Re: Ganapathi pooja in Vaishnavism
Originally Posted by
philosoraptor
I dislike responding to my own postings, but I just remembered the following reference which is germane to our discussion:
tatpuruShAya vihmahe vakratuNDAya dhImahi |
tanno dantiH prachodayAt || MNU (dp) 25 ||
"We meditate upon that Purusha. For that purpose, we meditate upon 'Vakratunda' - the Lord of the curved trunk. May the Lord with the elephant face invigorate us." (mahAnArAyaNa upaniShad 25 - NASR)
That would indeed seem to be a stronger reference in favor of gaNesha. How do Sri Vaishnavas interpret this?
*bump*
I assume that the vakratuNDa referred to here would be seen as a reference to gajanana, the nitya-suri aide to Vishvaksena?
At first, I thought it was significant that vakratuNDa was being invoked to help with one's meditation on the puruSha, i.e. as a remover of obstacles, which would be a distinguishing trait of gaNesha. However, in the previous mantra, durgA is invoked in the same sense... so no help there.
Philosoraptor
"Wise men speak because they have something to say. Fools speak because they have to say something." - Plato
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