A commentary by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

on the Ganesh Strotram by Sri Adi Shankaracharya

• Chapter 1:
Muladhara Chakra 6

• Chapter 2:
Jnana, Jnaata, Jneya 10

• Chapter 3:
The Science Behind Ganesh Puja 12

• Chapter 4:
The Two Types of Puja 16

• Chapter 5: 19
Truth, Beauty and Infinity
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According to Hinduism, Lord Ganesha is regarded as the Lord of the
Muladhara Chakra (the first metaphysical center of energy in the human
body which is located at the base of the spine).
Sri Adi Shankaracharyaji has given a very apt and profound description of
Lord Ganesha in the hymn called the Ganesha Strotram. In these versus, He
beautifully narrated the true nature of Lord Ganesha. He has revered Lord
Ganesha as a swaroopa (representation) of the Parabrahman (the Divinity).
He says:

This means that Lord Ganesha was

never born or created, he himself is
the origin and the creator.
He describes Lord Ganesha as Aja
and Nirvikalpa which means he is
the one and only eternal ever-
present Divine Consciousness.
Furthermore, Adi Shankaracharyaji
says that Lord Ganesha is Niraakara
which means He is the formless
Divinity which is omnipresent and
A picture of Sri Adi Shankaracharyaji
infinite.

7
There is consciousness present within our whole body – that is divided in the
upper and lower halves of the body (as the seven chakras). This divine force
or consciousness is called as the Kundalini Shakti. When this Kundalini
Shakti is awakened and rises within us, then our entire life becomes a dance
of joy and bliss.
The experience of the Kundalini Shakti begins with the opening of the
Muladhara Chakra (also known as the root chakra), and the Divine
consciousness which is experienced is regarded as Lord Ganesha. So, Lord
Ganesha is the deep intense experience of that Supreme Consciousness which
happens when the Muladhara Chakra opens and gets activated. Though on
the outside He is shown by a different form – having the head of an elephant,
which we all worship and adore. However there is a great secret behind this
form as well.
Lord Ganesha is regarded as the lord
of wisdom (Jnana). And wisdom is Understanding Chakras
kindled only when one awakens from and Kundalini Energy
within (through the opening of the A talk by
Root Chakra). If one is stuck in Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
inertia, then there is no wisdom or Click Here
knowledge, and neither can there be
any progress or enthusiasm in life. This
is why it is essential to awaken and
enliven our Consciousness from deep
within. And the origin of the
awakening of that Consciousness
within is Lord Ganesha.
In this way, Adi Shankaracharyaji
explained that Lord Ganesha is not a
divine force that lies outside us, rather
He is the very centre and origin of
that divine power which resides within
us all, so He is seated deep within our
being.
Of the seven energy Chakras that are

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present in our body, Lord Ganesha is associated with the very first Chakra –
the Muladhara Chakra. And that is why bringing attention to the Muladhara
Chakra is a very subtle and deep way to meditate upon Lord Ganesha.
It is said – Dhyanam nirvishayam, which means that in essence, meditation
does not require any subject or object to focus upon to go deep within. What
it actually means is that we do not take our focus on any gross subject or
object for the purpose of meditation. Here we take the help of a very fine
and subtle aspect as a medium to draw the mind inwards and go deep into
meditation.
This subtle understanding given by Sri Adi Shankaracharyaji is a very
beautiful and deep way to adore and
worship Lord Ganesha. Decoding the
Adi Shankaracharyaji says, Parabrahma Ganesh Strotram – Ch.1
roopam Ganesham bhajema. He Video talk on YouTube
encourages us to worship and meditate
upon Lord Ganesha as that formless
omnipresent Divinity.
Those who are not able to understand
this can worship the form of Lord
Ganesha. So by offering worship and
devotion to the beautiful image and
form of Lord Ganesha, one is able to
ultimately reach and attain the
formless Paramatman, the all-
pervading blissful Divinity. This is a
most unique art and amazing
technique in the spiritual tradition of
India.

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In the next verse, he says:
Paramatma or God is the all-
powerful One Consciousness which
is the basis Creation. It is the cause
of all causes – from which
everything has originated, which is
responsible for everything and into
which everything shall ultimately
dissolve. And Lord Ganesha
represents this formless Divine; the
Parabrahman.
Not only does Lord Ganesha
represent the formless Parabrahman,
He is also the embodiment of the
subtle knowledge which reveals the
Parabrahman as the cause of
everything in Creation. Thus He is
both the Jnana (knowledge) and also
the Jnaata (knower).
There are three aspects to this:
Jnana (knowledge), Jnaata (knower)
and Jneya (that which is sought to be
known about, or the subject).
Often we worship Lord Ganesha as a
Jneya, that is, as a deity or an object.
This is not the supreme form of
worship. If we worship the Divine as
a form or an object just from the
outside, we do not become one with
the Divine. In such worship, the seer
still remains separate.
So, the essence here is that, Lord
Ganesha is the Source and the Seer.
That is, the (primal) Cause, the
knower and the subtle knowledge of
the Source are essentially all one and
the same.
Decoding the
Ganesh Strotram – Ch. 2
video talk on YouTube
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The Seer observes everything around
him – that ability to perceive is part
of the One Consciousness, which is
represented by Lord Ganesha.
Not everyone can relate this subtle
knowledge. Our wise Rishis and
sages understood this. And so they
tried to make this knowledge
accessible for people of all levels of
intelligence by creating Puja rituals one’s heart-felt deep feelings of love
and stories to explain the subtle and devotion to the Divine. In Puja,
aspects so that everyone would a devotee wishes to play and delight
benefit in some way or another. himself with the Divine. If at all a
devotee desires anything, then that is
the Divine. The devotee does not
When we perform Puja for Lord
wish to ask for anything in Puja.
Ganesha, we first create an idol of
Lord Ganesha. Then we perform the If a devotee asks for something, then
Prana-pratishtha for the idol. What his desire becomes more important
does this mean? It means that we than the feelings of devotion for the
infuse Consciousness into the idol Divine. This is why a true devotee is
through prayer – may Lord Ganesha simply soaked in love for the Divine,
who is seated within me as Prana or and only wishes to play with the
life force be established into the idol Divine for a while, in a very deep
so that I can worship and play with and personal way. And, Puja gives
Him. the devotee a way to (physically or
outwardly) express and experience
Puja is actually a play. In the true
this play with the Divine by invoking
sense, Puja is a unique art to express
the formless Consciousness within

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himself into the idol. So to worship
Lord Ganesha, we invoke the
formless Consciousness. We make a
clay or earthen idol of Lord
Ganesha, after which we perform the
Prana-pratishtha, praying that – “O
Lord, You who are present
everywhere and within me as
Consciousness, I pray to you to
please manifest and establish
Yourself for a little while in this idol
before me, so that I can adore you
and play with you. Whatever
blessings you have showered upon
me and all that you have provided
me, I wish to offer it all to you as a
token of my love”.
God gave us water, so in Puja we
offer water to God. God provided us
with so many sweet fruits, so in Puja
we offer fruits. God gave us
abundant flowers, and so we
reciprocate by offering flowers to
Him in the Puja. God created the
Sun and the Moon and performs our
aarti by having the Sun and the
Moon revolve around us; so in the
Puja we burn a lamp or a piece of
camphor and rotate it before the idol
during aarti to reciprocate the same.
So this is a way for a devotee to
express his love and devotion towards
the Divine.
After the Puja is over, we pray to the
Divine (installed within the
idol for a short while) to once again
return to deep within our hearts.
This is called Visarjana (literally
meaning to dissolve again or return
to the Source). Just as there was a
process of Creation for the idol, in
the same way after the Puja we
perform the Visarjana or the
dissolution.
There is a saying in Sanskrit,
“Gachha gachha surashreshtha,”
which is a way of praying to the
Divine saying, “O Lord! I pray to
you to return to my heart where you
always reside.” So after the Puja is
complete, we take the clay idol and
immerse it in a river or a water body
(exemplifying the process of
dissolution).
For example, during festivals we take
out jewellery from the safe to wear it,
and after the festivities we once again
put the jewellery back in the safe.
Decoding the Ganesh
Strotram – Chapter 3
Video talk on YouTube
In the same way, there is a precious
Tattva, a priceless gem lodged deep
within our heart (the Divine).
Ganeshotsav is a unique celebration
and a way of rejoicing in the bliss of
the Divine principle which dwells
deep within us all.
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What is important is to know that God does not reside in idols alone. God is
omnipresent, in both formlessness and form. Ganeshotsav is a way of
honoring the omnipresent Divinity in the form (of Lord Ganesha) and
adoring it through worship, joy and love. Through such worship and
celebration, devotion and enthusiasm spring forth in life.

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Sage Narada says – Pooja-adishva
Anuraga iti Parasharya.
In the Bhakti Sutras by Sage Narada,
there is a mention of Sage Parashara
who says that “To have some
attachment or interest in mind
towards Puja is one sign of Bhakti
(devotion)”.
One should not do Puja out of fear,
nor to fulfil any greed or desire. Puja
should be an offering out of love,
devotion and a feeling of total
fulfilment.
One way of performing Puja is
through outward rituals, offerings
and fire sacrifices, which is called as
Baahya Puja (Baahya meaning
outward). But even greater than that
is Maansik Puja – that is, Puja which
is done with a meditative state of
mind, through a sense of total
devotion and surrender to the
Divine. The best example of this are
these versus by Sri Adi
Shankaracharyaji on Lord Ganesha
as the all-pervading One
Consciousness.
He sings, “Lord Ganapati, as the
Supreme Consciousness is the
underlying cause and origin of all
Creation. This One Consciousness is
the very source of all comfort and
joy.”
When this Consciousness is
awakened and enlivened in every
particle of our being, then a river of
deep bliss springs forth from within
us.
This joy is not superficial in nature
which we just express outwardly.
Just smiling or appearing joyful on
the outside is of no use.
Experiencing that smile and joy from
deep within is the source of real
happiness in life. And Lord Ganesha
is the source of all the joy and love
in life.
Lord Ganesha is also the lord of all
Gunas or divine qualities. He is the
Lord of our soul, of our Being.
Often we think that we need to
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cultivate good qualities in life through constant effort – this is not possible.
We need to take it for granted that all good qualities are already present
within us. And the bad habits and negativity are like dirt that has come from
the outside but is not our true nature. By doing Sadhana, all the negativity
gets washed away, and our good qualities come to the surface. They are
already present within us.
Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita tells Arjuna – O Arjuna! All divine
qualities are already present in you.
Lord Ganapati is the lord of all these divine qualities. Sadhana helps to
uncover and nurture these noble virtues in us.
Sri Adi Shankaracharyaji says – O Lord Ganapati! You are manifest
everywhere throughout this Creation. Every person worships and adores You.
Your devotees reside in every corner of the world.
Every country in the world has a tradition of honoring the Divine as
formless (Niarakara) and yet
omnipresent. In the same way, Adi
Shankaracharyaji says – O Lord Decoding the Ganesh
Ganesha! You are worshipped as the Strotram – Chapter 4
foremost of all deities and as the Video talk on YouTube
manifestation of the formless
Divine.

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In this verse, Sri Adi
Shankaracharyaji says – O Lord
Ganesha! You transcend all qualities
and attributes. You are beyond them.
Your form is Satchidananda.
Satchidananda is that which
encapsulates the Infinity, that which
is Truth, the epitome of all beauty
and the fountain of bliss!
We can experience this aspect of
Lord Ganesha only when our
consciousness is awakened and
enlivened within us. Even with a
little bit of awakening, we are able to
recognize and experience the true
nature of Lord Ganesha. People who
are inert and whose intellect is stuck
in small matters will not be able to
grasp this subtle aspect of Lord
Ganesha. This is why Sri Adi
Shankaracharyaji says, “Chidaa-
bhasakam sarvagam jnana gamyam.”
It means that Lord Ganesha is the
infinite and formless Divinity that is
present everywhere but can only be
experienced through knowledge and
through the awakening of
consciousness.
This is why Lord Ganapati is also
revered as the Lord of wisdom and
knowledge. He is worshipped first
and foremost, before starting any
Puja or ritual – it is a way to invoke
the Ganesha Tattva within us.
The first step of Puja is to move
from Tamoguna (inertia and
negativity) towards Satguna
(positivity and awareness). And so
every Puja begins with the worship
of Lord Ganesha.
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In this verse Sri Adi Shankaracharyaji says, “Munidhyeyam akaasha roopam
paresham.” This means – O Lord Ganesha! Your true nature as the formless,
Divine Consciousness is revealed to the wise sages when they go deep into
meditation. You are the unblemished infinite space Chidakasha, the eternal
continuum of Consciousness which becomes evident as the meditative mind
expands and reposes in the Self. You are not an (finite) object, You cannot be
grasped through the limited intellect; You are not a physical person or the
body. You are Bliss, You are verily the Infinite Space (Chidakasha). You are the
omnipresent Divine - the ultimate goal of meditation for the sages.
O Ganesha! That indeed is your true nature. I wish to worship and meditate
upon that Lord Ganesha, who is the ultimate Divine Consciousness, again
and again”.
This Ganesh Chaturti, when you do Puja, offer everything with utmost love
and devotion, and then sit in meditation with your eyes closed and experience
Lord Ganesha within yourself. This is the real secret behind Puja.
This is both the purpose and also
the goal or fruit of the festival of
Ganesha Chaturthi – to kindle and
Decoding the Ganesh
enliven all the divine qualities isn our Strotram – Chapter 5
Consciousness that resides deep Video talk on YouTube
within us all.

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 The content of this book is a
translation of a discourse originally
spoken in Hindi by
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
For any suggestions
or comments, write to us on
webteam.wisdom@artofliving.org
www.artofliving.org/in-en/what-sri-sri-said-today

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