows.

He is again red in colour, ready to fight with the enemy. We have enemies. If any fellow says, “I have no enemy” we have to doubt what he says. Perhaps he is a politician dancing to the tune of everybody—so let us keep him at a distance. You cannot be a friend to a sinner and a saint at the same time. Day and night cannot exist at the same time. Water and oil cannot mix. So, if you hear someone state that he has no enemies, then he must be made of stone, impregnable; but it is more likely he is a hypocrite or a politician.

So we do have enemies. An enemy will wait for a chance to humiliate us, or to defeat us, or to cause loss to us. That is the job, a continuous sadhana, of the enemy.

BENEFITS FROM THE WORSHIP of VEERA ganapathi

Therefore, to be free from the evil effects of an enemy, we have to pray to Veera Ganapathi who will calm them down. He will overcome our enemies.

THE FORM OF shakthi ganapathi, ENERGY ganapathi

And then we have the fifth form, Shakthi Ganapathi. Shakthi is energy or power.

His colour is the colour you see in a sunset, not totally white, not completely red. Shakthi Ganapathi has Shakthi as His consort sitting on His left knee. This means that you need Shakthi for the power of movement.

He has four hands. He carries with Him the controlling ankush (a hook). With all His Shakti power, He can control any force. He also holds a garland. One of His hands gives protection. It signifies, “Why fear when I am here?” When Swami raises His hand, it means it is the hand of Shakthi Ganapathi. Not only that: Swami has that same energy with Him. That energy is symbolised by the garland of flowers that adorns Shakthi Ganapathi’s neck.

BENEFITS FROM THE WORSHIP OF shakthi ganapathi

So, what are the benefits we get out of it? There are two advantages. One, when you meditate on Shakthi Ganapathi, you will be fearless; and two, there is a worship called tantric upasana (worship or meditation on a yantra, a graphic symbol). You may know of mantropasana (mantra worship), and there is tantropasana (tantric worship.). The tantric mode of worship is blessed by this Ganapathi.

THE FORM OF DVIJA GANAPATHI, BRAHMIN GANAPATHI

Let me just take two more forms before I conclude. (I am not going to deal with all sixteen forms because of the constraint of time.)

Dvija Ganapathi was moved here as the sixth form, with Siddhi Ganapathi being the seventh form, below.

So, we have Dvija Ganapathi as the sixth form. Dvija means Brahmin (the scholar or priest caste). Here Ganapathi looks like a typical Brahmin, with the dress of a typical Brahmin. He is white in colour and has four faces. He holds in His hands the kamandala (water bowl) which is a sign of vairagya or renunciation, and the talapatra, palmyra leaves on which is written Vedic teachings or compositions. So Dvija Ganapathi represents scholarship, composition, and renunciation.

THE FORM OF SIDDHI GANAPATHI, REALISATION GANAPATHI

What is the meaning of Siddhi Ganapathi, the seventh form? Siddhi has several meanings - ‘success’ or ‘attainment’ are two meanings.

This Ganapathi has a golden complexion and carries in His four hands a mango fruit, a bouquet of flowers, sugarcane, and an axe.

BENEFITS FROM THE WORSHIP OF SIDDHI ganapathi

By praying to Siddhi Ganapathi we get the fulfilment of the utterance of all mantras. You will have vijaya or success. All your spiritual desires will be fulfilled, including the granting of liberation.

CONCLUSION

These are all the forms of Ganapathi that I could share with you. There are many more. When I have the opportunity to talk about the other forms, I shall certainly share that knowledge with you.

Sir, what are the benefits of the Dvija Ganapathi, the sixth form?

Oh, ho! That is a question from a scientific mind. Science wants inference at the end of the investigation. It is the aim of the experiment. First comes the apparatus, then the procedure, and finally the inference. Thank you for listening to me with rapt attention, with prayers to Ganesha that He should have you attend every one of my lectures, not as a punishment, of course! (Laughter)

What are the benefits? Dvija Ganapathi or Brahmin Ganapathi confers wisdom (jnana), deep thinking or investigation (aalochana), and He grants you talent (pratibha).

What is the colour of Bala Ganapathi?

Bala Ganapathi is the colour of a rising sun, close to redness in colour. Is that clear?

Thank you very much.

May Ganapathi bless all of you! May Vinayaka bless all of you!

VINAYAKA, GOD HIMSELF, SHOULD BE THE LEADER IN OUR LIFE

Now our conclusion is this: who is the Master of our life? Vinayaka, God Himself! He has no master above Him. Therefore our conclusion must be that Vinayaka should be the leader in our life.

We should pray to God, as Vigneshwara, for the removal of all the obstacles on our spiritual journey. We should pray to God, as Ganapathi, that we have the benefit of uttering all mantras. We should pray to God, as Gajanana, so that our crooked mind will be set straight.

Vinayaka or Ganesha represents all of us. Each of us is ‘the son of the soil’ (Parvathi Nandana). Parvathi means ‘mother’; while Prithivi means ‘the earth’.

Ganesh, with all His forms, possesses the attributes for which we pray: wisdom, knowledge, power, strength, the fulfilment of worldly pursuits, the successful completion of our spiritual path and spiritual endeavours. We pray for His countless blessings and compassion. May Ganapathi bless you on this holy day of Vinayaka Chavithi!

Thank you. Sai Ram everybody!

OM…OM…OM…

Asato Maa Sad Gamaya

Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya

Mrtyormaa Amrutam Gamaya

Om Samastha Loka Sukhino Bhavantu

Samastha Loka Sukhino Bhavantu

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti