Ganesha in India and Beyond

Ganesha and Mahabharata

Brahma told Veda Vyasa, ‘Now that you have compiled the Vedas, you must compose the Mahabharata.’

‘As you wish, Lord,’ said Vyasa, ‘but I need a competent scribe.’

‘Who better than Ganesha? He is bright, has elephantine memory, and got excellent handwriting, too. I will send him across to you.’

Ganesha appeared before Vyasa and said, ‘I agree to be your scribe, but on one condition. You must never pause while dictating.’

‘I accept that,’ said Vyasa, ‘but I, too, have a condition. You will write only after you fully understand my shlokas.’

It is believed that after several simple, easy-to-understand shlokas, Vyasa purposely crafted a complex shloka with multi-layered meanings and connotations to figure out which even Ganesha took a while. This pattern is noted by scholars of Mahabharata in every chapter.

Peter Brook’s nine-hour long theatrical production (1986) of the Mahabharata which toured the world, and the subsequent film (1989) make use of this legend.

The story tells us a few things about Vyasa, the Kavi, and Ganesha, his scribe. A poet may only create such text which is worthy of being recorded by an intellectual like Ganesha; and the scribe’s job is not merely mechanical, he is a partner in the literary enterprise. Now, computer software has the power to convert speech to text and text to audio files; but these are mechanical tools, and would take long to acquire the intellectual capability of Ganesha or even ordinary human scribes.

There is yet another legend about Ganesha’s broken tusk. One day, an inspired Vyasa created his shlokas in a frenzy, and dictated at great speed which was matched by Ganesha scribbling furiously when the scribe’s lekhani (writing instrument) broke. Not to renege on his solemn assurance of writing without a pause, Ganesha broke off one of his tusks and used it as his lekhani. The legend is possibly a metaphor for the many sacrifices that writers make and their suffering including physical pain.

Ganesha in Odisha

Jagannatha in Gajanana Besha

Every year on Snana Yatra (Jyeshtha Purnima), Jagannatha-Balabhadra-Subhadra – the Srimandira trinity – meet their devotees in Gajanana or Haati (Elephant) Besha which is a testimony to the strong presence of the Ganapatya Sect in ancient Odisha.

Ganesha Cave, Udayagiri

Not far from Bhubaneswar is Udayagiri with natural and carved caves of Kharavela’s period. Kharavela, the powerful king of Kalinga during the 1^st BCE patronised Jainism but was supportive of other religions, too, a testimony to which is the Ganesha Gumpha (cave) with Ganesha’s idol sculpted on the wall. This may be the oldest Ganesha sculpture in India.

Maha Vinayaka Temple, Chandikhole

At Chandikhole, Jajpur is Maha Vinayaka temple, possibly the oldest Ganesha temple in Odisha, and unique for the installation and worship in the sanctum sanctorum (garbhagriha) of five deities - Ganesh, Surya, Vishnu, Shiva, and Durga.

A legend tells why. Rati prayed so devotedly for the release of her husband Kamadev from Shiva’s curse that when she made her offering at the end of her long penance five hands from heaven materialised to receive it. Confused, she prayed to Brahma who clarified that the five great deities - Ganesh, Surya, Vishnu, Shiva, and Durga – were pleased with her prayer, and her offering would be accepted by all of them.

Both the temple and the story are, possibly, an adoption of Adi Shankaracharya’s panchayatana  which recommended worship of all the five major Hindu deities instead of quarrelling over the greatness of one’s favourite god or goddess.

Ganapati Bappa Morya

During the ten-day Ganesh Puja celebrations in Maharashtra, and in several parts of Madhya Pradesh, the air reverberates with the prayerful, joyful, and zesty chanting of Ganapati Bappa Morya.

What is the meaning of Ganapati Bappa Morya? Being unfamiliar with Marathi, for long I thought it simply meant: O Ganapati, my or our Revered Father. But Marathi word for my is majha and our is aamcha!

A Marathi friend suggested that Morya means ‘Hail’ or ‘Raja’ or ‘Lord’. Another friend, also a Marathi, mentioned that Morya refers to a pre-eminent Ganesha devotee who is remembered through a delectable legend.

Lord Ganesha once appeared before his favourite devotee and said ‘I am very pleased with your steadfast prayer. Ask for a boon.’

‘O Lord, I do not ask for wealth or for any material gain. Just keep me always near you,’ prayed his devotee.

‘So be it, whenever my name is uttered, your name would follow mine,’ granted the Lord.

The devotee was Sant Morya Gosavi who worshipped Ganesha at Morgaon (a likely derivation from Mayurgaon), and later at Chinchwad, and is believed to have initiated the Ashta Vinayaka yatra, a pilgrimage to the eight famous Vinayaka temples in Maharashtra. The Sant took sanjeevan samadhi and there is a temple now at the site of the samadhi.

The legend is a metaphor for the inseparability between God and his devotees.

Mayureshwar Ganesha

There is another myth relating to the Vinayaka temple at Morgaon. Mayureshwar Ganesha was born to Shiva and Parvati, his parents gave him a spear and a mayura vahan (probably borrowed from Kartikeya, his elder brother!) and Ganesha accomplished the divine mandate of killing Sindhu, a fearsome demon, after which he decided to reside in Morgaon. That is why the Ashta Vinayaka yatra begins and ends at the Morgaon temple, believe his devotees.

Of the numerous Ganesh bhajans, the ones composed by Morya Gosavi (Prarambhe Vinati karo Ganapati… aaradhya Moreshwara), Sant Ramdas (Sukhkarta Dukhharta Mangalmurti), Sant Tukaram (Namila Ganapati) are still very popular.

Ganesha in Vietnam

A few years ago, we were in Danang, Vietnam for trade negotiations with the ASEAN, and after the meeting we asked the hotel concierge for guidance about places worth visiting in the town.

As recommended, we visited the museum, and were pleasantly surprised to find on display sculptures of several Hindu deities – Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Ardhanarishwara, and Ganesha, too.  

The Cham rulers of Vietnam of the early Christian era adopted Sanskrit names, and the sculptural artefacts bear testimony to the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism brought here from India.

Here is the image of Ganesha at the Danang museum:

 

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Danang is in central Vietnam about 800 kms from Hanoi. It is 556 kms from Angkor Vat, Cambodia where is situated the ‘largest religious structure in the world’ spread over an area of 402 acres, as per the Guinness World Records. Originally, it was a Hindu temple dedicated to Maha Vishnu, and later became a Buddhist monument.

Ganesha, along with India’s trade and commerce, religion and culture, travelled to south east Asia. Ganesha sculpture is found in Cambodia (with a human head), Japan (Kangiten- Ganesha imagined as Ardhanarishawara), Thailand, China, and Indonesia.

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