Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 76
॥
Devanāgarī
इत्येवमाद्यमक्षरं तदन्त्यबिन्दुपूर्णमित्यनेनाङ्गं स्पृशति । गं गणेशाय नम इति गणेशं नमस्कुर्वीत
Transliteration (IAST)
ityevamādyamakṣaraṃ tadantyabindupūrṇamityanenāṅgaṃ spṛśati | gaṃ gaṇeśāya nama iti gaṇeśaṃ namaskurvīta
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इति एवम् आद्यम् अक्षरंiti evam ādyam akṣaraṃso this first syllable
तत् अन्त्य-बिन्दु-पूर्णम् इतिtat antya-bindu-pūrṇam itifull with the final point
अनेन अङ्गं स्पृशतिanena aṅgaṃ spṛśatiby this touches a limb
गं गणेशाय नमः इतिgaṃ gaṇeśāya namaḥ iti«gaṃ, bow to Gaṇeśa», thus
गणेशं नमस्कुर्वीतgaṇeśaṃ namaskurvītalet one bow to Gaṇeśa
Translation
«So this first syllable, full with the final point — by this one touches a limb. «Gaṃ, bow to Gaṇeśa» — thus let one bow to Gaṇeśa».
Version
f4fc781a13a5 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Nyāsa, «placement», is described: the syllable is uttered and at once a part of the body is touched by it. This rite is universal in tantra, and its sense is simple — the body is marked with words so that all of it, not only the lips, takes part in the act. There is nothing to object to in the device itself, and it exists in Vaishnava practice too: before chanting, beads are put on, marks are placed on twelve points of the body, and at each the Lord's name is spoken. The body is not held a hindrance, and so it is given a task.
Here the bow is prescribed to Gaṇeśa, and this deserves special notice. Every undertaking — from a wedding to the building of a house — opens with a bow to him, because he is vighna-rāja, «lord of obstacles»: he both sets them and clears them. This custom is more reasonable than it seems from outside. Beginning a task, a person first of all acknowledges that many things could hinder him and that hindrances are not within his power; and he turns to the one in whose power they are. This is not superstition but sobriety — and a sobriety rarely found in beginners.
Vaishnava veneration of Gaṇeśa differs from the Śākta not in denial, but in the place assigned to him. He is worshipped as a servant and as guardian of the entrance — the one asked to let one through; and a request to the gatekeeper does not dispute the worship of the master, but presupposes it.