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Thread: viṣṇu or gaṇeśa ?

  1. #11
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    Re: viṣṇu or gaṇeśa ?

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    Namasté

    This stotra¹ (or hymn) by ṛṣi gṛtsamada saunahotra, ṛg ved 2.23.1, is to bṛhaspati (bṛ́has-páti)¹ . It is considered by some the earliest mention of gaṇeśa-ji. It is convention to think the words gaṇānā and gaṇapatiṃ that is found in this saṃhitā¹ is a property, a quality of bṛhaspati vs. a proper noun¹ of gaṇeśa-ji.

    This is very interesting ( to me)... It provokes the thought of a quality of the Supreme that is so appealing that it perhaps in-and-of-itself becomes identified and becomes devatā.

    The stotra is offered below. It is often a repeated verse at various pūja's to gaṇeśa-ji. It is invoking the lord of the multitudes (gaṇapatiṃ), the seer amongst seers (kavīnāmupamaśravastamam), the chief, best, royal , king (jyeṣṭharājaṃ), who is also the Lord¹ (brahmaṇas pata) of the wise or realized beings (brāhmaṇāṃ), to hear our request, for You to participate (partake) in (ṣṛṇvannūtibhiḥ) our sacrifice (havā and in this hymn it is havāmahe).

    Another translation ( I am at a loss of the name of the translator)
    We invoke you with offerings, Oh Lord of the Multitudes,
    Seer among Seers, of unspeakable grandeur.
    Oh Glorious King, Lord of the Knower's of Wisdom,
    Come speedily hearing our supplications
    And graciously take your seat amidst our assembly.


    Here is the stotra for your consideration along with each word's definition ( to the best of my ability).

    gaṇānāṃ tvā gaṇapatiṃ havāmahe kaviṃ
    kavīnāmupamaśravastamam |
    jyeṣṭharājaṃ brahmaṇāṃ brahmaṇas pata
    ā naḥ ṣṛṇvannūtibhiḥ sīda sādanam ||

    • gaṇānāṃ
    gaṇā - flock , troop , multitude , number , tribe , series , class
    - is a noun of gaṇeśa-ji ; this is also welfare, gift when used in the masculine gender. If we talk multiples and numbers it is worth mentioning that
    gaṇanā meaning reckoning , counting , calculation
    • tvā - thy, your
    • gaṇapatiṃ or gaṇapati
    the leader of a class or troop or assemblage ; we see this word as gaṇeśa-ji , yet in this hymn it is bṛhaspati that has this quality. We will talk more of this, yet what is the 'class or troop' bṛhaspati leads? Prayer and devotion.
    • havāmahe
    hava an oblation , burnt offering , sacrifice ; āma is fine, soft, tender, uncooked; Hence IMHO havāmahe is that new 'uncooked' sacrifice, the new oblation.
    • kaviṃ
    wise man , sage , seer , prophet i.e. gifted with insight , intelligent , knowing , enlightened , wise ; also a name of pūṣan (as leader or guider) and of brahmā
    • kavīnāmupamaśravastamam or kavi-inām-upama-śravas-tamam
    kavīnā =kavi + ina : kavi as defined above + ina which is master, lord, most powerful ; a noun of the sun; Hence the enlightened, all knowing most powerful lord upama - upama as a noun is most high, upper most ; it also means equal, simular, resembling śravas - is loud praise, glory; it is also swift course, rapid motion , flight , as in flight
    tamam - as the 2nd derivitiave, a indiclinable word, this tama means 'in high degree' it also means 'most desired'; this is not to be confused with the decending node in jyotiṣ i.e. tamas, or with the the notion of tamas as 'darkness' .
    • jyeṣṭharājaṃ
    jyeṣṭha + rājaṃ ; jyeṣṭha is most excellent , pre-eminent , first , chief best , greatest + rājaṃ or rāja is a king , sovereign , chief or best of its kind
    • brāhmaṇāṃ
    As a noun, that which is divine; it is also relating to or given by a Brahman , befitting or becoming a brahman ; as a noun (also) it is the brahmanical explanation , explanations of sacred knowledge or doctrine
    • brahmaṇas pata
    this is bráhmanas páti = lord of prayer or devotion ; also known as bṛ́has-páti yet pata is flying or falling; the 2nd derivitive of this is 'well-fed'; pāta is watched , protected , preserved ; alighting , descending or causing to descend

    ā (as a prefix to verbs , especially of motion , and their derivatives) near , near to , towards ; this ā as a noun (masciline gender) is another name for śiva and feminine noun , a name of lakṣmī
    • naḥ
    'na' we know to mean not , no , nor , neither , yet the 3rd deritive also means welfare , gift, and knowledge ; also another name for gaṇeśa-ji
    • ṣṛṇvannūtibhiḥ or by its compounds ṣṛṇvan-n-ūti-bhiḥ
      • ṣṛṇvan - comes from śru - to hear, to be attentive to ; van is to gain , acquire , procure , to be come master. Hence ṣṛṇvan is having gained or aquired via listening i.e. having heard.
      • ūtibhiḥ - ūti is help , protection , promoting , refreshing favor + bhi ;
      • bhi (IMHO) is for bhiksh rooted in bhaj to wish to partake to share . Example: bhājin - sharing , participating in. Yet not bhī as this = fear , fright, alarm : example bhīta - frightened , alarmed or bhīma - fearful, terrible; bhīṣma - terrible , dreadful
      • ūtibhiḥ is partake in one's protection of refreshing favor


    • sīda is kusīda here - meaning treasure; from the notion of any loan or thing lent to be repaid with interest , usury .
    • sādanam - or sādana is setting down; a seat, dwelling place; this also means sādaka
    praṇām


    words
    • bṛ́has-páti = bráhmanas páti =lord of prayer or devotion
      • bṛhaspati (bṛ́has-páti) = brahmanaspati (bráhmanas páti) = guru ( from jyotiṣ) and the owner of ākāśa. Ākāśa = brahman , so says he brahma sūtra-s and the upaniṣads.
    • stotra - praise , eulogium , a hymn of praise
    • saṃhitā - rooted in dhā means put together , joined , attached; a text i.e. the veda-s, treated according to euphonic rules formed out of the padas or separate words by proper phonetic changes. Any methodically arranged collection of texts or verses, like the rāmāyaṇa.
      • Yet my most favorite (and meaningful) definition of saṃhitā is the force which holds together and supports the universe i.e. a term applied to the Supreme Being.

    • Proper nouns ( I know you know this). Nouns name people, places, and things no doubt. Yet we can classify a noun as common or proper.
      When we consider a proper noun, it has two specific features:
      1) it will name a specific item, usually one of a kind; and 2) it will begin with a capital letter no matter where it occurs in a sentence - yet these are English rules , as in saṃskṛt there are no capitals to show possession or proper noun conditions.
      examples:
    Common noun _________________Proper noun
    a teacher________________________ Mr. Hammel
    a cookie ________________________ Oreo
    a city ___________________________New Deli
    Last edited by yajvan; 06 January 2010 at 05:28 PM.
    यतसà¥à¤¤à¥à¤µà¤‚ शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṠśivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  2. #12
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    Re: viṣṇu or gaṇeśa ?

    Yajvanji: I love this stotra. At our temple festival, the volunteer lay brahmins walk in front of Ganesha on parade, and just repeat it over and over. I get to be really close to them as I also have an assigned duty right in front of Him. By the time we make it around the whole temple, the vibration is really high. At least for me. This is probably the one stotra I can hear ringing over and over in my head. Only 6 months to go...-23 today but supposed to get up to -2 or so by the weekend.. degrees C.. lol.. Thanks for the posting.

    Aum Namasivaya

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