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Monday, June 20, 2011

What are the incarnations of Lord Ganesh in each yug?

Contents


1. Incarnations

1.1 Mahotkat Vinayak

He was born to Sage Kashyap and Aditi in the Krut era (yug). In this incarnation, He reinstated Righteousness(Dharma) by slaying the two demons, Devantak and Narantak and then ended this incarnation.

1.2 Gunesh

In the Tretayug, Ganapati was born to Uma on the fourth day (chaturthi) of the bright fortnight of the Hindu lunar month of Bhadrapad as Gunesh. In this incarnation, He slew the demon Sindhu and married Siddhi and Buddhi, the daughters of Lord Brahma.

1.3 Ganesh

In the Dvaparyug, once again He was born to Parvati as Ganesh. Since He was ugly by birth, Parvati deserted Him in the forest and He was brought up by Sage Parashar. Ganesh then slew the demon Sindurasur and set free several kings and valorous men whom he had imprisoned. It is in this incarnation that Ganesh preached the eternal philosophy in the form of Ganeshgita to His devotee named Varenya.

1.4 Dhumraketu

Dhumravarna Ganesh Idol (Sanatan Sanstha)
Dhumravarna Ganesh Idol (Sanatan Sanstha)
According to the Bhavishya Puran, the fourth incarnation of Ganesh by name Dhumraketu or Dhumravarna will take birth in the Kaliyug and de­stroy the evildoers.

2 Ganapati and others

2.1 Shiva and Ganapati

 
Though currently it is believed that Ganapati belongs to the family of Lord Shiva and is His son, yet ac­cording to one school of thought, Shiva and Ganesh were formerly one and the same, that is Shiva was Ganesh and Ganesh was Shiva. InShriganapati Atharvashirsha,Ganesh is referred to as, "त्वं ब्रह्मा त्वं विष्णु: त्वं रुद्र:।" meaning "You are Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra as well".
The similarities and prowess of Ganesh and Shiva are so outstanding that they can be easily perceived. The three special characteristics of Shiva, that is adorning the moon on the head, the third eye and embellishment with serpents are also seen in the idol of Ganesh. Ganesh is also named Bhalachandra, the one who adorns the moon on the head. He is also referred to as 'Trinetra (one with three eyes)' in the 'Gajavadanamchintyam', the holy verse of meditation on Ganesh. Ganesh too has a girdle of a serpent around His waist. A legend says that  Lord Shankar wore ornaments of the Sun and adorned the moon on His head in order to cool down the intolerable heat gener­ated after consuming poison. One comes across a similar story about Ganesh, in the Ganesh Puran. When the demon Analasur was destroying the world assuming the form of fire, Ganesh swallowed him. The deities then used cooling measures such as serpents, the moon, etc. to cool down the heat generated in Him.

2.2 Hanuman and Ganapati

Both of them have a red complexion and the eight great supernatural powers (ashtamahasiddhi). In the worship of Hanuman, flowers of the milkweed (rui) are offered while in that of Ganapati, leaves of the coral (mandar) tree are offered.

2.3 Omkar (ॐ)and Ganapati

If the Omkar is considered as the bijakshar from the Tantra path in the pre-Aryan times then it is but natural that Ganapati who is originally the deity of the tantriks should be endowed with the label of Omkar. One does not come across the Omkar anywhere in the Vedas. Rather, since the Vedic Aryans did not give much importance to theOmkar, natu­rally not even a single aphorism (sukta)or verse (rucha) on it was written in the Vedas. This implies that the Omkar was the bijakshar of the path of Tantra in the pre-Aryan era. Later, however the Aryans had to accept several spiritual tenets from the non-Aryans. It was possibly around that time that the bijakshar Omkar acquired acclaim as the pranav worship and consequently, in the later period Ganapati who was considered to be the origin of the entire animate and inanimate creation came to be associated with the origin of all the words, that is Omkar.
'When speaking about the philosophy of creation of the uni­verse it is said, "Creation began with the sound Om (ॐ इतिध्वनिरभूत्)". The manifest form of this sound is described as "savai Gajakaraha (सवै गजाकरः । )", that is the soundOmkar is like the face of an elephant. Thus initially a sound was generated and that was Om. If viewed vertically, one will realise that the Omkar appears like the countenance of Ganapati. In short, Om and Ganapati are one and the same. Hence worship of Omkar is equivalent to that of Ganapati. At the time of creation of the universe, the two words Om and atha were emitted from the throat of Lord Brahma.
ओंकारश्चाथशब्दश्च द्वावेतौ ब्रह्मणः पुरा ।
कंठं भित्वा विनिर्यातौ तस्मान्मांगलिकावुभौ ॥
Hence these two words are said to be auspicious. Omkar is the very nature of Ganapati.'

2.4 Kundalini (spiritual energy) and Ganapati

 
In the Ganapati Atharvashirsha, Lord Ganesh has been described by the sage as 'मूलाधारस्थितथिसो नित्यं', meaning 'You dwell perpetually at the site of theMuladhar chakra in the body'. Lord Ganesh is considered to be the deity of theMuladhar chakra (a centre of the spiritual energy system). The Muladhar chakraand the lotus within it are both red in colour. Ganapa­ti's complexion too is red. The Muladhar chakra being the first of the six chakras, spiritual progress starts only after its activation. Similarly before commencing any task, Lord Ganapa­ti is worshipped.

3 Pervasiveness

1. The moon symbolises the head.
2. The earth symbolises the abdomen.
3. The seven nether worlds (saptapatal) symbolise the legs.
Reference: 'Ganapati', Published by Sanatan Sanstha

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