As the first deity, Ganesha guides the soul toward deeper spiritual experiences
Lord Ganesh is the swami of Riddhi and Siddhi. Riddhi is the force responsible for prosperity and abundance – material riches and luxury pertaining to the five senses. Siddhi refers to spiritual powers, like extra-sensory perception, clairvoyance, clairaudience, premonition, thought manifestation etc.Ganesh was born of the dirt of Mata Adi Shakti, as she took a bath indicating that all the riddhi and siddhi in creation are nothing but a spec of dirt of the phenomenal force of the Mother. Ganesha is the deity closest to physical creation, the swami of ridhhi and siddhi, which are nothing but Maya, unreality.
They are temporary and bound to leave. The majority spend their life chasing these forgetting the temporary nature of these forces and oblivious to what lies beyond…Ganesha is the first deity, pratham pujya, just the first step to the phenomenalexperiences of the world of spirit. Ganesha manifested at a time when impurities started creeping into the society. In due course of time as worldly desires took precedence over spiritual pursuits in ordinary men, different mantras and sadhnas wereprescribed to invoke different aspects of Ganesha, to fulfil specific desires in the realm of the physical, the grossest layer of creation.
Uchchhishta Ganapati is invoked through specific mantras as a giver of boons, as a protector of the motherland or to develop mastery over the five senses. Heramba is the five-headed form of Ganapati, golden in colour and riding a lion. This ten-armed deity is invoked for fearlessness and to defeat one's enemies. Mahaganapati form corresponds to wealth and pleasures, the bestower of bliss. The red-golden Balaganapati is called upon for good health and a bright future. Haridra Ganapati with his turmeric complexion and yellow vestments is theharbinger of prosperity and protection.
Shwetark Ganpati is white and is said to exist in the root of the madar plant, a rare variety of madar that bears white flowers instead of the common purple flowers of Madar. Shwetark Ganpati brings vitality, vigour, strength when kept in the bedroom, intelligence, and concentration in the study room, spiritual powers when worshippedin the puja room, bring luck and prosperity and free the house from evil influences all the time.These sadhnas are extremely potent. They are given according to one’s requirement and capacity by the Guru, who is himself a Siddha and does not charge you a fee.
They are a personal relationship between the guru and shisha, not to be discussed and never taught en masse. When the Guru gives the mantra, blessings follow but then it’s imperative to balance out that karma, since every action has an equal and opposite reaction, every pleasure has a pain attached to it, for which the Guru shows the way.Guru guides the practitioner on which mantra to practise, for how long, the correct charan and bhava and practices to complement the sauna. After the mantra sadhna, a yagya is performed for the siddhi of the mantra. One of the safest mantras to practice for the manifestation of the shakti of Ganesha is ‘gama ganpataye namah’ but this too has to be channelized by the Guru for the desired effects.
The success of the sadhna is indicated by the manifestation of the deity in the yagya agni. Sadhaks at Dhyan Ashram who havebeen seriously practising the various mantra siddhis have had physical manifestations of the multiple gods (see image). Ganesh Chaturthi is the night of Siddhi mantra and mantra diksha under the sandhya of a Guru. To experience the power of mantra sadhana and Vedic yagya for the manifestation of thought on Ganesh Chaturthi.
(The writer is a spiritual Guru, a guiding light of Dhyan Ashram; views are personal)
