The Significance of Ganapati and
'Makkhan-chor' Gopalnanda
(an interpretation)
In Sanskrit language, there are more than one meaning attached to a word. For example, the word GO means cow as well as sense organs. Gopal means cowherd. Gopal also means a yogi whose sense organs are completely under his control. This dual meaning enables poets to bring out their best on the physical plane as well as on the spiritual plane.
We have Krishna the cowherd boy in Vraj and Vrindavan, and we have Gopalnanda Krishna, the yogeshwar, milking the Upanishads, and the milk is the great nectar of the Bhagavad Gita.(Gita Dhyanam, verse 4, usually found at the beginning of Bhagavad Gita books). The maakhan (cream) or the gist or essence of the Upanishads is presented in the Bhagavad Gita. This is what the `makkhan chor' took from the Upanishads and distributed for the benefit of mankind.
Similarly, a common Sanskrit word to denote elephant is GAJA. Here Gajanan means elephant faced - a name for Ganapati. But the word Gaja has a much deeper connotation. GA indicates gati, the final goal towards which the entire creation is moving, whether knowingly or unknowingly. JA stands for janma, birth or origin. Hence GAJA signifies GOD from whom worlds have come out and towards whom they are progressing, to be ultimately dissolved in Him. The elephant head is thus purely symbolical.
We observe creation in its two fold manifestation as the microcosm (sukshmanda) and the macrocosm (brahmanda). Each is a replica of the other. They are one in two and two in one. The elephant head stands for the macrocosm (representing vastness or bigness), and the human body for the microcosm. The two form one unit. Since the macrocosm is the goal of the microcosm, the elephant part has been given greater prominence by making it a head.
The Chandogya Upanishad has pronounced a philisophical truth as TAT-TVAM-ASI, THAT- THOU -ART. It simply means "You, the apparently limited individual, are in essence, the cosmic Truth, the Absolute". The elephant-human form of Ganapati is the iconographical representation of this great Vedantic dictum. the elephant stands for the cosmic whereas the human stands for the individual. The single image reflects their identity.
Vedanta is the synthesis of the `within' and the `without'; the macrocosm and the microcosm. The study of this `within' of nature through an inquiry into the `within' of man, who is the unique product of nature`s evolution, is religion according to Indian thought. The synthesis of the knowledge of the `without' , which the physical sciences give, and the `within' which religion gives, is what India achieved in her Vedanta. This she calls BRAHMA - VIDYA or philosophy; God or Brahman(`BRAHMAN' is the Upanishdic term for the Supreme Reality, God) standing for the totality of reality, physical and non-physical. Brahma - vidya is Sarva - vidya- pratishtha (philosophy is the basis and support of all knowledge) says the Mundaka Upanishad (i.i.i.).
The Ganapati Upanishad identifies Lord Ganesh with the Supreme Self. Lord Ganesh represents the Pranava (AUM) which is the symbol of the Supreme Self. Taitiriya Upanishad (1.8.1.) states: "AUM ITI BRAHMAN -AUM is Brahman(GOD). AUM is all this . Nothing can be done without uttering it. This explains the practice of invokong Lord Ganesh before beginning any rite or undertaking any project.
Lord Ganesh removes all obstacles on the path of the spiritual aspirant, and bestows upon him worldly as well as spiritual success. So he is called VIGNA VINAYAKA or VIGHNESHWAR.
A.R.RANGANATHAN
Posted by: Raman K <kraman_4@yahoo.com>
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