Ganesha’s Eight Forms And Names-Recall On Ganesh Chaturthi

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The Lord is one but His forms are many. The formless reality assumes a form owing to one’s own identification with a form. Hence the formless Lord is attributed with a form owing to one’s association and identification with a form and name. Let us look into the eight important forms of Lord (Ashta Ganapati ) and celebrate Ganesha Chaturthi delving into their meaning. The eight formsand are manifestations to quell the eight human weaknesses by understanding them and worshipping the Lord.

Ekadanta

Ekadanta or the single tusked, the form of Lord Ganesha is the conqueror of Moda or arrogance and is blue coloured with a big belly and a broken right tusk. He holds an axe for severing the bonds of ignorance, prayer beads for japa or chants and a sweet laddu or Modak .

Dhumravarna

The term Dhumra means smoke. Dhumravarna means, one who is smoke coloured. Smoke is also the transitory state between the unmanifest (Nirguna Brahman) and the manifest (Saguna Brahman-in a solid state) and hence the first form of materialisation. It reveals the fact that the Lord is the primal and the only reality whether manifest or unmanifest. Lord Ganesha in this form reigns over pride.

Vakratunda

The term Vakratunda means a curved trunk. Lord Ganesha as Vakratunda is the vanquisher of jealousy. He sets one on the path of righteousness checking the faults and evil doings.

Mohadara

Mahodara means big belly as Lord Ganesha holds the entire universe in Him. He is the destroyer of Moha or infatuation which veils the ultimate truth.

Ghajanana

The elephant faced one, the form of Lord Ganesha who vanquishes Loba or greed which keeps the mind racing outwards not turning it inwards to get established in peace and contentment.

Lambodhara

The one who has a corpulent belly and the destroyer of Krodha or anger. Lord Ganesha simply devoures the negative emotion, anger without a trace.

Vikata

Vikata would mean the deformed one, called so owing to His unusual form. His unusual form reveals the fact that one cannot conceive the actual form of the Lord with the limited entity, the mind. He is the conquerer Kama or lust.

Vignaraja

The one who removes the obstacles. Lord Ganesha as Vignaraja reigns over egotism. Though we may normally understand it to be the obstacles that we face in our material pursuits, in the truest sense it is the greatest obstacle, the ego which has to be removed to realise the greatest blessing of Self realisation. Knowing one’s true self alone confers eternal bliss.
May we thus surrender to the Lord on Ganesh Chaturthi understanding the essence of His manifestations and overcome our shortcomings to abide in eternal bliss.

Source: OneIndia.com by Priya Devi R

An Insight Into Ganesha’s Aspects On Ganesha Chaturthi

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The form of Lord Ganesha is no doubt endearing and it captures one and all, young and old. The much celebrated form of the Lord Ganesha is intriguing with an elephant head and a human body with a pot belly. Lets take a look into the inner meaning of Lord Ganesha’s form so as to celebrate Ganesha Chaturthi in a more fulfilling way.

Elephant Head

The elephant head of Lord Ganesha is symbolic of His eternal Wisdom. It also denotes His intelligence, auspiciousness and intellectual prowess. The elephant is considered as the largest and intelligent of all animals. Hence the ultimate Wisdom of the Lord is depicted in the elephant head.

The elephant is gentle and graceful in its bearing yet its wrath can be disastrous when provoked. The elephant head thus portrays that Ganesha is extremely compassionate and gentle with His devotees, yet His wrath can be disastrous in the face of evil.

Ganesha is also depicted as tactful in His undertakings with an effortless ease which portrays His wisdom. His huge fan like ears of an elephant depicts its capacity and His readiness in listening to the unending and numerous woes of the human folk.

Pot belly

The pot belly of Ganesha denotes the limitless space. It is symbolic of the fact that the Lord is the source of all that is manifested. His pot belly thus reveals the fact that it holds the entire manifested universe in it. Yet the Lord is beyond the manifested universe for in Him does it exists. Further more it is also symbolic of a perfect being who looks at both the pleasant and unpleasant with the same attitude, the result of which is perfect bliss which is represented by His delightful, endearing form.

The Trunk

The trunk of Lord Ganesha depicts discrimination or Viveka which is one of the most important aspect for enlightenment.

The broken tusk

The broken tusk of Lord Ganesha portrays sacrifice which commemorates the significance of the Lord breaking His tusk to write the scripture (Mahabharata) while sage Vyasa dictated it for common good.

Four arms

The four arms of Ganesha are symbolic of subjective evolution. His right arm holds an axe or a cutter, a rope or a noose is held in His left arm, a sweet modak in his lower left arm and the lower right hand portrays the hand that showers blessings.

In one’s evolution subjectively towards liberation or Moksha, the axe severs the inessentials which refer to one’s unwanted materialistic attachment and bonding, the noose or the rope cautions one against the entanglement in Maya or illusion which could strangle one to ceaseless misery while the rope also depicts the recognition of one’s spiritual goal; the Modak represents the sweetness of enlightenment and the hand that shows the sign of benediction promises protection and bestows ultimate deliverance.

Modak

The sweet Modak that Ganesha holds is a call or an invitation to savour the sweetness of spiritual enlightenment or self realisation. Hence Lord Ganesha urges one to partake of the bliss of enlightenment and to be eternally immersed in it. It also represents the fullness or the absolute aspect of the reality.

The Mouse

The mouse which is the vehicle of Lord Ganesha represents the ego of man which sneaks its way into even a small admission if not alert. The mouse lies at the feet of the Lord to represent the Lord’s victory over it and also holds the truth that the supreme reigns the ego. On realising the true self on surrendering to the Lord, the ego can be vanquished once for all to bask in bliss.

Further more the disproportionate form of the Lord renders a stillness to the mind which portrays the mind’s defeat in its incapability of conceptualizing the Lord .

Let us thus celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi realising the inner meaning of the aspects of Lord Ganesha. Let us do away with the binding worldly attachments by freeing ourselves from the noose of illusion with discrimination and vanquish the ego by surrendering to the Lord who promises protection and attain the sweetness of bliss of spiritual enlightenment.

Source: OneIndia.com by Priya Devi R