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, 22 Apr 2003 Nagraj wrote :
>Do Iyengar worship lord Ganesha,But lot of them say no pl let
>me
>know what wrong in worshiping Lord ganesh/Vinayaka.

I have been mulling over some of these very same issues and so far
have formulated the following.

In an earlier post, I have drawn the relationship between bhakti yoga,
( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bhakti-list/message/16746)
jnana yoga and karma yoga. Having drawn that relationship, it is clear
that knowing "How to act" is the first step and is vital to the
realization of karma, jnana and bhakti.

The primacy of all actions can best be summed up by Kurugur SaThakopan's
pasuram in Thiruvaimozhi 2.9.2
O my Dark effulgent Lord, here is all I
ask for at all times.
Grant me the hands of knowledge, that I
may grasp your precious lotus feet.

Which leads us to deal with all the remaining daily actions as noted
in the Bhagvad Gita
No man experiences freedom from activity (Naiskarmya) by abstaining
from works; and no man ever attains success by mere renunciation
of works. 03.04

No man can, even for a moment, rest without doing work; for
everyone is caused to act, in spite of himself, by the Gunas
born of Nature. 03.05

He who controlling the organs of action, lets his mind dwell
on the objects of senses, is a deluded person and a hypocrite.
03.06

But he who, subduing his senses by the mind, O Arjuna, begins
to practice Karma Yoga through the organs of action and who is
free from attachment - he excels. 03.07

Ganapati - The Lord of categories OR The Lord of Obstacles
is a pictographic representation that epitomises
"How to act" with "Why to act" all wrapped in a structure that
embodies the relationship between Knowledge and action (Jnana and
Karma) whilst patently representing the tattva or Narayana circling
the three worlds i.e. Bhur-Bhuva-Swaha.

The Puranic wrapper of Ganapati's creation reads as follows:
Parvati, wife of Shiva was bathing one day. Shiva was away and she
used the sandalwwod from her body to create a little boy. She blew
life into him. She then asked him to stand guard in front of her
door so no could come in. Shiva arrived, when the boy asked him not to
enter as Parvati was bathing, He asked the boy "Who are you". The boy
said
I'm her son, on this Shiva got enraged and with one stroke cut of his
head and barged in. Parvati, wept incolsolably and finally Shiva went out
and the first creature he came across was an elephant. He cut of it's
head, rushed back and placed it on the boy's body and Parvati breathed
life into it and thus was born Ganapati.

Looking at the same tale metaphorically
Parvat-vati or three Parva's/aspects. The three aspects are Knowledge,
Will and Action. These 3 factors however cannot mingle together and
do anything unless a fourth factor i.e. chit/consciousness enlivens
them. Shiva is the chitaswaroopa (face of chit). The product of these
four factors is the human mind. This mind is embodied in a body which
is made of achit/matter which is what the earth is made of. This
combination of mind/body is akin to the fragrance of the earth, the
body of Ganapati being created out of fragrant sandalwood, which is
also from Parvati's body essentialy an achit combination. Shiva's
intervention gives the child a unique appearance. essentially the
embodiment of creativity in the combination of the 4 factors.

Symbolism of the elephant's head:
It's trunk when curled represents Om (in
Tamil & Sanskrit the Om symbol is that of an elephant in profile).
The elephant is the only animal that combines in one organ both
reason and action i.e. it's mind & trunk. The ears of the elephant
are large and they flap representing the sifting of truth from
untruth. The spread ears, represent the Yoni and the trunk the
linga, representing the sexual act as the product of life.

Noose, goad & modaka
Ganapati is shown holding a goad in one hand and a noose in the
other and loves the modaka (or sweet). The noose represents desire
or the fact that desires are traps much like the noose, the goad
represents anger, anger which results from not getting what one wants
The sweet represents the reward and wanting rewards, produces the
trap and anger.

Bhur-Bhuvah-Swaha
The head represents - Swaha, the human body - Bhuva and the mouse Bhur.

Ganapati's mount is the mouse.
The mouse is symbolic of how to act, i.e. the mouse accomplishes its tasks
by nibbling away and moving with agility.

A Puranic wrapper on the mouse and action
Ganesha on his mouse mount & his brother Muruga on his peacock mount
were both competing with each other, when Parvati & Shiva
came in with a platter of fruit. There were apples, oranges and one
mango. Both of them wanted the mango. So, Parvati said whoever
goes around the world first will get the mango. Murugan laughed
and went bounding away on his peacock. Ganesha thought and than
circled his parents and said, I am first! Please give me the
mango. Murugan huffing and puffing came over the horizon and
got upset, to which Ganesha replied:- My parents are the whole
world and when I went around them I went around the whole
world so I am first.

The metaphor
Besides the aforementioned combination of 4 factors being
chit/achit i.e. the universe, and the knowledge that I am he
or Aham Brahmasmi.
The Karma-Yoga aspect is that one needs to only take simple and
easy actions (i.e. a mouse as the transport) with knowledge (jnana)
and love(bhakti), not elaborate and hard actions with pride and
desire for the reward to accomplish one's goals.

Asuras, Avatars and Metaphors
Mada, Matsarya - Avatar Ekadanta Metaphor - Reality
Reason and reality help us to send these asuras to Patala, thereby
allowing us to "act well"
Lobha, Moha - Avatar Mahodara Metaphor - Massive Belly, Distance
Staying away from temptation, helps us to send these asuras to Patala.
Kama, Krodha - Avatar Lambodhara Metaphor - Long Belly, Time
These are the hardest asuras and time is needed to deal with the
effectively.


Metaphorically Praying to Ganapati before taking any action
G - Greed, Desire & Anger should not be the motivators of action
A - Actions must be motivated by one's Duty
N - Namo Not mine, the results of the action are not yours
E - Easy
S - Small
H - No Hurry

The striking image of Ganesha provides a comprehensive metaphorical
representation of the appropriate means to take an action, thereby
facilitating the pathway from karma to jnana and bhakti.

Time and Insecurity
Inherent to Time is insecurity or not knowing what will happen
tomorrow and the samsaric cycle of birth&death.
Ganesha does not offer insight into how to deal with them,
this is offerred by Narayana and by placing one's insecurity
at his lotus feet.

Which brings us right back to:
O my Dark effulgent Lord, here is all I
ask for at all times.
Grant me the hands of knowledge, that I
may grasp your precious lotus feet.

Another prayer which makes a similar request is the Gayatri-mantra
(Pranava) Bhur-Bhuvah-Swaha
Tat Savitur Vareniyam
Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi
Dhiyo yo na prachodyat.

-----------
My rudimentary understanding is book&web based without the privilege of
tutelage under a qualified acharya, so may be filled with
subjective & conceptual inaccuracies.

Thanks
Srinivasan Sriram




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