mudAkarAtta mOdakaM sadA vimukti sAdhakam |

kalAdharA vataMsakaM vilAsilOka rakShakam |

anAyakaika nAyakaM vinASitEBa daityakam |
natASuBASu nASakaM namAmi taM vinAyakam ||1||

natEtarAti BIkaraM navOditArka BAsvaram |
namatsurAri nirjaraM natAdhikApaduddharam |
surESvaraM nidhISvaraM gajESvaraM gaNESvaram |
mahESvaraM tamASraye parAtparaM niraMtaram ||2||

samasta lOka SaMkaraM nirasta daitya kuMjaram |
darEtarOdaraM varaM varEBa vaktramakSharam |
kRupAkaraM kShamAkaraM mudAkaraM yaSaskaram |
manaskaraM namaskRutAM namaskarOmi BAsvaram ||3||

akiMcanArti mArjanaM ciraMtanOkti BAjanam |
purAri pUrva naMdanaM surAri garva carvaNam |
prapaMcanASa BIShaNaM dhanaMjayAdi BUShaNam |
kapOla dAnavAraNaM BajE purANa vAraNam ||4||

nitAMtakAMta daMtakAMtimaMtakAMtakAtmajam |
aciMtya rUpamaMtahIna maMtarAya kRuMtanam |
hRudaMtare niraMtaraM vasaMtamEva yOginAm |
tamEkadaMtamEva taM viciMtayAmi saMtatam ||5||

mahAgaNESa paMcaratnamAdarENa yOnvaham |
prajalpati praBAtake hRudi smaran gaNESvaram |
arOgatAmadOShatAM susAhitIM suputratAm |
samAhitAyu raShTaBUtimaByupaiti sOcirAt ||


pada-pATham: lyric and meaning

shrIgaNeshAya namaH ||
I bow to shrI GaNesha.

shloka 01
mudAkarAtta modakaM sadA vimukti sAdhakaM
kalAdharA vataMsakaM vilAsi loka rakShakam |

He is joyful--mudA, with a modakaM--sweet rice cake, karAtta--borne in hand;
He is always--sadA, the sAdhaka--efficient means, for attaining vimukti--deliverance;
He wears on the head the cresent moon--kalAdharA, vataMsakaM--as ornament;
He sportively--vilAsi, does lokarakShakam--protection of the world.

Note:
01. modaKaM is GaNesha's favourite dish. It is visheSha--special, to offer them to him in the
'sangkaTahara chaturthI vrata pUjA', which is observed on the chaturthI--fourth day, after each full
moon.

02. Special fruits offered to GaNesha are: kapittha--wood apple (Feronia Elephantum) and jaMbu-phala--
rose apple (Eugenia Jambolana). It is visheSha to offer them on the day of the annual GaNesha
chaturthI, which is occurs this year on Sep.11, 2010. GaNesha also wears a garland of erukku (Tamizh)--
milkweed flowers on that day. And, as everyone knows, GaNesha is satisfied with the offer of even a
blade of the arugampul (Tamil)--dUrvA grass.

Here is a list of medicinal food and plant names in many Indian languages.
http://www.sakthifoundation.org/glossary.pdf

03. Besides his tilaka, the GaNesha purANam prescribes him a crescent moon on the forehead, worn as
an ornament.

04. Note how Shankara describes GaNesha as protecting the world vilAsi--sportively. Is he not the
vighneshvara, who causes and removes vighnams--hurdles/obstacles? It's all his lIlA--sport, to test and
then adopt his devotees

anAyakaika nAyakaM vinAshitebha daityakaM
natAshubhAshu nAshakaM namAmi taM vinAyakam || 1 ||

He is-anAyaka--has no ruler above him; he is ekanAyakaM--himself the sole ruler;
He is one who vinAshita--destroyed, the ibha-daitya--elephant-faced demon,
called GajamukhAsura;
All that is nata--crooked, and ashubha--inauspicious, he Ashu--quickly,
nAshakaM--destroys;
I bow to--namAmi, taM--that, vinAyaka--destroyer of obstacles.

Note:
01. In the spirit of advaita, Shankara describes GaNesha as anAyaka and eka-nAyaka.
02. He is quick in removing obstacles, all that is crooked and inauspicious.

shloka 02

natetarAti bhIkaraM navoditArka bhAsvaraM
namat surAri nirjaraM natAdhikApa duddharam |

He is ati-bhIkara--very terrible (causing fear) to the nata-itara--crooked
and other such people;
He is bhAskaraM--shining, as the nava--newly, udita--risen, arka--sun;
He is one who is namat--venerated by, surAri--Asuras--demons (enemies of Gods),
and nirjara--immortal Devas--Gods (who nir--never, jara--get old);
He is the nata--flowing down, adhika--bounteous, Apa-duddharam--waterfall.

Note:
01. Some people translate 'natetarAti bhIkaraM' as 'one who is very terrible to those who are not his
devotees'.

02. There is actually a waterfall named 'duddhara' in Amarkantak, a pilgrim center in Anuppur district of
Madhya Pradesh.
(Tourist Attraction in Amarkantak - Madhya Pradesh Tourist Attractions - Tours To Madhya Pradesh)

*****

sureshvaraM nidhIshvaraM gajeshvaraM gaNeshvaraM
maheshvaraM tamAshraye parAtparaM nirantaram || 2 ||

He is the Ishvara--Lord, of Devas--sureshvara, Ishavara of nidhis--all the
treasures of Kubera, and LakShmI;
gajeshvaraM--elephant-faced God (also Ishvara of gajas--elephants),
gaNeshvaraM--Ishvara of Shiva-gaNas--Shiva's army of demons;
He is maheshvaram--the very Maheshvara--Great Lord (an attribute of Shiva),
parAtpara--superior to the best, nirantara--with no interval in time or space,
that is, all-pervading and eternal;
tam--such a God, Ashraye--I adore and seek refuge in.

Note:
01. nidhIshvara--nidhi refers to the teasures and wealth of Kubera and LakShmI. It also refers to all the
aishvarya--the aShTamA-siddhis, the eight powers of vision, audition, cognition, discrimination,
omniscience, swiftness of thought, power of assuming forms at will, and the faculty of expatiation
(MWD).

Hindus normally worship GaNesha with LakShmI and SarasvatI. It is common to find a picture of
GaNesha with LakShmI at his right and SarasvatI at his left in their pUjA rooms. This is the image
typically used in the bhUmi-pUjA of a plot where a new house is to be constructed.

02. PApanAsham Sivan has authored a song on Shiva in Tamizh, that starts with the words 'parAtparA,
parameshvara!'. For the lyric and its translation, check


shloka 03

samastaloka shaMkaraM nirastadaitya ku~njaraM
daretarodaraM varaM varebhavaktram akSharam |

He is one who who brings saMkaraM--complete happiness, samastaloka--to all worlds;
One who nirasta--destroyed, daitya--the Asura (demon), kunjaraM--with the elephant face;
He has an udara--a belly, which is dara-itara--not small--so huge; he is varaM--excellent;
He has a varaM--most excellent, ibha-vaktram--elephant-face; and he is
akSharam--imperishable.

Note:
01. varebhavaktram akSharam--is also translated as vara-akShara-ibhavaktra--granting unalterable boons
through his elephant-face/mouth.

kR^ipAkaraM kShamAkaraM mudAkaraM yashaskaraM
manaskaraM namaskR^itAM namaskaromi bhAsvaram || 3 ||

He is full of compassion--kRpAkara, kShamAkara--one who is patient and forgiving
with his devotees,
mudAkaraM--one who keeps them happy, yashaskaraM--one who brings them fame;
manaskaraM--makes them well-disposed in mind, so namaskRtAM--I worship,
and namaskaromi--and bow to, that bhAsvaram--shining God.

Note:
01. In the second line, manaskaraM is neatly reversed as namaskaromi, implying that namaskAram is not
just an act of prostrating with the body, but also with speech and mind.

shloka 04

aki~nchanArti mArjanaM chirantanokti bhAjanaM
purAripUrva nandanaM surArigarva charvaNam |

He is one who does mArjanaM--wiping away, of the Arti--afflictions,
of the akinchana--destitute;
He is the bhAjanaM--representative/abode of, the ukta--divine word (AUM),
which is-chiranta--exists from ancient times;
He is the nandanaM--son, of the purAri--One who destroyed
the tripura--triple cities, in pUrva--former times;
He destroys--charvaNa (as if by chewing away), the garva--pride and arrogance,
of the surAri--enemy of the Devas, that is, the Asuras.

Note:
01. GaNesha is the very form of the praNava mantra AUM, which is the first manifestation of the NirguNa
Brahmam. In the form of AUM, the primal sound which is the mUla-kAraNa--root cause, of the Creation,
Brahman is known as shabda-brahman or nAda-brahman.

prapa~nchanAsha bhIShaNaM dhana~njayAdi bhUShaNaM
kapoladAna vAraNaM bhaje purANa vAraNam || 4 ||

At the time of prapancha-nAshanam--dissolution of the Universe, he is the
bhIShaNaM--the Terrible One (Rudra);
He has as bhUShaNaM--decorations, dhanaMjaya Adi--Dhananjaya and other serpants;
He is the vAraNam--elephant, who is kapoladAna--filled with the rut-fluid in the cheeks.
Such a purANa vAraNam--ancient, primordial elephant, bhaje--I adore.

Note:
01. In the iconography of GaNesha, the snake represents the kuNDalini shakti that everyone of us have,
which is dormant at the mUlAdhAra chakra, whose adhipati--Lord, is GaNesha.

shloka 05

nitAnta kAnta dantakAntima ntakAntak AtmajaM
achintyarUpam antahInam antarAya kR^intanam |

He is one who has nitAnta--excessively, kAnta--bright, danta kAntiM--radiant tusks;
He is the Atmaja--son, of One (Shiva) who was antaka--Yama (destroyer),
to antaka--Yama himself;
He is achintya rUpaM--one whose true form is beyond comprehension,
one who is antahInaM--eternal/endless, and
one who does-kRntana--cuts off, antarAya--obstacles.

Note:
01. The story of Shiva kicking Yama to death and then resurrecting him is found in the MArkANDeya
purANam. Thus, Shiva is referred to as the Yama's Yama--antakAntaka.

02. Shankara uses many phrases to describe GaNesha's powers of destroying obstacles to spiritual
progress: here he uses kRntana--cuts off. In shloka 1 he uses, Ashu nAshanaM--quickly destroys. In
shloka 4 he uses the term charvaNa--chewing away, to remove the Asura's garva--pride and arrogance.
These terms are typically associated with the acts of an elephant.

hR^idantare nirantaraM vasantameva yoginAM
tamekadantameva taM vichintayAmi santatam || 5 ||

He is one who is nirantaraM--for ever, vasanta--resident, in the
hRdantantare eva--middle of the heart, of yoginAM--yogis;
That--taM, eka dantam eva--one-tusked deity alone, santatam--at all times,
vichintayAmi--I think about and meditate on.

Note:
01. In shloka 2, Shankara describes GaNesha as 'parAtparam nirantaram'--ParamAtman who pervades all
space and time leaving no intervals. In the same way, he occupies the Yogis' hearts, shining as a flame in
the middle, and filling the entire hrDaya AkAsha--inner space, with its light.

02. GaNesha is eka-danta--one-tusked, because his other tusk was broken. As for the legends relating to
his broken tusk, check these links:

shloka 06: phalashruti: Benefits of chanting

mahAgaNesha pa~ncharatnam AdareNa yo.anvahaM
prajalpati prabhAtake hR^idi smaran gaNeshvaram |
arogatAm adoShatAM susAhitIM suputratAM
samAhitAyur aShTabhUtim abhyupaiti so.achirAt || 6 ||

One--yaH, who anvahaM--every day, prabhAtake--in the morning time, hRdi--in the mind,
smaran--remembers, gaNeshvaraM--GaNesha, and AdareNa--with devotion,
prajalpati--recites, the 'mahA gaNesha pancharatnam' stotra--hymn, saH--he...

would get--abhyupaiti, achirAt--soon, arogatAM--health free of diseases,
adoShatAM--life without faults, susAhitIM--skills and expertise in education,
suputratAM--good children, samAhitAyur--long and complete life, and
aShTabhUtiM--the eight aishvaryas (referred to above in note to shloka 2).

Note:
01. The overall effect of movement in the stotra in the pancha-chAmaram metre, is the majestic
movement of an elephant, gently shaking its head left and right.

**********

iti shrIsha~NkarabhagavataH kR^itau shrIgaNeshapa~ncharatnastotraM
sampUrNam ||

Thus ends the shrI GaNesha pancharatna stotram composed by
shrI Shankara Bhagavata.