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ekadantāya vidmahe vakratuṇḍāya dhīmahi tanno dantiḥ prachodayāt
We pray to Lord Ganesh, who possesses a majestic elephant head adorned with a single tusk, to illuminate our intellect with divine knowledge. We pray to the one with a curved trunk that our mind may always meditate upon Him.
On this divine occasion let us contemplate on five divine names of Lord Ganesha and little known pastimes or Leelas connected to them!
Buddhinath - Possessor of Intelligence
Ved Vyas chose Lord Ganesha, the possessor of wisdom and intelligence, as his scribe for writing down the Mahabharata epic. Ganesh ji agreed on the condition that Ved Vyas would not stop speaking. Realizing that this condition would prevent him from taking a break, Ved Vyas put forth a counter condition that Ganesh ji would not write a shloka(verse) without first understanding it. So whenever Ved Vyas needed reprieve, he would say a particularly difficult shloka that would take Ganesh ji time to understand and write down!
Gajanana - The One with the Elephant Head
According to some stories, Mother Parvati kept a “Punyak Vrat” or fast to obtain a child. Lord Krishna himself incarnated as her child in the form of Ganesh ji. Ganesh ji was not originally born with the head of an elephant. His head was cut off at birth due to a glance from Shani Dev (Saturn). Lord Vishnu replaced it with the head of a young elephant. Other stories state that Mother Parvati wanted someone as loyal as Nandi to guard her residence. She created Ganesh ji from her own body. Ganesh ji was standing guard outside Mother Parvati’s residence when Lord Shiva wished to enter. Upon being denied entry he cut off Ganesh ji’s head. A furious Mother Parvati demanded her child back. Lord Shiva, not being able to find a human head, brought back the head of a baby elephant which was attached to the headless body of the child.
Ekadanta - How he Ended up with One Tusk
Sage Parshuram (incarnation of Lord Vishnu) once wanted to visit Lord Shiva at Mount Kailash. Ganesh ji was standing guard at the door and did not grant him permission to pass through. In a fit of rage, Sage Parshuram attacked Ganesh ji with a weapon granted to him by Lord Shiva. Not wanting to disrespect the Shiv Astra and consequently his father, Ganesh ji allowed himself to be struck and lost a tusk. Hence he is known as “Ekadanta”. Other stories mention that Ganesh ji’s feather pen broke while rapidly writing the Mahabharata and he broke off his tusk and used it as a pen to sustain the pace.
Ganapati - Leader of Celestial Armies
Devi Parvati announced a race between the gods - whoever circled the world and returned first to Mother Parvati’s feet would become the commander of the celestial armies. All the gods took off on their respective divine transports at great speed. Ganesh ji, whose traditional vehicle is a “Mooshik” or mouse, had made little headway and was frustrated. He encountered Narad ji who advised Ganesh ji to circumambulate his divine mother - Mother Parvati represents all of creation and for a child the world is just his mother; Thus circumambulating Mother Parvati would help Ganesh ji defeat the other contestants who possessed greater speed but little understanding. He reached Mother Parvati who asked him how he managed to finish the race so quickly. Ganesha ji explained his reasons, and satisfied with his response, Mother Parvati declared him Ganapati - leader of the celestial armies and Vinayaka - Lord of all beings.
Vighnaharta- Destroyer of Obstacles To Material and Spiritual Success
Ganesh ji took 8 Avatars to slay 8 demons that embodied the defects in human nature - Kamasur (lust), Krodhasur(anger), Lobhasur(greed), Mohasur(delusion), Mamatasur, Madasur(intoxication), Matsaryasur(Jealousy), and the most dangerous one - Ahankarasur(ego). Lord Ganesha incarnated as Vighnaharta to kill Ahankarasur. As Vighnaharta, he removes our mental obstacles to material and spiritual success.
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