Ganesha Prayers
Lord Ganesha is one of the most
prominent deities in Hinduism. Ganesha has the unique distinction
that his name is always invoked before any other God’s name in any
prayer service. Legend has it that Lord Ganesha received this
distinction as a blessing from his parents, Lord Shiva and Goddess
Parvati. Lord Ganesha is designated as the chief of all of Lord
Shiva’s ganas – hence his name, Ganesha.
Ganesha
Prayers of
supplication are requests, pleadings or entreaties presented to the
Deity in the spirit of personal surrender and loving devotion.
Something specific is being asked for, a specific problem is being
laid at the Lord’s Holy Feet. Such supplications to the one-tusked
Lord are given unconditionally, with full trust that He will do
what is best for us, though not necessarily what we might think is
best.
Ganesha
Prayers for
prosperity is based on the word, gam, which is the beej mantra for
Lord Ganesha. We ask for good fortune and many blessings and wishes
for our current and future life-times. We bow in homage to Lord
Ganesha who protects us with long lives of health and
happiness.
The Ganesha Gayatris are prayers to
Lord Ganesha that are composed in the 24-syllable meter of the
original Gayatri Mantra. Several variations of the Gayatri can be
composed by invoking the various descriptive names of Ganesha in
the appropriate place(s) of the original mantra….
…..”We pray to the supreme and
perfect male who is omnipresent. We meditate upon and pray for
greater intellect to the Lord with the curved, elephant-shaped
trunk. We bow before the one with the single-tusked elephant tooth
to illuminate our minds with wisdom”….
As we come to know God Ganesha
better, our communication with Him will take on more the spirit of
talking with one’s intimates, parents or close friends, and our own
spontaneous words may mix freely with formal prayers.
Invocations are chants and prayers by which we
“invoke” the presence of the Deity. The God is being called. The
God and the devotee are being brought together, in
touch. Ganesha
Prayers of
invocation often sing out the greatness of the Deity, His known
attributes and qualities. Vedic rishis and holy sages of olden
times were masters of
invocation. Ganesha
Prayers can
be used at any time to make us aware of our being in the mind of
Lord Ganesha.