Ganesa's Grace - II

श्री गुरुभ्यों नमः | अनेक साष्टाङ्ग दण्ड प्रणाम सहित प्रणतोस्मि श्री कंचि कामकोटि  परमाचार्य पदारविन्देन |In an earlier post I wrote about the lyrics of the well-known sloka (శుక్లాంబర)  with meaning. If I remember correctly Sri Seshadri Swamy urged his disciples to chant this sloka three times – to invoke Lord Ganesa properly. Everything with the Siva family centers around three: The Bilva leaf, three eyes (Sun, Moon, and Fire), and the trident. The trident is a symbol of dissolution of the three gunas - tamas, rajas, and sattva; it is not just a weapon to scare evil doers.

अगजानन पद्मार्कम् गजानन महर्निशम् 

अनेकदं तं भक्तानां एकदन्त मुपास्महे 

అగజానన పద్మార్కమ్ గజానన మహర్నిశమ్ 

అనేకదం, తం భక్తానాం ఏకదంత ముపాస్మహే 

agajaanana padmaarkam^ gajaanana maharniSam^ 

anaekadaM, taM bhaktaanaaM aekadaMta mupaasmahae 

Brilliance of the Sanskrit language and its brevity! One letter can convey a complete word. अ = न = not; ग = moving; Agaja = daughter of the mountain. How succinctly and affectionately did the Kanchi Swami encapsulate the Mother, in the Telugu phrase: konDa-chuli (కొండ చూలి)

You are (Thou art) like the sun

To Parvati’s (daughter of the mountain) lotus-like face 

I pray to the elephant faced Lord

Day and night

You bestow many things

To the devotees

I meditate on the Lord

The One with one tusk

Many times people unknowingly say ‘anekadantam’ as a single word, which is wrong. There should be a brief pause after uttering “anekadam”. Earlier I too used to get confused - why is the Lord addressed as the One with many tusks?

Once Ganesa asked for the head of Lord Siva as a sacrifice. To satisfy His demand, we offer Him a coconut (representing a head) with three black marks (corresponding to the three eyes of Lord Siva). There must be many stories depicting the generosity and promptness of Lord Ganesa. Once Ganesa provided sumptuous meals to the wandering Sri (Kavya Kantha) Ganapati Muni and his brother. He transported the Siva devotee Avvaiyar to Kailas. The great original Telugu singer, Ghantasala recited this sloka with utmost perfect diction; in the movie “Vinayaka Chaviti” he rendered the Muttuswami’s composition (Vatapi Ganapathi) with these two slokas invoking Lord Ganesa. In high school we had an excellent vocalist (brother of Mr. Peter) as a classmate. We scarcely realized his talent and skill of nimble drumming fingers. One day during the annual school function he mesmerized all of us with his singing of Muttuswamy’s composition with his drumming on tabla. Later we came to know about his guru, Sri Rudraraju Subbaraju. Some pleasant cherished memories! There Kasi blessed the maestro Bismallah Khan and here our town bestowed unique talent on the young U. Srinivas.

I conclude this piece with Narayana’s playful antics to amuse Lord Ganesa. Once Vinayaka grabbed the spinning disc (सुदर्शन चक्र ) and swallowed it effortlessly. Lord Vishnu (none other than Ganesa’s uncle) got into a fix; how to get back His weapon? Then He went on performing umpteen (more than a thousand) sit-ups holding His ears with four hands. Our mischievous Ganesa immediately went into bursts of laughter and lo, the disc came out. Even now we do the sit-ups (గుంజీలు) and hit our foreheads with knuckles to please Ganesa easily, instantaneously. What can we offer to this pure embodiment of knowledge, wisdom, and kindness? Except a blade of grass. It is difficult to get to the real essence of Brahman or Ganesa; yet humble faith and submission may open the door to the unknowable. (Collected from the benedictions and discourses of Sri Paramacharya) Copyright 2019