Ganesha Tatwa - Part 1

At the time of creation, the tatwas, the components of the universe, themselves praised the greatness of Lord Ganesha with a beautiful stotra. It is called Tatwa Kruta Stuti.

नमस्ते वक्रतुण्डाय भक्तसंरक्षकाय च
सर्वाधीशाय सर्वाय गणानां पतये नमः

Why is Lord Ganesha called Vakratunda? Simply put, he has a tunda that is vakra, a trunk that is curved. Lord Ganesha's trunk is always curved, either to the right or left. You will hardly find Lord Ganesha with a straight trunk.

But why is his trunk curved? Vakratunda has two components: vakra and tunda. Vakratva means crookedness, and tunda means to break, to smash the crookedness of maya with something as strong as his trunk. Lord Ganesha smashes the crookedness of maya with his trunk, and his devotee attains realization of the truth with his help, as he destroys the influence of maya on his devotee.

Vakratva also has another meaning. To be straight means to follow something as it is, to take maya for real. To be curved means to be different, not to take what you see and hear as it is, not to accept the unreal world, but to think about it in a different way so that you understand it correctly. As the protector of his bhakta, bhakta samrakshaka, Lord Ganesha, through his curved trunk, conveys that maya is crooked and should be smashed. This is possible by understanding its ways and not by following it as it is.

He is Sarvadheesha, Lord of everything. He is Sarva, meaning that being Parabrahma, he is everything; everything is just different forms of him. He is Gananam Pathi, the Lord of groups—Lord of Devas as a group, Lord of Indriyas as a group, Lord of groups of people such as villages and countries, Lord of groups of trees, birds, and herds of animals, and Lord of the group of Pancha Bhutas. Wherever you see numbers and groups, you should recognize his presence there as their Lord.

अव्यक्ताव्यक्तरूपाय सत्यासत्याय ते नमः
समाय विषमायैव विघ्नेशाय नमो नमः

Avyakta and Vyakta are the two states of Parabrahma, Paramatma. What we see around us now as the universe is the Vyakta Roopa, but after pralaya, all of this will cease to exist. Everything will be withdrawn back into a single, uniform, homogeneous matter, which itself is Parabrahma. This state is called the Avyakta state. Then, after some time, creation happens again, and the Avyakta transforms itself into Vyakta.

Both the states, Avyakta and Vyakta, are Lord Ganesha himself because he is Parabrahma, Paramatma. Shastra considers the Avyakta state as real, Satya, the base state. What we see today as the universe exists only for a certain time; it is like waves that rise from the sea, only to fall back and disappear. But the sea remains forever. So the Avyakta state is considered Satya, while the Vyakta state, as we see and experience now, is Asatya.

Yet, both Satya and Asatya are Lord Ganesha himself. If Satya is Lord Ganesha, then Asatya is also Lord Ganesha. There cannot be anything other than him. Both Sama and Vishama, odd and even, are him alone. In astrology, the zodiac or space is divided into 12 signs or rashis. Half of them—Mesha, Mithuna, Simha, Tula, Dhanus, and Kumbha—are called Sama rashis, while the rest—Rishabha, Karka, Kanya, Vrischika, Makara, and Meena—are called Vishama rashis. Both Sama and Vishama rashis, meaning the entire space, are filled with him alone.

And he is Vighnesha. Vighnas, obstacles, are under his control. He can create and remove obstacles.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi