SRI MAHA GANAPATHY

SRI MAHA GANAPATHY

                   SRI MAHA GANAPATHY

                        SRI SRI PATYADI SIDDHA LAKSHMI SAMETA SRI VALLABHA SRI                                            MAHAGANAPTHY SRI PADUKAM PUJAYAMI NAMAH

sri vidya upasana is a long journey.if one happens to undertake this upasana,the form of ganapathi with hands,legs etc..is prescribed in order to be of help in meditation to start with.a dyana sloka is also given to retain this form deeply in the mind

                  bijapura gadeksu karmuka ruja cakraabja pasotpala

                  vrihya grasvavisana ratna kalasa prodyat karambhoruhah

                  dhyeyo vallabhaya sapadma karaya slistoj jvalad bhusaya

                  visvotpatti vipatti samsthiti karo vighneso istarthadah

maha ganapathy  has ten hands and a trunk. at the tip of the trunk he holds a pot made of gems.starting from he lower most right arm to the lower most left hand as clock wise he holds pomegranate,mace,sugarcane,trident,discus,lotus,noose,blue lilly,paddy stacks and his tusk he is meditated as having his wife vallabha sitting on his left lap. she is wearing shiny ornaments.one must meditate on ganapthy as embracing vallabha sakti's waist with his left hand which holds his broken tusk . maha ganapthy is seen with a lotus as his seat. a serpent is around his huge belly. he is wearing the sacred thread,with an elephant face and beautiful red colour. maha ganapathy  has the power of creating,protecting and destroying.he fulfills all the desires of his devotees.
   ten hands ten ayudhas          
   bijapura = pomegranate
   gada=mace
  iksukarmuka=sugarcane
   ruja=trident
   cakra=sudarsana cakra
   abja=lotus flower
   pasa=noose
utpala=blue lilly
 vrihya=paddy stacks
 grasvavisana=his tusk
here we can notice that left side hands weapons indicates the female goddess and rightside weapons indicate the male gods,that means fulfilment of left and right together is a pair nothing but a wife and husband is a same person in the form of ardanareswara  which means right indicating the male shiva and the left indiacting female sakti so wife and husband being together with love is a great sadhana

1. it is laid down in the sastras that all forms of ganapathy are that of the pranava.it is needless to say that maha ganapthy also has the shape of pranava.it is the 'om'the pranava which is the beginning of all sonds and the universe.therefor the worship of ganapthy  to start with is essential for all upasanas or work.it is very  appropriate to have the upasana of maha ganapathi called srividya ganapthy asthe beginning of the srividya upasana path.that the divine form of maha ganapathi is that of pranava can be known from the first letter of the mantra,that is 'om'.
2. the discus(sudarsana ckara) in the right most upper arm and the lotus in the left most upper arm represents the powers of vishnu and lakshmi.all the benefits obtained by the worshipping vishnu and lakshmi can be had by upasana of ganapthy.the second letter of the mantra is 'srim' which is representing the pair of vishnu and lakshmi.the discus and lotus of maha vishnu and lakshmi refer to dharma(righteousness).
3. the trident  in the  next lower right arm and the noose in the next lower left arm represents the powers of siva  and parvati.all the benefits obtained by the worshipping siva and parvati can be had by upasana of ganapthy.the third letter of the mantra is 'hrim' which is representing the pair of siva and parvati.the trident and noose of siva and parvati refer to moksha(liberation).
4. the sugarcane bow  in the  next lower right arm and the blue lilly in the next lower left arm represents the powers of manmatha  and rati.all the benefits obtained by the worshipping manmatha and rati can be had by upasana of ganapthy.the fourht letter of the mantra is 'klim' which is representing the pair of manmatha and rati.the sugarcane bow and blue lilly of manmatha and rati refer to kama(desires).
5. the mace in the  next lower right arm and the paddy satcks in the next lower left arm represents the powers of sri varaha  and bhumi devi.all the benefits obtained by the worshipping sri varaha  and bhumi devi can be had by upasana of ganapthy.the fifth letter of the mantra is 'glaum' which is representing the pair of sri varaha  and bhumi devi.the mace and paddy stacks of srivarahaand bhumi devi  refer to artha(wealth).
6. righteousness in its pure form is very close t the attainment of liberation .since the joy in  worldy desires indicates the inherent natural desires of the jeevas fot thr joy in liberation ,kama is close to moksha.sice thewordly desires (kama) are fulfilled with the help of (artha) wealth,it is close to kama.when righteousness(dharma) is totaaly godly it leads to moksha .in terms of wordliness righteousness(dharma)  is dependent on kama and artha.the worldly form of righteousness(dharma) whixh is independent of kama and artha is some what remote from pure  absolute form of dharma.all the four dharma,artha,kama,moksha can be gained by upasana of maha ganapthi .the pomegranate in lowermost right hand denotes entire universe.the grains are arranged so beautifully inside it represent tha innumerable units of the universe.the pomegranate implies that the unimaginable huge universe is contained in a small place in the form of mahaganapthy.the broken tusk held in the lower most left hand is like a stylus and determines the destiny of all the living beings of the world,that is , like the power which determines the cosmic destiny.pomegranate is the universe governed by that power.the power is also called jada sakti.which this hand of pomegranate and broken tusk representing the  six the letter of mantra is 'gam'
7. the jewel studded pot held by trunk is filled with nectar is wisdom personified.it is thw eisdom that enables the living beings to realise their essential siva form. this knowledge is basically a knowledge  of mental outlook .this also referred to as citsakti.the jewelled pot denotes the internal four fold mind (antahkarana)shininh with mental outlook.the nectar  inside the pot represents this knowledge.thus we come to know the truth that dharma,artha,kama,moksha,the universe,the power that determines,jada sakti,ccit sakti all are dependent on god.vallabha sakti denotes the godliness.the soul having been lured away by (avidya)ignorance,later by the gaining of true knowledge,-the essential siva form attains the inherent godliness.but the nature of ajeeva is non existent in god.the naure of siva,the godliness is always inherent in him.tis is the principle of vallabha sakti
8. thw word 'ganapataye' in the maha ganapathi mantra has the implication of the word'namah' to mean obseisance to ganapthy.the two words 'vara varada' are in the vocative case.they mean vara= hey eminent one varada= one who grants the wishes of your devotees ,the maha ganapthy mantra has the capacity to domass hypnotisation ofa huge crowd of people also 'sarva janam me vasamanaya svaha'

sri maha ganapathy