The Concrete Om
Lord Ganesha is known by many names and we worship Him at the beginning of every auspicious event. In 1965, Bhagavan Baba gave a very interesting explanation to the various names.
The Puranas [scriptures] declare that Shiva Himself announced that Ganapati [elephant-headed Lord Ganesha] should be worshipped, at the start of every rite, ritual, festival, or other auspicious event laid down by scriptures or by sacred custom. He said that this should be done whether the participants are Shivites [worshippers Shiva], Vaishnavites [worshippers of Vishnu], or Shakti [Goddess] worshippers. He blessed those who do so with quick consummation of the rite, as well as with the achievement of victory in the undertaking they have set their hearts upon.
In the famous song about Ganapati composed by Dikshithar [a poet], He is described as Pranavaswarupa or ‘Concretized Om,’ the image of the formless pranava [primodial sound] itself. This description has the sanction of the scriptures. Therefore, Ganapati has won all the honors that are due to pranava. Just as Om or the pranava is obligatory at the beginning of every mantra [potent formula], the worship of its concrete form is recommended as an auspicious beginning for every holy act. In the Gita [the celestial song], for example, it is said that yajna [sacrifice], dana [charity], and tapas [penance] are begun only after the pronouncement of Om, so as to draw upon the undertaking the blessing of God.
There are many versions in the Puranas of the story of the birth of Ganapati. Some of them refer to His intimate relationship with the pranava. For example, in the Skandapurana [one of the scriptures], there is a story that one day Parvati [Shiva’s consort] visited the pavilion named Mantrashala in the gardens of Kailasa [Shiva’s abode in the Himalayas]. There she saw the pranava written on the wall. She looked intensely at it for some time, and suddenly from out of the pranava Ganapati emerged! This lends support to the belief that Ganapati represents the pranava or the sacred syllable Om.
When the Sage Vyasa decided to compose the Mahabharata, he was searching for a scribe who could quickly write down the stanzas as they came rolling out of his tongue. Vyasa asked Ganapati and he readily agreed by simply pronouncing Om.
The word ‘gana’ also means ‘a group of letters’, as the Pratisakhyas [ancient texts] deal with shabdaganas [pertaining to sound]. The king of such letter-groups is certainly Om, for Om consists of A U and M. The letter or sound ‘A’ is, according to the Gita, the Lord Himself, “Aksharanaam akarosmi”. That is why the gana or group of sounds that starts with ‘A,’ and which has many other mystic significances, has achieved such a crucial place in Hindu religion and spiritual discipline. Ganapati is both the formless and the all-encompassing pranava.
Ganapati is extolled as Vidyaganapati. He is the patron, not of the secular vidya [knowledge], which deals with time-and space-bound temporary matters, but of the atmavidya [knowledge of the soul], the brahmavidya [knowledge of God]. The pranava Om is the most appropriate symbol of the basis of all creation, Brahmam. The Brahmam can be attained only by means of clarified intellect, ‘buddhi.’
Note that the two shaktis [goddesses] that invariably accompany Ganapati are called Buddhi and Siddhi, the means and the end of all spiritual endeavors. The Upanishad [scripture] says, “I shall tell you in one word the goal described in all the Vedas [scripture], the fruit of all spiritual discipline, the end of all the years of austerity—it is Om.” The Gita declares: Om ithi ekaakshram Brahma—the one sound Om is Brahmam. Meditate on it and discover for yourself the vast depths of meaning it reveals. Then, you will realize that all this is Om and nothing else. Om was in the beginning and Om will be in the end, for it has no beginning and no end; that is the ultimate gain of vidya (knowledge). Since Om gives the pranava as well as its concretized form, Ganapati, both are to be revered as vidya itself.
Ganapati is also praised as Vighneshwara, He who masters all obstacles. Whoever enters upon the atmavidya that Ganapati is can certainly overcome all obstacles, for the Lord’s grace will be showered upon all sincere sadhana. Krishna has assured in the Gita that he who does acts conducive to his own good and that of others will never come to grief. Therefore, there need be no doubt in the heart of the aspirant; he can confidently march on, for pranava, the armor against all obstruction, is with him. The nature of Om is like that—it carries a man irresistibly upwards!
The sound Om carries to the higher regions a man who repeats it once…. The pranava does this irrespective of obstacles that come in the way; the concretized pranava, Ganapati, also does the same; he guards the aspirant and guides him along to success.
The pranava, as well as Ganapati, both have an important place in the science of Yoga. The pranava is said to be the voice of the Hamsa [swan, representing purity]. It is the Kundalini shakti, which is the prime energy that is sublimated and transformed into the very principle of Godhead. This energy resides in six chakras or centers in the spinal column of man. By yogic discipline, under an expert guru, it is released from one center to another until at last, when it rises up to the very crest of the head, the seeker reaches the goal of God-realization! The lowest of these chakras, the very first, is the mooladhara, a triangular area, which is symbolized as a four-petaled lotus, forming the seat of Ganapati!
Ganapati is praised as Moolaadhaara kshethra sthitham—He who is established in the mooladhara chakra, the very first stage of the arduous yogic pilgrimage. No wonder He is honored first. Without His grace no progress is possible. Even a thousand mile journey has to begin with the first step, and Ganapati has to be propitiated for the success of that first step. Dikshithar sings of Him as “Chathwaari vaag aathmakam”, of the four-petaled lotus, with a voice on each petal, and as “thrikona madhya gatham”, as having entered the center of the triangle, the form of the first of the six chakras. It is the first step that is fraught with the greatest difficulty; the second is easier, because of the momentum already achieved. Ganapati’s grace will ward off all obstacles in the further progress of the aspirant; that is why He is asked to help the devotee to overcome all obstacles as Vinayaka.
Ganapati has a unique place in Yogashastra, since He is Pranavaswarupa. He is extolled by a poet as:
Yogaaroodho yoga pattaabhi ramo
Baalaarkaabhaschandra neelaamsukaabhyah
Paasekshwakshaan yoga dandam dadhaano
Paayaan nithyam yoga vighneswaro nah.
“He is the remover of all obstacles in the path of the yogi [one who practices yoga]. He is the master of yoga, the most pleasing ruler of the realm of yoga; bright as the rising sun, with blue vesture, having the yogi’s armrest, the rosary sugar cane and rope in the hands. May He guard us and guide us every moment of our lives.”
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, September 1965
