Ganapati
Upanishad
Om ! O Devas, may we hear with our ears
what is auspicious;
May we see with our eyes what is auspicious, O ye worthy of worship !
May we enjoy the term of life allotted by the Devas,
Praising them with our body and limbs steady !
May the glorious Indra bless us !
May the all-knowing Sun bless us !
May Garuda, the thunderbolt for evil, bless us !
May Brihaspati grant us well-being !
Om ! Let there be Peace in me !
Let there be Peace in my environment !
Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !
Auspiciousness to those who hear ---- thus the Santi.
1. Om Gam. I bow to Ganapati.
2. You clearly are the tattva. You alone are the creator. You alone are
the maintainer. You alone are the destroyer. Of all this you certainly
are Brahman. You plainly are the essence.
3. Always I speak amrta. The truth I speak.
4. Protect me. Protect the speakers. Protect the hearers. Protect the
givers. Protect the holders. Protect the disciple that repeats. Protect
that in the east. Protect that in the south. Protect that in the west.
Protect that in the north. Protect that above. Protect that below.
Everywhere protect! Protect me everywhere!
5. You are speech. You are consciousness. You are bliss. You are
Brahman. You are being-consciousness-bliss. You are the non-dual. You
are plainly Brahman. You are knowledge. You are intelligence.
6. You create all this world. You maintain all this world. All this
world is seen in you. You are earth, water, air, fire, ether. You are
beyond the four measures of speech. You are beyond the three gunas. You
are beyond the three bodies. You are beyond the three times. You are
always situated in the muladhara. You are the being of the three Saktis.
You are always meditated on by yogins. You are Brahma, you are Visnu,
you are Rudra, you are Agni, you are Vayu, you are the sun, you are the
moon, you are Brahma, bhur-bhuvah-svar.
7 Ga is the first syllable, after that the first letter, beyond that m,
then the half-moon all together. Joined with m, this is the mantra
form.
8 The letter ga is the first form, letter a the middle form, m the last
form. Bindu the higher form, nada the joining together, samhita the
junction. This is the vidya of Lord Ganesa.
9 Ganaka is the seer, nricad-gayatri the metre, Sri Mahaganapati the
devata. Om ganapataye namah.
10 Let us think of the one-toothed, let us meditate on the crooked
trunk, may that tusk direct us.
11. One tusk, four arms, carrying noose and goad, with his hands
dispelling fear and granting boons, with a mouse as his banner.
12. Red, with a big belly, with ears like winnowing baskets, wearing
red, with limbs smeared with red scent, truly worshipped with red
flowers.
13. To the devoted a merciful deva, the maker of the world, the prime
cause, who at the beginning of creation was greater than nature and
man.
14. He who always meditates thus is a yogin above yogins.
15. Hail to the lord of vows, hail to Ganapati, hail to the first lord,
hail unto you, to the big-bellied, one-tusked, obstacle-destroyer, the
son of Siva, to the boon-giver, hail, hail!
16. He who studies this atharva text moves towards Brahma. He is always
blissful. He is not bound by any obstacles. He is liberated from the
five greater and the five lesser sins. Evening meditation destroys the
unmeritorious actions of the night. At both evening and morning he is
liberated from the bad and he attains dharma, artha, kama and moksa.
17. This atharva text should not be given to those not pupils. If from
delusion a person so gives, he is a bad person.
18. He who wants something may accomplish it by 1,000 recitations of
this. He who sprinkles Ganapati with this becomes eloquent. He who
recites this on a fourth day becomes a knower of vidya. This is an
artharva saying: ‘‘He who moves towards Brahmavidya is never afraid.’’
He who worships with fried grains becomes famous and becomes
intelligent. He who worships with sweet-meat (modaka) gains the desired
fruit. He who worships with samit and ghee by him all is attained, all
is gained by him. He who makes eight brahmËnas understand this becomes
like the sun’s rays. In a solar eclipse, in a great river, or in front
of an image having recited (this) he gets accomplished in the mantra. He
becomes liberated from great obstacles. He is freed from great
misfortunes.
Om ! O Devas, may we hear with our ears what is auspicious;
May we see with our eyes what is auspicious, O ye worthy of worship !
May we enjoy the term of life allotted by the Devas,
Praising them with our body and limbs steady !
May the glorious Indra bless us !
May the all-knowing Sun bless us !
May Garuda, the thunderbolt for evil, bless us !
May Brihaspati grant us well-being !
Om ! Let there be Peace in me !
Let there be Peace in my environment !
Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !
Here ends the Ganapati Upanishad, as contained in the Atharva-Veda. |