Ganesha Atharva Sheersha Explained - Part 4

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Ganesha Atharva Sheersha Explained - Part 4

एतदधर्वशीर्षं … अनेन साधयेत्

'एतदधर्वशीर्षं योधीते' – one who chants this Atharva Sheersha;
'स ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते' – he is considered equivalent to Brahma.
'स सर्वविघ्नैर्नबाध्यते' – he is not affected by any obstacles.
'स सर्वत्र सुखमेधते' – he attains happiness everywhere.
'स पञ्चमहापापात् प्रमुच्यते' – he is relieved of the five mahapapas:
the mahapapas are brahmahatya – killing a brahmin, surapanam – drinking alcohol, gurutalpagamanam – illicit relations with a guru’s wife, suvarna steyam – stealing gold, and tatsamsarga – associating with those who commit these sins.

By chanting Atharva Sheersha, one is relieved from all these sins and is prevented from committing them.

सायमधीयानो ...

'सायमधीयानो' – one who chants Atharva Sheersha once in the evening has all his sins committed during the day erased.
'प्रातरधीयानो' – one who chants Atharva Sheersha once in the morning has all his sins committed during the night erased.
'सायं प्रातः प्रयुञ्जा' – one who regularly chants Atharva Sheersha in the morning and evening has all his sins removed; all his papa becomes apapa.

सर्वत्राधीय ...

'सर्वत्राधीय' – one who chants it everywhere, meaning at the beginning of every activity, becomes अपविघ्नः – free from obstacles.
'धर्मार्थ' – he attains the four purusharthas: dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), kama (desires), and moksha.

What is wealth for? Observing dharma (righteousness). Desire – the desire to perform good deeds and live a righteous life.

एतदथर्वशीर्षः शिष्यः उपदेश्यः

One worthy of being taught this upadesha is called a 'shishya.' The undeserving are referred to as 'ashishya' – one who should not receive the upadesha. 'अशिष्याय न देयं' – it should not be given to such people.
'न देयनर्थलुब्धाय पिशुनायास्थिराय च' – it should not be given to the greedy, deceitful, one with an unsteady mind (asthirabuddhi), one who lacks faith and devotion, or one who does not want to serve the guru.

Says Mantra Shastra:

The guru should test the disciple before giving the mantra:
'ज्ञानेन क्रियया वापि गुरुः शिष्यं परीक्षयेत्' – the guru should test him for knowledge and actions to see if he is capable of knowledge and has the commitment required. For one year before giving him the mantra, or at least for six months or three months. Mantras should not be given casually to the undeserving. They should not be picked up from a book or website and chanted. There are many prerequisites before taking up a mantra. Chanting the wrong mantra can cause harm.

Before giving the mantra, the guru must perform various tests like rashi pareeksha, nakshatra pareeksha, and bhoota koota pareeksha to check whether the mantra will benefit or harm the recipient. Mantras are individualistic, and the effect of chanting the same mantra varies from person to person.

There is also a classification of mantras into siddha, sadhya, susiddha, and ari. This varies individually; the same mantra could be susiddha (easy to attain siddhi) for one and ari (unfavorable) for another.

यो यदि ...

If someone foolishly gives this mantra’s upadesha to an undeserving person, out of greed for money, hoping that making him a disciple will benefit the guru, or out of vanity, thinking it will gain them fame – they become a great sinner. Ganesha himself punishes such people.

It is not only humans who worship Ganesha with mantras. Once, at the time of creation, Brahma assigned tasks to his manasa putras: Kashyapa, Gautama, Jamadagni, Vasishta, Bharadwaja, Atri, and Vishwamitra. Among them, Kashyapa propitiated Ganesha through intense tapas with the Ekakshara mantra and began creation. He had fourteen wives, and through them, he created everything in the universe: Aditi gave birth to the devas, Diti to the asuras, and Kadru to the nagas. From these 14 wives of Kashyapa, everything in the universe was born, including trees, animals, plants, rivers, and mountains.

Kashyapa imparted the upadesha of various Ganesha mantras to his children: the Ekakshara mantra to some, Ashtakshara to others, and Shadakshara to yet others. According to what each one received, they performed tapas, and Ganesha manifested in that form before them. There is a particular form of the devata associated with each mantra, like the dhyana shloka of the Ekakshara mantra: 'Ekadantam chaturhastam pashamankushadharinam.'

In this way:

• He manifested before the devas as Sumukha, one with a handsome face.
• Before the rishis, he appeared as Ekadanta, one with a single tusk.
• To gandharvas and kinnaras, he appeared as Kapila, having a brown color.
• For guhyakas and siddhas, he manifested as Gajakarnaka, with elephant ears.
• For humans, he appeared as Lambodara, with a large belly.
• Predators like lions and tigers worshiped him as Vikata, the supreme being.
• Trees and creepers meditated upon him as Vighnanasha, the remover of obstacles.
• Birds saw him as Ganadhipa, the ruler of ganas.
• Poisonous creatures saw him as Dhumraketu, with a smoke-colored complexion.
• Water bodies worshiped him as Ganadhyaksha, the chief of ganas.
• Insects, plants, and herbs saw him as Bhalachandra, with the crescent moon on his forehead.
• All other beings manifested him as Gajanana, with the face of an elephant.

Thus, out of the thousands of names of Ganesha, these twelve are most important:

सुमुखश्चेकदन्तश्च कपिलो गजकर्णकः
लम्बोदरश्च विकटो विघ्ननाशो गणाधिपः
धूम्रकेतुर्गणाध्यक्षो भालचन्द्रो गजाननः

What is the benefit of chanting these twelve names?

'द्वादशैतानि नामानि यः पठेत् शृणुयादपि' – by chanting or even listening to these twelve names:
'विद्यारम्भे विवाहे च प्रवेशे निर्गमे तथा' – during initiation into education, marriage, entering somewhere, going somewhere,
'संग्रामे सर्वकार्येषु विघ्नस्तस्य न जायते' – in battles or any other undertakings, one does not face obstacles.

Sahasravartanat ...

By chanting Atharva Sheersham thousands of times, all desires are fulfilled.

Anena Ganapatim ... Kadachaneti

By performing abhisheka of Ganesha with Atharva Sheersha, one becomes eloquent, a good orator. By observing fasting on chaturthi and chanting the whole day, one attains vidya (knowledge), says Atharva.

Brahmadyavaranam ... – one realizes the maya of Brahma and other maya-causing shaktis and loses all fear, understanding that it is all an illusion.

Yo Durvankurair ... Sarvam Labhate

One who performs homa with durva grass becomes as wealthy as Vaishravana Kubera.
'Yo Lajai' – one who does homa with laja gains fame and intellect.
'Yo Modaka' – one who performs homa with 1000 modakas while worshiping Ganesha with Atharva Sheersha attains any desire in mind.
'Yasajya' – one who performs homa with samidha and ghee gains all benefits.

Ashtous ... Ya Evan Veda

By worshiping and honoring eight brahmins in the place of eight Vinayakas, one becomes as brilliant as the sun.

'Suryagrahe ...' – during a solar eclipse, by chanting in a mahanadi like the Ganga or before Ganesha’s idol, one attains siddhi in the mantra.

'Mahavighnat' – all obstacles are removed.
'Mahadoshat' – one is freed from doshas (flaws).
'Mahapapt' – all sins are eliminated.
'Mahaprtyavayat' – all downgrades are lifted.

'सर्ववित् भवति' – Know that by performing upasana of Atharva Sheersha, one becomes all-knowing.

Atharva Sheersha ends here. Now, Shanti Patha.

'Saha Na Vavatu' – the acharya and shishya say together, 'Saha nau avatu' – avatu means 'protect us both together.'
'Saha nau bhunaktu' – bhunaktu means 'nourish us both together.'
'Saha veeryam' – let both of us together have the strength, enthusiasm, and courage to put to use whatever has been taught and learned.
'Tejasvinavadheetamastu' – adheetam tejasvinou astu – let whatever we have learned together be brilliant.
'Ma vidvishavahe' – let there be no enmity between us.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi