The Powerful Elements Of Lord Ganesh-Part 3
June 3, 2007
In this post we continue understanding the important elements of our Lord.
The Teeth:
The elephant has two sets of teeth. The external pair is its tusks and the second set is used for chewing. This illustrates that our behaviour should be like its teeth and our true nature should not be revealed to all. One should use their intellect to differentiate between right and wrong and treat people accordingly. His broken tusk has many mythological references like His tusk was used for writing down the epic of Mahabharata, as a weapon to destroy the demon Gana and as an ivory talisman used by the people who follow Tantric practices. (Tantra denotes sacred esoteric scriptures where one understands how to transform the energies that govern the body).
In Shishupalvadh, a Sanskrit play, it is mentioned that Lord Ganesh had a missing tusk because Ravana, (The demon who had kidnapped Sita, the wife of Rama in the epic Ramayana.) had forcibly removed His tusk to make ivory earrings for the beautiful women of his kingdom, Lanka. His incarnation as Lord Ekadanta (Eka means one, Danta denotes tooth) was to control the demon Madaasura. This symbolically explains Eka as the embodiment (Maya – Power of Illusion) and Danta represents Truth (Satya). Thus Ekadanta stands for the Supreme Truth that can put a leash on Maya.
The Ears:
Lord Ganesh’s fan-like ears symbolize that He is always attentive to our needs and denotes wisdom. It is through our ears that we have the ability to listen, assimilate and reflect on various spiritual knowledge. One of his many names is Surpakarna (One with large ears). Just as a flapper (Surpa) is used to winnow the grains to remove the stones and dirt, so should we pay attention and filter out what is not wanted and retain only what is good from our lives. In other words, we should avoid negative and destructive habits such as gossip, backbiting and focus only on positive discussions.
The philosophical aspect of this denotes that just as one uses a winnowing basket to separate grains from dirt particles, one must use discrimination (Viveka) to separate the real (Brahman) from the unreal (Maya). Here the grains stand for Brahman and the dirt signifies Maya. To inculcate this lesson in our life, we should take recourse to listening (Sravana) to the glories of the Lord.
The Body:
The body signifies the earthly existence of human beings. The Lord’s human body teaches that we must have feelings of love, affection and well being for others. Ancient scriptures explain that Lord Ganesh is bright red in color. The commonly seen colors on the deity are orange, pink and yellow. Different forms of Lord Ganesh are denoted with different colors like Dwija Ganapati is white, Dwimukha Ganapati is bluish-green, Harirdra is bright yellow and so on.
The Hands:
Ganesh is usually portrayed with four hands, holding different artifacts. In most paintings and handicrafts, He is shown with two arms. It is said that most Hindu gods and goddesses are shown with four arms as it helps to differentiate between the celestial beings and other divine beings like those of Dwarpalas (Door keepers), Yakshas (Divine beings who are the doorkeepers of Buddhist shrines) Gandharvas (Celestial singers) etc. During most battles, the gods and goddesses are projected with ten arms like Goddess Durga, Mahaganapati etc to create fear and are an embodiment of power. Their every hand is armed with a weapon which facilitates in the destruction of evil. The evil forces are epitomized as demons. They due to their ignorance incapacitate their judgement of righteousness over wickedness.
Significance of Chaturbhuj (Chatur – Four, Bhuj – Arms):
His arms symbolically represent the following:
1) Manas – This denotes the Mind. It is the subtle level of thought through which we perceive the world.
2) Buddhi – It stands for Intellect. This helps to develop understanding and in interpreting perceptions.
3) Ahamkara – This is the Ego. It is this power that makes man believe that he is powerful and independent from his environment. According to Sankhya philosophy, this happens because of the veil created by Maya (Illusion). This illusion feeds on the self-consciousness and creates endless sufferings and hankerings.
4) Chitta – It is the individual consciousness. It consists of three levels namely conscious, subconscious and unconscious.
The Insignias:
The weapons that the Lord holds in His hands are not for battle or bloodshed. It is with these that He destroys mankind’s arrogance, deceit, illusions and ignorance. These qualities are so deeply embedded that it takes us years or sometimes centuries to realize and overcome them.
A Goad (Ankusha):
This is placed on His upper arm encourages mankind to move ahead on the eternal path. He also makes sure that this journey is free from obstacles. It is said that the goad symbolises Krodha (Anger). This emotion penetrates deep inside and hurts the person like a goad. It is only through understanding and realization can one free oneself from such feelings. Symbolically it also explains that one should steer the soul away from negativity, attachments and illusions just as a Mahout (The controller of the elephant) would guide his animal through unknown and difficult terrains.
The Noose (Pasha):
This is placed in His left hand signifies that He uses it to control all the difficulties and hindrances present in our lives. It is meant to pull the devotee out of the worldly entanglements and bind him to the everlasting and enduring bliss of his own Self. It captures delusions (Moha) and helps the devotee remain on the spiritual path.
An Axe or sometimes a Trishul (A three-pronged weapon):
This is located on His other hand symbolizes the destruction of all desires and attachments.
The Rosary (Mala or Akshamala):
This illustrates that the pursuit of knowledge should be continuous and never ending. The beads are made of fifty Rudra (This is the ancient Vedic deity of Storm and synonymous with Shiva). It equates to the fifty letters of Sanskrit alphabet, signifying sound and hearing.
A Laddoo or a Modaka (Round or droplet shaped sweetmeat):
This is placed on His palm shows that one must discover the sweetness of the Atman (Soul). This is also considered as a reward for those who walk on the spiritual path. Lord Ganesh is known as Modaka Priya or the one who relishes Modaka. In the Padma Purana, Modaka symbolises Maha Buddhi (Supreme Wisdom). It also states that anyone who smells this sweetmeat realizes that they are immortal and those who consume it, imbibe worldly and spiritual knowledge. Modaka is symbolised as the sweetmeat of bliss (Ananda).
The Lotus:
This flower in Lord Ganesh’s hand represents the supreme goal of human evolution.Apart from these He is also seen holding other emblems like Kamandalu (A type of water pot) Vajra (Thunder), Chakra (Discus), Dhanus (Bow), Bana (Arrow) etc.
The Stomach:
Lord Ganesh’s large stomach signifies that He has the capacity to hold every secret and digests all the sorrows and miseries of the universe. The offerings that are made by His devotees represent the seeds of innumerable worlds which constitute countless living creatures. Thus His belly contains all these worlds and creatures safely tucked inside Him. This teaches us that in order to attain spiritual progress; one must develop the ability to digest all the good and bad experiences that one encounters throughout their life. We should learn to overcome all the pitfalls and struggles without loosing focus and remain unaffected.
Across His torso, the sacred thread – Yajnopavita is placed. (In the thread ceremony called Upanayana, the Guru performs rituals where the young boy is given this thread. This signifies that the boy is Dvija or twice born. He is first born by the physical birth process and then born again to pursue his spiritual goals). The Lord is illustrated wearing a cotton thread or sometimes depicted with a snake. This snake is single-headed or three-headed cobra which is tied around His waist. This represents energy in all its forms.
The Legs:
His legs are positioned according to His various forms. When one leg rests on the ground and the other is raised, it symbolizes the importance of living and being part of the material world and the spiritual world. It teaches us that we should know how to create a balance between these two worlds.
The Feet:
Lord Ganesh’s feet epitomize the power of knowledge and action.
©Nayna, 2007 All Rights Reserved.
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5 Responses to “The Powerful Elements Of Lord Ganesh-Part 3”
Got something to say?
Actually I am looking for the jpg of lord Ganesha with bow arrow ie.dhanushyban but cant find I have so many jpg imajes of gods but not this one if you can send me please send
thanks
with regards
Nitin
Hi Nitin,
Thanks for writing in. Lord Ganesh usually doesn’t carry a bow and arrow. He does that only in his warrior form that is when He has 8 hands. This form is known as Durga Ganapati. Lord Kartikeyan’s insignia is bow and arrow and He is usually referred to as the Lord of the warriors.
But modern man has used his imagination to create the Lord’s form to their choice so here is the link to the form that you have requested for.
http://amitkulkarni.info/pics/ganesh_mumbai/digital_image_pages/ganesh-mumbai_images10.shtml
i have a moorthy of Lord Ganesha which is standing and has a right trunk. your views please
why do people not worship a standing Ganpati? God is God how can he tire? I have a moorthy of Lord Ganesha which is standing and has a right trunk. your views please
1. One astrologer told me do not put Lord Ganesha murti in your home. I asked him why? He told me to keep Lord Ganesha, you have to keep doors of house large. Does it ture?
2. In home Lord Ganesha should be worshiped with right / left trunk. What are the significant of right and left turned trunk.