.. RiNaharagaNeshastotram ..

॥ �ZhrgZ�ш-to/m̂ ॥

Es�d� rvZ \ E�B� j\ gZ�ш\lMbodr\ p�dl� EnEv£m̂ ।

b}�AEdd�v{, pErs�&ymAn\Es�{ y� t\ t\ þZmAEm d�vm̂ ॥ 1॥

s� ÔAdO b}�ZA sMyк̂ p� Ejt, PlEs�y� ।sd{v pAv tFp� /, �ZnAш\ кrot� m� ॥ 2॥E/p� r-yvDAt̂ p� v \ шMB� nA sMygEc t, ।sd{v pAv tFp� /, �ZnAш\ кrot� m� ॥ 3॥Ehr�yкEш=vAdFnA\ vDAt� EvZ� nAEc t, ।sd{v pAv tFp� /, �ZnAш\ кrot� m� ॥ 4॥mEhq-y vD� d�&yA gZnAT, þp� Ejt, ।sd{v pAv tFp� /, �ZnAш\ кrot� m� ॥ 5॥tArк-y vDAt̂ p� v \ к� mAr�Z þp� Ejt, ।sd{v pAv tFp� /, �ZnAш\ кrot� m� ॥ 6॥BA-кr�Z gZ�шo Eh p� Ejt� -vEs�y�।sd{v pAv tFp� /, �ZnAш\ кrot� m� ॥ 7॥шEшnA кAE�tv� �̂yT \ p� Ejto gZnAyк, ।sd{v pAv tFp� /, �ZnAш\ кrot� m� ॥ 8॥pAlnAy c tpsA\ Ev�AEm/�Z p� Ejt, ।sd{v pAv tFp� /, �ZnAш\ кrot� m� ॥ 9॥id\ (v� Zhr\ -to/\ tFv}dAErdý^ ynAшnm̂ ।eкvAr\ pW�Eà(y\ vq m�к\ smAEht, ।dAErdý^ y\ dAzZ\ (y?(vA к� b�rsmtA\ v}j�t̂ ॥ 10॥

॥ iEt �Zhr gZ�ш -to/m̂ ॥

Encoded, proofread, and commentary by N.Balasubramanian bbalu@sify.com

COMMENTS:- There are many hymns in praise of Lord Ganesha. He isto be worshipped at all times and in particular at the start ofany new venture to ensure its success. But the worship of the Lordneed not be limited only to warding off obstacles in our life. He is

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indeed the Supreme Being waiting to bless us with all we want. Oneof His names (No.298) that appears in the popular Vishnu sahasranamastotram is кAmþd,meaning He grants in plenty the desires ofHis devotees. B?t�<y, кAmAn̂ þкq� Z ddAtFEt кAmþd, ।This means that one may ask Him for anything that is ‘proper’ - thatis not against the mandates of the shahstras and be sure it will begranted. In Gita (7-11) He mentions that He indeed is behind all such‘proper’ desires. DmA Evz�o B� t�q� кAmo_E-m Brtq B ।So, we may seek any thing that is ‘proper’ from Him. This includes evenmoksha. But true devotees seek only devotion to Him. The best exampleof this kind of unalloyed devotion is the prayer by Kulashekara in hisMukundamala. Please read this moving prayer.

nA-TA Dm� n vs� Ency� n{v кAmopBog�y��&y\ Bvt� Bgvn̂ p� v кmA n� !pm̂ ।

et(þALy \ mm bh� mt\ j�mj�mA�tr�_Ep(v(pAdAMBozhy� ggtA En�lA BE?tr-t� ॥

Our sages have categorised all the desires the humans canpossibly have into four types. They are called as goals of life orp� zqATA ,. They are called dharma, artha, kama and finallymoksha. The first three pertain to the life here. Dharma means performingthe duties as ordained by the shastras. The result will be punyam ormerit. This will yield better quality of life here and even life inhigher worlds. Artha means material possessions and includes money,houses, family and friends. Properly earned and used these shouldyield happiness. Kama means enjoyment resulting from the previous goalartha. Moksha means liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. Inthe above poem Kulashekara says that he is not interested in the firstthree goals as said above. He says let anything happen as ordained byfate or according to the past karma. What he wants from the Lord is onlyunwavering devotion to His lotus feet. Then it becomes His responsibilityto take care of the devotee’s wants. He had given this assurance in Gita(9-22).

an�yAE��ty�to mA\ y� jnA, py� pAst� ।t�qA\ En(yAEBy� ?tAnA\ yog"�m\ vhAMyhm̂ ॥

However, most of us are not so mature as Kulashekara and are troubledwith day-to-day problems. So we pray to Him and seek His help. There is

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nothing wrong in this. Krishna classifies devotees into four types. Thefirst one is the one who is troubled. (Gita - 7-16). Can anyone claimto be free from troubles? God helps such people also. In fact He termsthese people as good ones ( s� к� Etn,) since they have turned toHim on some pretext.

ct� Ev DA Bj�t� mA\ jnA, s� к� Etno_j� n ।aAto EjâAs� rTA TF âAnF c Brq B ॥

This particular hymns is one such and prays to Him for relief from( �Zm̂) debt. Debt means money etc., owed to some one. But theword debt has another meaning. It may be surprising or even shockingto know that according to our shastras everyone is born a debtor withthree debts. This said as follows:-

jAymno v{ b}A�Zo E/EB� ZvAn̂ jAyt�, b}�cy� Z�Eq<y,, yâ�n d�v�<y,, þjyA Ept� <y, ।

Taittariya samhita (VI.3.10)One is a debtor to rishis, devas and pitrus or the manes.These debts can be cleared by brahmacharyam - celebacy, yagna -sacrifices and praja - progeny. So it is said that :- eq vAn� Z,y, p� /F y>vA b}�cAErvAsF ।Kalidasa says in his Raghuvamsa (8-30)that the king Aja freed himself from these debts as said here.

�Eqd�vgZ-vDAB� jA\ �� tyAgþsv{, s pAET v, ।an� Z(vm� p�EyvA�bBO pErD�m� ?t ivoZdFEDEt, ॥

It is to be noted that these debts will pursue us as long as we continueto take births. And the cycle of birth and death is said to be indeedendless. CF. Gita (2-27) jAt-y Eh D}� vo m� (y� D}� v\ j�mm� t-y c ।This sounds highly discouraging. Does this mean thatwe are caught in an endless cycle? Fortunately the answer is ‘no’.The Lord also says later on (8-15) that once a person manages to reachHim the person is freed from this sinister cycle of births and deaths.

mAm� p�(y p� nj �m d� ,хAlymшA�tm̂ ।nA=n� vE�t mhA(mAn, s\EsE�\ prmA\ gtA, ॥

The method to reach Him has been given in detail in Gita and otherscriptures. By intense devotion to God one purges his mind of allbad tendencies lurking in the mind. Once the mind is thus made pure Godprovides a suitable guru who will guide him further in the spiritual pathtowards liberation. Thus we should worship Lord Ganesha with devotion

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and He will take care of our spiritual progress by giving us all we needincluding the spiritual wisdom. He had vouchsafed in Gita (10-10).

t�qA\ stty� ?tAnA\ BjtA\ þFEtp� v кm̂ ।ddAEm b� E�yog\ t\ y�n mAm� pyAE�t t� ॥

He is omniscient God and is worshipped by all sages and wise men.The following vedic prayer says this.

: gZAnA\ (vA gZpEt hvAmh� кEv\ кvFnAm� pm�v-tmm̂ ।>y�¤rAj\ b}�ZA\ b}�Z-pt aA n, ш� �và� EtEB-sFd sAdnm̂ ॥

: �F mhgZpty� nm, ।The above mantra salutes Lord Ganapathi and describes Him as the chiefof the hosts of the gods. He is the omniscient and behind the wise. Heis of infinite glory and lord of the vedas, The hymn given in thebeginning tells that Ganesha was worshipped by Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva,Devi, Kumara, Vishvamitra the sage etc. This shows that Ganesha who istalked about herein is verily the Supreme Being. So by being devotedto Him we can rest assured that He will take care of all our needs,both secular and spiritual.

The last verse (No.10) is the Pl�� Etgives the benefitof reciting the verses. It says that one who recites the verseswith sincerity for one year will become as rich as Kubera the godof wealth. It may be difficult to believe this statement. But thegreat acharya Shri Vedanta Desika, when he was invited to the courtof a ruler to be the poet there, said that he will never seek thepatronage of the rich or kings who rule over a small piece of landfor few years; but would prefer to serve the Lord. He cites the storyof Kuchela who was too poor to offer any present to Krishna who wasthe king of Dwaraka. He carried a small quantity of hand pounded ricewith him and offered it to Krishna. Krishna accepted it with greatpleasure and relished it. In return for this meagre offering Hemade Kuchela as rich as Kubera. Please read the verse given below.

"oZFкoZшtA\ш pAln кlAd� vA rgvA nl-

"� <y("� dý nr��dý cAV� rcnAn̂ D�yAn̂ n m�yAmh� ।d�v\ s�Evt� m�v EnE�n� mh� yo_sO dyAl� , p� rA

DAnAm� E£m� c� к� c�lm� ny� d�� -m Ev��шtAm̂ ॥Krishna says this clearly in Gita (7-23). He says that those who

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worship Him get unlimited benefit while those who seek to worshipothers get benefits that are short lived. This is because ofthe fact that those whom we approach for some benefit themselvessuffer from many limitations including limited lives. So people whoseek favours from others and not from the Lord cannot be called asintelligent because the effort involved in the worship is the samein both cases.

a�tv�� Pl\ t�qA\ t�v(ySpm�DsAm̂ ।d�vAn̂ d�vyjo yAE�t m�?tA yAE�t mAmEp ॥

So we should worship Him the Supreme Being who is here depictedas Ganesha.

Encoded, proofread, and commentary N.Balasubramanian bbalu@sify.com

Please send corrections to sanskrit@cheerful.comLast updated September 12, 2012http://sanskritdocuments.org

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