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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.
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