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The Ganesha Purana (Sanskrit:गणेश पुराणम्; gaṇeśa purāṇam ; also spelled Ganeshpoorana) is a Hindu religious text dedicated to the Hindu deity Ganesha (Gaṇeśa). It is an upapurāṇa that includes many stories and ritualistic elements relating to Ganesha. The Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana are core scriptures for devotees of Ganesha, known as Ganapatyas (Gāṇapatya). These are the only two Purana that are exclusively dedicated to Ganesha.^[1] Hindu scripture is overwhelmingly written in Sanskrit. ... Image File history File links Aum. ... Veda redirects here. ... The Rigveda (Sanskrit: , a tatpurusha compound of praise, verse and knowledge) is a collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns dedicated to the gods. ... The Yajurveda (Sanskrit , a tatpurusha compound of sacrifice + veda knowledge) is one of the four Hindu Vedas. ... The Samaveda (Sanskrit: सामवेद, sāmaveda, a tatpurusha compound of ritual chant + knowledge ), is third in the usual order of enumeration of the four Vedas, the ancient core Hindu scriptures. ... The Atharvaveda (Sanskrit: अथर्ववेद, , a tatpurusha compound of , a type of priest, and meaning knowledge) is a sacred text of Hinduism, and one of the four Vedas, often called the fourth Veda. According to tradition, the Atharvaveda was mainly composed by two groups of rishis known as the Bhrigus and the... The Samhita (Sanskrit: joined or collected) is the basic text of each of the Vedas, comprising collections of hymns and ritual texts. ... The Brahmana (Sanskrit ब्राह्मण) are part of the Hindu Shruti; They are composed in Vedic Sanskrit, and the period of their composition is sometimes referred to as the Brahmanic period or age (approximately between 900 BC and 500 BC). ... The Aranyakas (Sanskrit आरण्यक, Forest Books, Forest Treatises) are part of the Hindu Shruti; these religious scriptures are sometimes argued to be part of either the Brahmanas or Upanishads. ... The Upanishads (Devanagari: उपनिषद्, IAST: upaniá¹£ad) are part of the Vedas and form the Hindu scriptures which primarily discuss philosophy, meditation, and the nature of God; they form the core spiritual thought of Vedantic Hinduism. ... The Aitareya Upanishad is one of the older, primary Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. ... The Upanishad is believed to be one of the older, primary (mukhya) Upanishads. ... The Isha Upanishad () or Ishopanishad (), also known as the Ishavasya Upanishad (), is a Sanskrit poem (or sequence of mantras) from the Upanishads and is considered Åšruti by followers of a number of diverse traditions within Hinduism. ... The Taittiriya Upanishad is one of the Upanishads associated to the taittiriya samhita of the Black Yajurveda. ... The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the main ten Upanishads of Hinduism. ... The Kena Upanishad (), is one of the older, primary Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. ... Mundaka Upanishad is an Upanishad of the Atharva Veda. ... MāndÅ«kya Upanishad is one of the shortest Upanishads, that form the speculative metaphysical parts of the Hindu texts, the Vedas. ... Prashna Upanishad (IAST ) is one of the older, primary Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. ... The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is one of the 33 Upanishads of Krishna Yajurveda or Black Yajurveda . ... The Vedanga (IAST , member of the Veda) are six auxiliary disciplines for the understanding and tradition of the Vedas. ... Shiksha is an NGO devoted to improving the standards of education in New Delhi and its neighbouring regions. ... The verses of the Vedas have a variety of different meters. ... The Sanskrit grammatical tradition of , is one of the six Vedanga disciplines. ... Nirukta is Vedic glossary of difficult words. ... Jyotisha (, in Hindi and English usage Jyotish) is the Hindu system of astrology, one of the six disciplines of Vedanga, and regarded as one of the oldest schools of ancient astrology to have had an independent origin, affecting all other schools in and around India. ... Kalpa is one of the six disciplines of Vedanga, treating ritual. ... Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent. ... Mahabharat redirects here. ... For the television series by Ramanand Sagar, see Ramayan (TV series). ... Bibliography of Hindu scriptures - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Smriti (Sanskrit स्मॄति, that which is remembered) refers to a specific canon of Hindu religious scripture. ... The Å›ruti (Sanskrit thing heard, sound) is the smallest interval of the tuning system of Indian classical music. ... Bhagavad Gīta भगवद्गीता, composed ca the fifth - second centuries BC, is part of the epic poem Mahabharata, located in the Bhisma-Parva chapters 23–40. ... Purana (Sanskrit: पुराण , meaning ancient or old) is the name of a genre (or a group of related genres) of Hinduism literature (as distinct from oral literature). ... Pañcaratra is an pre-Puranic form of Hinduism, which equated Narayana with Vishnu. ... The Tantra (Looms or Weavings), refer to numerous and varied scriptures pertaining to any of several esoteric traditions rooted in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. ... SÅ«tra (sex) (Sanskrit) or Sutta (Pāli) literally means a rope or thread that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism (or line, rule, formula), or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. ... Stotras are Hindu prayers that praise aspects of God, such as Devi, Siva, or Vishnu. ... ÅšrÄ« Rāmcaritmānas (Hindi: रामचरितमानस) is an epic poem composed by the great 16th-century Indian poet, Goswami Tulsidas (c. ... The Shikshapatri is a text of two hundred and twelve verses, and was written by Shree Swaminarayan, a reforming Hindu from the Vaishnava tradition, who lived in Gujarat from 1781-1830 and who was recognised by his followers as a deity during his lifetime. ... The Vachanamrut The Vachanamrut or the nectarine discourses of Bhagwan Swaminarayan is the most sacred and foundational scripture of the Swaminarayan Sampraday. ... Bibliography of Hindu scriptures - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is an old Indo-Aryan language from the Indian Subcontinent, the classical literary language of the Hindus of India[1], a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... Hinduism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... In Hinduism, Ganesha is one of the most well-known and beloved representations of God. ... The Puranas are part of Hindu Smriti; these religious scriptures discuss devotion and mythology. ...

The Ganesha Purana asserts its own status as one of the eighteen upapuranas in its opening lines (I.1.8-9):

"There are, however, eighteen minor Purāṇas such as the Gaṇeśa, the Nārada, the Nṛsiṁha, etc. Amongst these, firstly I am going to recite the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa which is rarely heard, especially by someone in the world of mortals." ^[2]

These lines indicate that the authors sought to ensure the status of this work as an upapurāṇa, a category whose membership was not fully codified at that time. The Puranas are part of Hindu Smriti; these religious scriptures discuss devotion and mythology. ...

Thapan (pp. 20-21) believes that the epithet Ganesha (Gaṇeśa) as a widely-used name for this deity appears to have been popularized by the Ganesha Purana which is associated with the region of modern Maharashtra (Mahārṣṭra), Vananasi, Karnataka, and perhaps some parts of Andhra Pradesh. Today the epithet Ganapati (Gaṇapati) is popular in the south while Ganesha is more frequently used in Maharashtra and the north. ^[1] In Hinduism, Ganesha is one of the most well-known and beloved representations of God. ...

Significance

The Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana are the two late Puranas (c A.D. 1300-1600) produced by the Ganapatya (gāṇapatya) sect. These two Purana are considered authoritative by devotees of Ganesha, and include materials not found in earlier sources.

During the medieval period the followers of Ganesha, the Ganapatyas, formed an independent religious movement dedicated to the worship of Ganesha as their preeminent deity, considering Ganesha to be the qualified (saguṇa) form of the ultimate unqualified (nirguṇa) brahman. The Ganesha Purana is pervaded with this concept and interprets well-known Puranic stories in new ways to emphasize the importance of Ganesha or to explain his relationships of other divinities.

The Purana specifies many method of worship, key beliefs, and philosophical positions of the Ganapatya sect. The contents of the Ganesha Purana are difficult to summarize because they include a wide variety of stories and devotional materials.

The general purpose of the work can be inferred from this set of questions that Vyāsa puts to Brahmā in the tenth chapter of the first Book (I.10.29-30 in Bailey's English edition):

"Who is this Ganesha? What is his real appearance (Sanskrit:स्वरूप; svarūpa; also spelled svarupa) and how can it be known? To whom has he previously been kindly disposed, four-faced god? How many are his incarnations and what deeds did they perform? Who previously worshipped him and in respect of what deed was he called to mind?" The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is an old Indo-Aryan language from the Indian Subcontinent, the classical literary language of the Hindus of India[1], a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ...

The last chapter of the first book summarizes the lengthy narratives by saying:

"I have narrated the worship (Sanskrit:उपासना; upāsanā; also spelled upasana) of Ganesha to you in the course of a sequence of many tales. (I.92.53) ^[2] The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is an old Indo-Aryan language from the Indian Subcontinent, the classical literary language of the Hindus of India[1], a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ...

These statements confirm the role that this Purana plays in establishing the relationship between Ganesha and his followers through the use of both traditional Puranic stories and new material intended to emphasize the importance of Ganesha as a primary deity.

A brief review of references to Ganesha in various Puranas appears in Courtright ^[3]

Date of the work

The date of composition for both the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana, and their dating relative to one another, has been a matter of academic debate. Both works contain age-layered strata, but these strata have not been clearly defined through the process of critical editorship. Some strata of the available redactions of the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana probably reflect mutual influence upon one another, including direct references to one another.

Thapan reviews different views on dating and states her own judgement that it appears likely that the core of the Ganesha Purana come into existence around the 12th and 13th centuries, being subject to interpolations during the succeeding ages.^[4] Thapan notes that these puranas, like other puranas, developed over a period of time as multi-layered works.

Lawrence W. Preston considers that the period AD 1100-1400 is the most reasonable date for the Ganesha Purana because that period agrees with the apparent age of the sacred sites mentioned by it.^[5]

Hazra dates the Ganesha Purana between AD 1100-1400.^[6]

Farquhar dates it between AD 900-1350.^[7]

Structure of the text

The Ganesa Purana is divided into two sections. The Upasanakhanda (upāsanākhaṇḍa) or "section on devotion" has 92 chapters, and the Kridakhanda (krīḍākhaṇḍa) or "section on the divine play (of Gaṇeśa)" has 155 chapters. The Kridakhanda is also called the Uttarakhanda (uttarakhaṇḍa) in the colophons.

Chapter 46 of the Upasanakhanda includes a stotra (hymn) that is the source text for one of the best-known versions of the Ganesha Sahasranama (hymn of praise listing 1,000 names of Ganesha). This stotra is recited in many temples today as a living part of Ganesha devotion.

The Ganesha Gita

Chapters 138-48 of the Kridakhanda constitute the Ganesha Gita, which is modeled after the Bhagavad Gita, but adapted to place Ganesa in the divine role.^[8] The discourse is given to King Varenya during Ganesha's incarnation as Gajanana.

Krishan^[9] says that a critical examination of the Ganesha gita shows that ninety percent of its stanzas are, with slight modifications, taken from the Bhagavad Gita. Their topics are the same: karma yoga, jnana yoga, bhakti yoga. Ganesha replaces Krishna in the divine role. In II.138.22 Ganesha asserts claims similar to those made by Krishna in BG 4.6-8: I create the world, maintain it and destroy it again; I am Mahavishnu, Sadashiva, and Mahashakti, and Aryaman, the sun. In II.140.9-11 he says that he is unborn (aja), the life principle in all beings (bhūtātmā), beginningless (anādi), and lord (īśvara). Like Krishna, whenever there is an increase of unrighteousness (adharma) and decline of righteousness (dharma) he takes birth to protect the good and destroy the wicked.

The four incarnations of Ganesha

The Kridakhanda of the Ganesha Purana narrates the stories of four incarnations (Sanskrit:अवतार; avatāra) of Ganesha in the four different yugas.^{[9] [10]} The ten avatars of Lord Vishnu, copyright BBT In Hindu philosophy, an avatar, avatara or avataram (Sanskrit: , IAST: ), most commonly refers to the incarnation (bodily manifestation) of a higher being (deva), or the Supreme Being (God) onto planet Earth. ... The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is an old Indo-Aryan language from the Indian Subcontinent, the classical literary language of the Hindus of India[1], a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... Yuga (Devnāgari: युग) in Hindu philosophy refers to an epoch or era within a cycle of four ages: the Satya Yuga (or Krita Yuga), the Treta Yuga, the Dvapara Yuga, and finally the Kali Yuga. ...

These are not the same as the eight incarnations of Ganesha that are described in the Mudgala Purana.

• Mahotkata Vinayaka (Mahotkaţa Vināyaka), having ten arms and a red complexion. Different sources list either an elephant or lion as his mount (vāhana). He was born to Kashyapa (Kaśyapa) and Aditi in the Krita yuga. The name Kāśyapaḥ (descendant of Kaśyapa) for Ganesha refers to this incarnation. ^[11] He killed the demon brothers Narantaka (Narāntaka) and Devantaka (Devāntaka), as well as the demon Dhumraksha (Dhūṃrākşa).

• Mayuresvara (Mayūreśvara), having six arms and a white complexion. He has a peacock as his mount. He was born to Shiva and Parvati in the Treta yuga. He incarnates for the purpose of killing the demon Sindhu (meaning "ocean" because he was born in an ocean). At the end of this incarnation he gives his peacock mount to his younger brother Skanda, with whom the peacock mount is generally associated.

• Gajanana (Gajānana), having four arms and born with a red complexion. He has a mouse as his mount. He is born to Shiva and Parvati in the Dvapara yuga. He incarnates for the purpose of killing the demon Sindura (Sindūra), who was so-named due to his reddish-pink complexion (see: Sindoor). It is during this incarnation that Ganesha gives the discourse known as the Ganesha Gita to King Varenya.

• Dhumraketu (Dhūmraketu) is grey in colour like ash or smoke (dhūmra). He has either two or four arms.^[12] He has a blue horse as his mount. He will come to end the decline of the Kali yuga. During this incarnation he kills numberless demons. Grimes notes that there is a parallel between this incarnation of Ganesha and the tenth and final incarnation of Vishnu, where he will ride upon the white horse Kalki.^[13]

This article is about the Hindu god Kasyapa. ... In Hinduism, Aditi (Sanskrit - limitless) is a goddess of the sky, consciousness, the past, the future and fertility. ... The Krta Yuga, also spelt Krita Yuga, is considered one of the great yugas (ages, epochs) of Hinduism. ... In the Hindu epic, the Ramayana, Narantaka (or Narantak) is one of the rakshas (demon) sons of the demon king Ravana. ... Devanataka is an asur (demon) that appears in a number of Hindu legends. ... Nilakantha redirects here. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... The Treta Yuga is the second out of four yugas, or ages of man, in the religion of Hinduism, following the Satya Yuga of perfect morality and preceding the Dvapara Yuga. ... Skanda is a name of a deity that is popular amongst practicing Hindus and Buddhists Skanda is a Hindu deity also known as Kartikeya and Murugan. ... Nilakantha redirects here. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... The Dvapara Yuga is the third out of four yugas, or ages in the Hindu religion. ... Aishwarya Rai as Paro in Devdas with applied Sindoor Sindoor is a red powder used by married Hindu women. ... Kali Yuga is also the title of a book by Roland Charles Wagner. ... Vishnu (IAST , Devanagari ), (honorific: Sri Vishnu) also known as Narayana is the Supreme Being or Ultimate Reality for Vaishnavas and a manifestation of Brahman in the Advaita or Smarta traditions. ... In Hindu traditions, Kalki (कल्कि) (also rendered by some as Kalkin and Kalaki) is the tenth and final Maha Avatara (great incarnation) of Vishnu the Preserver, who will come to end the current Kali Yuga, (The Age of Darkness and Destruction). ...

Source editions for the text

As of 2007 no "critical edition" had been issued for the Ganesha Purana. A "critical edition" of a Purana is a special type of scholarly edition in which many alternative readings from variant manuscripts have been reviewed and reconciled by scholars to produce a consensus text. If there is no critical edition, it means that individual editions may show significant variations in content and line numbering from one another. This is the case with the Ganesha Purana, so it is necessary to review multiple editions, which may differ from one another in significant ways.

Greg M. Bailey, who has published a scholarly review and translation into English of the first portion (upāsanākhaṇḍa) of the Ganesha Purana, notes that there are hundreds of manuscripts for this purana in libraries in India, and that it was clearly very popular from the 17th to 19th centuries. The Bailey edition does not provide the Sanskrit text. ^[2]

An edition of the Ganesha Purana was published in two parts by the Śrī Yogīndra Maṭha at Moregaon, Maharashtra (the site of one of the aṣṭavināyaka temples). The Upasanakhanda (upāsanākhaṇḍa) was published in 1979 and the Kridakhanda (krīḍākhaṇḍa) was published in 1985. ^[14] This is the edition that Thapan cites in her book on the development of the Ganapatyas (Gāṇapatya). ^[1]

The Ganesha Purana was published three times before the edition of the Śrī Yogīndra Maṭha:^[1]

• Poona, 1876
• Bombay, 1876
• Bombay, 1892, Gopal Narayana and Co.

One well-known edition that is currently obtainable is the 1993 full-length reprint edition of the 1892 edition, providing the full Sanskrit text in Devanagari script. The 1993 reprint edition edited by Ram Karan Sharma is not mentioned in Bailey's bibliography, and spot comparisons of line numbering and content show some variations between the Bailey and Sharma editions. ^[15] The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is an old Indo-Aryan language from the Indian Subcontinent, the classical literary language of the Hindus of India[1], a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... Rigveda manuscript in Devanagari (early 19th century) Devanāgarī (देवनागरी — in English pronounced ) (ISCII – IS13194:1991) [1] is an abugida alphabet used to write several Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Bihari, Bhili, Konkani, Bhojpuri and Nepali from Nepal. ...

Thapan notes (p. 33) that the Ganesha Purana was translated into Tamil in the eighteenth century and the Tamil version is referred to as the Vināyaka Purāṇa. ^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Thapan, Anita Raina (1997). Understanding Gaṇapati: Insights into the dynamics of a cult. Manohar Publishers, 304. ISBN 81-7304-195-4. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Bailey, Greg (1995). Ganeśapurāna: Introduction, translation, notes and index. Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-03647-8. 
3. ^ Courtright, Paul (1985). Gaṇeśa: Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings. Oxford University Press, 17-18. ISBN 0-19-505742-2. . p. 18
4. ^ For a review of major differences of opinions between scholars on dating see Thapan, op. cit., pp. 30-33.
5. ^ Preston, Lawrence W., p. 103. "Subregional Religious Centers in the History of Maharashtra: The Sites Sacred to Gaṇeśa", in: N. K. Wagle, ed., Images of Maharashtra: A Regional Profile of India.
6. ^ R. C. Hazra, "The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa", Journal of the Ganganatha Jha Research Institute, Vol. 9, 1951, pp. 79-99. For dating see p. 97.
7. ^ Farquhar, J. N., An Outline of the Religious Literature of India, pp. 226 and 270.
8. ^ Rocher, Ludo. "Gaṇeśa's Rise To Prominence", p. 73 in: Ganesh: Studies of an Asian God, Robert L. Brown, editor. (State University of New York: Albany, 1991) ISBN 0-7914-0657-1
9. ^ ^{a b} Yuvraj Krishan, Gaṇeśa: Unravelling an Enigma. (Motilal Banarsidass Publishers: Delhi, 1999) pp. 79-80. ISBN 81-208-1413-4
10. ^ Brief summaries of events in each incarnation are given in John A. Grimes. Ganapati: Song of the Self. pp. 100-105. (State University of New York Press: Albany, 1995) ISBN 0-7914-2440-5
11. ^ Ganesha Purana I.46.28 in the 1993 Sharma edition. In the version used by Bhāskararāya in his Khadyota commentary on the Ganesha Sahasranama the verse is numbered I.46.33 and the name is given as Kaśyapasuta.
12. ^ Yuvraj Krishan, op. cit. p. 84, footnote 13, says that in the Ganesha Purana 2.131.32, Dhūmraketu is said to have four arms but in ibid. 2.1.21 and 2.85.15 he is said to have only two arms. The version given in Grimes mentions only two arms.
13. ^ Grimes, op. cit., p. 207, note 7.
14. ^ (1979, 1985) Gaṇeśa Purāṇa. Śrī Yogīndra Maṭha. 
15. ^ Sharma, Ram Karan (1993). Ganesha Purana. Nag Publishers. ISBN 81-7081-279-8. 

Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ...

See also

Ganapati Atharvashirsa The is a Hindu religious text dedicated to the Hindu deity Ganesha (). It is a late upanishad that celebrates Ganesha as the embodiment of the ultimate Brahman. ...

Further reading

• Mani, Vettam. Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary With Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature. 1st English edition, Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi, 1975. Reprint editions:
  • Motilal Banarsidass (2006) ISBN 8120805976.
  • Orient Book Distributors (May 1985) ISBN 9995134780.