Ganapathy Atharva Shirsha Upanishad

~ Sri_Krishna_Saras
Aum! Let us listen with our ears to that which is auspicious, adorable one. Let us perceive with our eyes what is holy and auspicious. With strong, stable body and limbs, may we seek the divine grace and accept the noble order Of all our life. May Indra who is profusely praised by the devotees through sacred hymns, or frequently worshipped with oblation, vouchsafe to us safety and well-being. May the all-knowing or all-possessing Püsan vouchsafe to us well-being. May Garuda, the son Of Trksa, whose chariot is not injured (perfect chariot- by anyone, vouchsafet to safety. May B!haspati, the preceptor of gods, grants us well-being. •fig- unhurt, perfect; complete, auspicious; äIH: 14t- the circumference in genral, ring; 1- SRI KRISHNA SARAS
This mantra is reproduced here from Rg veda, is intended to serve as a prayer for safety and well-being. (It is uttered in ehe context, by one about to take bath, in the belief that it helps to word Off the peril Of sharks and crocodile in water) Ganesha, Salutations to YOU, YOU are actually A Brahma Tattvam. Only because YOU bless an action, it happens. Only YOU are the ONE who holds us from falling, Only YOU remove obstacles and ignorance. YOU are the Brahman, the ultimate divine power. YOU are the soul that is part of everything. O Lord Ganesha ! You are the only visible manifestation of the Essence of the words.You are the only Doer. You alone are the Creator and the Sustainer Of the universe.Only you are the Destroyer. You alone are everything in the creation, because You are Brahman. You are the Eternal Atman in bodily form. I Il I am speaking the scriptural truth.l am speaking the truth of my knowledge. qfr Il 0 Lord Ganesha ! please safeguard me, safeguard the speaker, safeguard the listener, safeguard the giver, safeguard the sustainer, safeguard the one given to study, safeguard the disciple, safeguard from east,west,south,north and from all the sides. 2- SRI KRISHNA SARAS
You are the embodiment of speech. You are the bliss absolute. You are the embodiment of all the powers of Brahman. You are existence - knowledge bliss and one without the second. You are manifested Brahman. You are the embodiment of scriptural knowledge and the immediate knowledge of oneself. I Ilk Il O Lord Ganesha ! This whole universe has emergrd from you. This whole world rests on you. This whole world is coming to you. You are the earth, water, fire air and space. You are the four arms Of speech. O Lord Ganesha ! You are beyond Satwa, Rajas and Tamas(the three gunas ). You are beyond Gross, Subtle and Causal(the three bodies), You are beyond waking, dreaming and deep sleep (the three conditions). You are beyond the past, present and future(three periods of time). O Lord !all the three powers of creation, sustenance, and destruction are within you.Thus, you exist in every being at the place called 'Muladhara'. Yogis devoted to Sakti-upasana constantly meditate on You (as Lord of these powers). O Ganesha !! You are (the Trinity) Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesa. You are Indra, You are fire and air. You are the sun and the moon, You are Brahman. You 3- SRI KRISHNA SARAS
are (the three worlds) Bhuloka, Antariksha-loka, and Swargaloka, You are 0m. (that is to say. You are all this). One should first utter the first syllable g in the word 'gan' followed by 'a' the first of alphabets, add an : (a nasal m indicated by a dot above the line). then adorn it by a crescent (also a nasal), prefix 0m to it. And this represents (O Lord Ganapati !). Your terrestrial form endowed with gunas. This is Ganesha — Vidya. The inspired sage behind this is Ganaka. Nicrt- gayatri is its metre. Ganapati is the Deity (of this mantra). 0m Gam ! My salutations to Lord Ganapati." We have heard about Ekadanta; we meditate on Vakratunda. May the Danti inspire us (to meditate). q:- splitting, scratching; a tooth, tusk of an elephant; to split, dig; "One who constantly meditates on Him, Who has one (right) tusk. Who has four hands. Who holds a noose (in His upper right hand) and a goad (in the left). Who holds a delightful thing His (lower left) hand, Who has held the fingers of His (right lower) hand in a posture bestowing the blessing(boon giving). 4- SRI KRISHNA SARAS
Whose banner bears the insignia of knowledge (rat/mouse). Who is red in colour. Who is pot-bellied, Whose ears have the form Of scuttle ( a winndowing basket). Who has worn red clothes. Il Q. Il Whose body is smeared with red sandle paste, Who is adored with red flowers. Who is compassionate towards His devotees. Who is self-effulgent. Who has manifested even before the beginning of the world as the One beyond Prakrit! and Purusha, (Purushottama)-the Yogi who thus meditates on Him is the best among the Yogis. My salutations to Vratapati, my salutations to Ganapati, My salutations to Pramathapati. My salutations to Lambodara, Ekadanta, Vighnanasin, Shiva-suta, and salutations again and again to Varadamurthi. qrci I I Rid: I Il 5- SRI KRISHNA SARAS
Whoever meditates on this Atharva-shirsha becomes fit to become Brahman. He gains happiness everywhere. He is not tormented by any of the obstacles. He becomes free from (all sins including) the five great sins. One who chants this in the evening destroys all sins committed during the day. One who chants this in the morning destroys all sins committed during the night. The one who chants both in the morning and evening becomes sinless. One 6- SRI KRISHNA SARAS
who chants everywhere (and all the time) encounters no obstacle, and gains all the four types Of human accomplishments, viz. religious merit (Dharma), wealth (Artha), desired objects (Kama), and liberation (Moksha). This atharva-shirsha should not be taught to an unqualified student. He who does due to any will incur temptation so sm. May one achieve the fulfilment of all of his desires by repetition of this thousand times.One who bathes Ganapati by this Atharva-shirsha becomes a renowned orator (in due course). One who fasts and practises Japa-yoga on the fourth day of lunar fortnight, gains knowledge. Thus says Atharvana. One should know Brahman, and Adirnaya along with its veiling power. (Then) he has nothing to fear at any time. He, who worships (Lord Ganapathi) with blades Of Durva-grass becomes as rich as the God of wealth, Kubera. He, who worships with parched grain, becomes famous and successful; he becomes a very intelligent person. He who worships with thousands of modakas. gets his cherished desires fulfilled. One, who performs sacrifices by offering wood together with ghee as oblation, gets everything. He gets every- thing. One, who makes eight good natured persons proficient in Atharva- shirsha becomes glorious the Sun. By undertaking this Japa during the solar eclipse, or by sitting on the banks of sacred rivers, or by sitting in front of an idol (of Ganapati), a Sadhaka gets whatever that is promised in these mantras. (In particular) he becomes free from obstacles, free from all defects and free from all sins. He (who has this knowledge) becomes all-knower. He becomes all knower. Know this to be true. Thus, the Upanishad. Note: I surrender to you, Lord Ganesha. You are the speaker. You are the listener. You are the giver. You are the sustainer. I am your disciple. Protect me from the front and back. Protect me from the north and the south, from above and below. Protect me from all directions. You are full Of perfect knowledge Of truth and awareness. You are full Of bliss and pure consciousness. You are truth, consciousness and bliss. You are the absolute awareness. You are full of supreme wisdom and knowledge. You are the earth, water, fire, air and the space. You are the root foundation of speech. You are beyond the three gunas: sattva, rajas and tamas. You are beyond the physical, mental and 7- SRI KRISHNA SARAS
causal bodies. You are beyond the three aspects of time: past, present and future. You are eternally established in the muladhara chakra. You have three shaktis: action, knowledge and will. Salutation to the Ganapati whose seed mantra is Aum Gam. We know Ekadanta, the One-tusked God, the unique God. We meditate upon Vakratunda, the curved-trunk God. May that unique elephant God illumine our consciousness and direct us along the right track. One should meditate upon Lord Ganesha having one tusk, and four arms; holding the noose and goad with two Of them; with the other two indicating varada, the giving of boons and blessings, and abhaya mudra, the fear removing gesture; having a mouse as the emblem on his ensign; possessing a big, beautiful belly and large, lovely ears which look like winnowing baskets; having a red cloth and His whole body covered with red sandalwood paste. He should be worshiped with red flowers. He manifests Himself as the universe and is beyond prakriti, matter, and Purusha, the manifest God. One who worships Ganesha in this way forever is the best Of yogis. Prostrations to V ratapati, the Lord of Plenty. Prostrations to Ganapati, the Lord Of various groups Of Gods. Prostrations to Pramathapati, the Lord Of Siva's hosts. Prostrations to Lambodara, the full-bellied God with a single tusk, destroyer Of Obstacles, the Son Of Siva, the Bestower Of all Blessings. 8- SRI KRISHNA SARAS

Published by Sri_Krishna_Saras

The author is a senior citizen, an Engineer, post-graduated in Sanskrit after retirement. The main idea behind this blog, is to compile and digitise the various subjects, particularly the Sanskrit literature & hymns. For easy reading of Sanskrit lyrics, the Fonts are well spaced, words separated from one another. Hence the meaning of the Sanskrit texts can easily be grasped. As the entire write-up is digitised, it can be referred at any time, through mobile, tablet and laptop computers. The author is thankful and grateful to all Eminent people, Scholars and others, who have provided various valuable information in books, articles, write-up and also images etc. both on-line & print medium. These informations enabled the author to compile, add, edit and modify and present in different format. The author hopes that this exercise and efforts will enable the readers, to comprehend the the subject matter, in proper perspective. The publications are only for self satisfaction and with no commercial intent. Blessings and love to all readers.

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