Vighna Niva:rana Chathurtthi

Pu:ja, an act of worship is only meaningful when it sanctifies the heart of a person, devoid of all bad qualities and capable of implementing purposeful deeds. It is only then a person can be of benefit to himself and to the society he is part of.

Today, Vighna Nivarana Chaturthi is the day dedicated to perform a pu:ja worshipping Vina:yaka, one who enables the seeker with strength and abilities to overcome hurdles in an effort. The result of any pu:ja is twofold, nashto: mo:haha smruthi hi labdha ha

Ignorance to come down
Wisdom to take its place

When ignorance is replaced by wisdom blessed by divine beings, one will attain abilities to overcome any hurdles coming through in his/her life.

Sri Vishwakse:na is the divine being, the chief commander of Lord Vishnu. He is highly obedient to Lord Vishnu. He only takes the prasa:d that is given by Lord Vishnu, called ‘se:sha prasadam’. He is therefore called Se:sha:sana. His recommendations are accepted by Lord without any questions. He has hundreds of lieutenants under his command. Some of the soldiers have heads of different animals (elephants, horses, goats, and oxen), representing valour. Among them, the elephant headed lieutnants have two tusks. In Sanskrit, tusks are called ‘radas’, two is ‘dwi’ and mouth is called ‘vakthra’. Hence, the name ‘dwirada vakthra’ is formed. Their duty is to always remove the obstacles of devotees. Followers of Lord Siva worship Gane:sa, who is e:kadantha (one tusk) as the remover of hurdles.

Vishwakse:na’s form is very similar to Lord Vishnu with Sankha and Chakra in two hands and staff in the left hand. Su:travathi: is his consort. Appam is favourite dish.

Sukla:mbara dharam vishnum
Sasivarnam chatur bhujam |
Prasanna vadanam dhya:ye:th
Sarva vighno:pa sa:nthaye: ||

Yasya dwirada vakthra:dya:h
Pa:rishadya:h paras satham |
Vighnam nighnanthi sathatham
Vishvak se:nam tham a:sraye: ||

Vande: vaikuntta se:na:nyam
De:vam su:travathi: sakham |
Yad ve:thra sikhara spande:
Viswam e:thath vyavastthitham ||

I love Gane:sa. I love cricket. So, I will make a Gane:sa playing cricket. What’s wrong with it?

From over a decade or longer, there are so many people who are trying to prove either their power in their areas by getting big Gane:sa:s made, laddus made, and auction them. It has become an event to party, or show power. There are skating Gane:sas, cricket Gane:sas and many more forms of Gane:sa. This must stop. When performing a pu:ja to a divine being, we are trying to associate ourselves with the divine form and seek the blessings, we must not undervalue the divine power by shaping form in the way we imagine or wish.

There is also a mention of Lakshmi Ganapati. Mundakopanishad mentions Lakshmi Ganapathi. But, that Ganapathi is not the same as Gaja:nana who is the son of Parvathi Devi. Lakshmi Ganapathi is a form that Lord Vishnu takes when protecting the ji:va ra:si, with utmost attention during their ja:gruth state (the awakened, not the nidra avastha). In this form, he is shown to have 19 faces with the face of elephant in the middle and 9 faces on either side. People are imagining forms of these divine beings as they wish.

True devotion propels one to adhere to the principles and procedures as guided by the elders who have a clear understanding of the scriptures. Any deviation and misunderstanding of the original scriptures and the subsequent actions will only cause chaos and no benefit to the seeker and the society.

Imagine water rushing with no ridges to guide the flow. It can neither be used in farming nor be channelized for other purposes. It either goes waste or causes destruction.