GANESH CHATURTHII

Ganesh Chaturthi

By 

Sri Swami Sivananda

SALUTATIONS to Lord Ganesha who is Brahman Himself, who is the Supreme Lord, who is the energy of Lord Shiva, who is the source of all bliss, and who is the bestower of all virtuous qualities and success in all undertakings.

Mushikavaahana modaka hastha,

Chaamara karna vilambitha sutra, 

Vaamana rupa maheshwara putra,

Vighna vinaayaka paada namasthe

MEANING: "O Lord Vinayaka! the remover of all obstacles, the son of Lord Shiva, with a form which is very short, with mouse as Thy vehicle, with sweet pudding in hand, with wide ears and long hanging trunk, I prostrate at Thy lotus-like Feet!"

Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most popular of Hindu festivals. This is the birthday of Lord Ganesha. It is the day most sacred to Lord Ganesha. It falls on the 4th day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada (August-September). It is observed throughout India, as well as by devoted Hindus in all parts of the world.

Clay figures of the Deity are made and after being worshipped for two days, or in some cases ten days, they are thrown into water.

Lord Ganesha is the elephant-headed God. He is worshipped first in any prayers. His Names are repeated first before any auspicious work is begun, before any kind of worship is begun.

He is the Lord of power and wisdom. He is the eldest son of Lord Shiva and the elder brother of Skanda or Kartikeya. He is the energy of Lord Shiva and so He is called the son of Shankar and Umadevi. By worshipping Lord Ganesha mothers hope to earn for their sons the sterling virtues of Ganesha.

Lord Shiva made His son worthy of worship at the beginning of all undertakings, marriages, expeditions, studies, etc. He ordained that the annual worship of Ganesha should take place on the 4th day of the bright half of Bhadrapada.

Without the Grace of Sri Ganesha and His help nothing whatsoever can be achieved. No action can be undertaken without His support, Grace or blessing.

In his first lesson in the alphabet a Maharashtrian child is initiated into the Mantra of Lord Ganesha, Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah. Only then is the alphabet taught.

Lord Ganesha is an embodiment of wisdom and bliss. He is the Lord of Brahmacharins. He is foremost amongst the celibates.

He has as his vehicle a small mouse. He is the presiding Deity of the Muladhara Chakra, the psychic centre in the body in which the Kundalini Shakti resides.

He is the Lord who removes all obstacles on the path of the spiritual aspirant, and bestows upon him worldly as well as spiritual success. Hence He is called Vigna Vinayaka. His Bija Akshara (root syllable) is Gung, pronounced to rhyme with the English word "sung". He is the Lord of harmony and peace.

Lord Ganesha represents Om or the Pranava, which is the chief Mantra among the Hindus. Nothing can be done without uttering it. This explains the practice of invoking Ganesha before beginning any rite or undertaking any project. 

• His two feet represent the power of knowledge and the power of action. 

• The elephant head is significant in that it is the only figure in nature that has the form of the symbol for Om.

• The significance of riding on a mouse is the complete conquest over egoism. 
• The holding of the ankusha represents His rulership of the world. It is the emblem of divine Royalty.

Ganesha is the first God. Riding on a mouse, one of nature's smallest creatures and having the head of an elephant, the biggest of all animals, denotes that Ganesha is the creator of all creatures. 

Elephants are very wise animals; this indicates that Lord Ganesha is an embodiment of wisdom. 

It also denotes the process of evolution--the mouse gradually evolves into an elephant and finally becomes a man. This is why Ganesha has a human body, an elephant's head and a mouse as His vehicle. This is the symbolic philosophy of His form.

He is the Lord of Ganas or groups, for instance groups of elements, groups of senses, etc. He is the head of the followers of Shiva or the celestial servants of Lord Shiva.

Lord Ganesha's two powers are the Kundalini and the Vallabha or power of love.

In the Ganapathi Upanishad, Ganesha is identified with the Supreme Self. The legends that are connected with Lord Ganesha are recorded in the Ganesha Khanda of the Brahma Vivartha Purana.

On the Ganesh Chaturthi day, meditate on the stories connected with Lord Ganesha early in the morning, during the Brahmamuhurta period. 

Then, after taking a bath, go to the temple and do the prayers of Lord Ganesha. Offer Him some coconut and sweet pudding. 

Pray with faith and devotion that He may remove all the obstacles that you experience on the spiritual path. Worship Him at home, too. Have an image of Lord Ganesha in your house. Feel His Presence in it.

Take fresh spiritual resolves and pray to Lord Ganesha for inner spiritual strength to attain success in all your undertakings ( in your spiritual evolvement in particular).

May the blessings of Sri Ganesha be upon you all! May He remove all the obstacles that stand in your spiritual path! May He bestow on you all material prosperity as well as liberation!

Essence of Vedanta - Part 44

Sadhaka's State Expressed in Limited Words 

Thus continuing with nidhidhyasana daily, in the morning hours and then during many part of the day, the sadhaka could instantly align and merge with the absolute TRUTH and exist as PURE EXISTENCE (Sathyam) instantly and naturally.

In this state He could:-

• Not differentiate between good beings and bad beings
• Not differentiate between Man and woman, found and old.
• Not relate to any relations in the past
• Not recount any specific thing that happened in his past. This is explained by the truth that the memory bank or the chitta is empty, all actions are undertaken / propelled by pure intellect and once action is performed, the impact of the action does not get stored in the mind, in chitta.
• Not recall / think/ contemplate on any form of any God, including his Sadguru and God Sai with whose grace, he could reach to this state.
• Not relate to any of the wordings/ expressions/ Bhava contained in any bhajan while singing any bhajan in the centre.  This is so because, the differentiation between God and himself was gone and there was nothing but God, the pure existence that existed.  

• The above state of non differentiation between God with a form and the world is explained with a lucid example- Only when a fan is switched on and till the fan starts working in its full speed, one can make out the differentiate between the 3 blades of a fan and see the 3 blades distinctly. 
• Once the fan starts running in full speed, one can never see the 3 blades any more. One can only feel and experience the coolness caused due to the running of the blade. Similarly, in sadhana, only upto the penultimate stage, one can experience difference between God and Himself, God and the universe. 
• Once Realization dawns on a being, then all differentiation is gone and he can neither think about himself as ego, nor think of a God with form as different from him, nor recognize the world and its beings as separate from one SOURCE, the PURE CONSCIOUSNESS. 
• This resulted in his slow withdrawal from bhajan and bhajan singing, from teaching bhajans, from conducting practice , from attending centre and central functions, from holding on mike, singing to God ..., as , there was no more God, no more him, no more creation. There was just PURE EXISTENCE!!!
• At this state of existence one is all alone and one is all complete, exactly as explained in the creation theme posts through Vedic verses when it is said that " HE/ THAT WAS ALONE, WITHOUT ANY THING APART FROM IT".
• Love or compassion no more could be directed to / expressed to one and not to any one else. The natural state of existence was Love and therefore, any one who walked to him, talked to him could experience that pure love. To them, this human being existed, with a body, dressed up, with senses, showering love to them but in fact, in essence, he could never related himself with his own body or his physical personality. 
• An incident is explained so that any spiritual aspirant, existing in any part of the world may read, relate such a state of existence to his own state in his spiritual evolvement. The sadhaka is seated in front of his superior/ boss in his head office. The boss shouts at him for some reason. Leave alone getting affected by the shouting, the sadhaka, at the same time, instantly , was showering total love to that boss, saying without words " Hey, this is not your real state of existence. You are love as much as God is love. Hence, be love. Let your anger not affect your real state". Now, a sincere reader should rise far above the form of the one who is writing this and visualize the state which is expressed here!!!.
• At home front, all expectations from family was gone because, essentially, the one who was expecting all these years, all these decades , was gone. When the  sadhaka himself is no more able to relate to his physical state, then where are the family members and where are any expectations from them???? . 
• Peace had to prevail in family at last because, hitherto, 2 hearts, 2 ego were dashing against one another and there was sound. When one ego has died completely, when one had has stopped clashing, how can then be war?? How  there can be sound?? How there can be agitation?? For a war, 2 sides or atleast 2 human beings are required on either side. When one person is non existent, the other person can either realize that the other person has transcended  his ego or, the other person can think that he has won a walk through game as the other person has succumbed. In either of his thoughts, the one who has transcended ego has no concern!!!!. Think!!!!!
• So, in short, nothing in the world, good, best, bad, worse, worst thing that was happening around, ins work place,at home, in society etc.  could have any impact on him who had aligned and merged with the supreme. 
• The Dhina hitherto, had merged with the Nadhi and ultimately with the endless ocean, the God supreme. Post merger, the part that had merged , could never be withdrawn from the ocean!!!! The doll that was made of salt, had merged with the ocean that is salty, never to be withdrawn from the ocean to exist again as the salt doll!!
•  To the world who was close to him prior to his merger with supreme, he was no colorless, spice less, emotion less, taste less. nothing in him that existed before, could be witnessed by the world now, though apparently, he remained the same. So, the world left him as much as he had left the world long before!!!

He shall end this theme post tomorrow  with an outpour that emerged from the essence within, seated on a morning meditation on a Friday at a devotee's house!!!

Love.

Essence of vedanta-Post 43

Dear All,


Bullet points on nidhidhyasana given in earlier post

• Contemplation is defined as seeing the meaning or bringing back to the mind the content of the teaching acquired during sravanam and mananam. 

• Nidhidhyasanam is intense absorption of THAT which one has listened and about which one has convincingly known after listening.

• And, if the sravanam and mananam has taken place with utmost sincerity, then nidhidhyasanam  HAS TO HAPPEN BY ITSELF, 24/7. 

• Such intense absorption leads to the ultimate experience which is " ATMA SAAKSHATKARAM".

The sadhaka was convinced thoroughly on the upanishad teachings that:-

• In the waking , dream and deep sleep state, there is one witness which sees, which illumines the intellect/ mind of the sadhaka.
• There was, is and ever will be one source  which created this universe, sustains this universe and into which the universe folds itself time and again and since that source is all pervading, the sadhaka is also the same source or a part of that whole where the part is not different or distinguishable from that whole.
• the entire creation with all its attributes, all beings is just a super imposition on that real SOURCE where the super imposition is due to the ignorant mind which gives a false identity to each being that he/ she is body, mind and intellect , whereas, there is only one identity of all - THE PART OF THAT WHOLE DIVINE ENERGY/ SPIRIT.

Now to the stage of nidhidhyasana , as experienced by the sadhaka.

• The contemplation on the above Truth became so intense that it stretched beyond the morning meditation hours and continued through out the day as a silent process within, whether the sadhakas was at home or at work place or any where else, in any environment, performing any action what so ever. 
• There is an illustration in vedanta known as Brahmara-Kita-Nyaya. This illustration is not brought here as a theory but to exactly demonstrate what actually happened to the sadhaka

Brahmara-kita-Nyaya

The Bhramara or the wasp is said to sting the insects or the Kitas which it brings to its hive and through stinging them and poisoning them makes them feel its presence alone everywhere, at all times. 

The insects, so to say, meditate on the presence of the wasp, at all times, and in turn become wasps themselves thereby. 

• Exactly this is what happened to the sadhaka. The contemplation on that one REAL SPIRIT/ THE BRAHMAN/ THE CREATOR/ PURE CONSCIOUSNESS was so intense that slowly, the sadhaka started existing in the same state of that source/ consciousness  which was being meditated by the sadhaka.

What is the experience of that pure consciousness ???? What happens within???? What is the state of such existence??

• The only barrier/ block/ obstruction between God existing as Pure consciousness and we the human beings - is our ego  which says to us that we are so and so.. at human level. 
• This ego is present in our mind and pollutes our mind.
• So, when the sadhaka existed as THAT on which he was meditating, this mind, filled with the ego, was absent. 
• When  the mind is non existent, sadhaka lost all  his identity and human level- his identity as husband, as father, as CEO, as son, as brother, as friend, as a singer in sadan, as dafli player in sadan, as bhajan co ordinator in sadan etc. etc. 
• When he lost identity of himself, naturally, all identities of all others in the world which is connected with, which originates with one's own identity , was also lost.
• So, when there was no mind, no ego, no ignorance, then He, atleast during the intense nidhidhysana state in the morning hours or when ever the eyes closed involuntarily even during the day time, existed exactly as the SOURCE which EXISTED prior to creation, where there was nothing else but THAT PURE EXISTENCE ( explained as sathyam in sathyam jnanam anantam related posts in the same theme )

Thus, the theoretical knowledge that there is an eternal witness  which illumines all the threes states- waking, dream and deep sleep- became real TRUTH when the sadhaka could discard the experiences in the waking, dream and deep sleep state and along and merge with that illumining source - THE PURE CONSCIOUSNESS.

Continued...