Upaniṣads · Gaṇapati 10.1
॥
Devanāgarī
नमो व्रातपतये नमो गणपतये नमः प्रमथपतये नमस्तेऽस्तु लम्बोदराय एकदन्ताय विघ्नविनाशिने शिवसुताय श्रीवरदमूर्तये नमः
Transliteración (IAST)
namo vrātapataye namo gaṇapataye namaḥ pramathapataye namaste'stu lambodarāya ekadantāya vighnavināśine śivasutāya śrīvaradamūrtaye namaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
नमः व्रात-पतयेnamaḥ vrāta-patayehomage to the lord of the hosts
नमः गण-पतयेnamaḥ gaṇa-patayehomage to the lord of the troops
नमः प्रमथ-पतयेnamaḥ pramatha-patayehomage to the lord of the pramathas
नमः ते अस्तु लम्ब-उदरायnamaḥ te astu lamba-udarāyahomage be to you, the pot-bellied
विघ्न-विनाशिने शिव-सुतायvighna-vināśine śiva-sutāyathe destroyer of obstacles, son of Śiva
Traducción
Homage to the lord of the hosts, homage to the lord of the troops, homage to the lord of the pramathas; homage be to you, the pot-bellied, one-tusked, destroyer of obstacles, son of Śiva, of gracious form in granting — homage.
Versión
245320054ced · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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This part consists of nothing but homage: the word namaḥ is repeated five times, and there is nothing more in it. It is worth explaining what namaḥ is, for in Sanskrit this word weighs more than our "hello." It comes from nam, "to bend, to bow," and denotes a bodily act — a bow; in usage it does not stand in for the bow but names it.
Here the structure of the whole book comes into view, if we look back over what has been read. It began with a bow (1.1). Then came abstract definitions — "you are beyond the three guṇas, beyond the three times" (6.1). Then a grammatical analysis of the mantra (7.2). Then a description of the form — red, fat, big-eared (9.2). And now — again bows, and nothing else.
This order, to my mind, is not accidental and is the best thing in the book. It begins with reverence, passes through argument, and returns to reverence; and the argument turns out not to replace the bow but to be what lies between two bows. The Vaiṣṇava side expresses this relation through the well-known distinction sambandha — abhidheya — prayojana: knowledge of the relation, the means, and the goal. Knowledge is needed there in order to know whom to serve; but service remains both before knowledge and after it.
Vighna-vināśin, "destroyer of obstacles," is the chief of Gaṇeśa's common names, and his whole cult is tied to it: he is invoked before every undertaking, be it a wedding, the building of a house, or the beginning of a book. This custom, on reflection, is an acknowledgment worth more than many arguments. Beginning an undertaking, a person first of all asks not to be hindered; that is, he knows that his work is fragile and that carrying it to completion does not depend on him alone.