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Ganapati (Lord of Ganas) not Gajapati (Lord of Elephants)

Ganesh or Ganapati, we all know the story of Ganapati losing his head. When Shiva came to Manasarovar from a long journey and wished to see his wife and this boy tried to stop him, Shiva took off his head. Distressed Parvati asked Shiva to replace the head, he took off the head of some other creature and put it on the child. This other creature is described as an elephant. But we need to understand that no one called him Gajapati (Lord of Elephants). He is always called Ganapati (Lord of Ganas).

But who are the Ganas? In the yogic lore, the Ganas are all Shiva’s companions. They were the ones who were always around Shiva. Though he had disciples, a wife, and many other admirers, his private company was always Ganas. Ganas are described as distorted, demented beings. It is said that they had limbs without bones coming out of odd parts of their bodies, so they are described as distorted and demented beings and were not like any human beings.


It is said that these people spoke some unintelligible language. So, the boy now had a human body and Ganas’ head. He had a limb which is boneless. Se he became a Ganapati, the chief of Ganas. Somewhere down the line, an artist from Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, because they have never seen a Gana but the place was full of elephants, a boneless limb means they could not imagine beyond an elephant. So, they slowly made that into an elephant.

Because he got a head that is not human, he became superiorly brilliant. Because of this extreme sense of intelligence, he didn’t allow anything to become an obstacle in his life. Every obstacle in life can be cleared if you have needed intelligence. So, this is what he proves. We called him Vigneshwara, one who removes every vign (obstacle) because his intelligence is of that level.

 

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