Swami says: “Ganesha can teach many a lesson to man. That is the reason for His being adored by people of all ages and professions”.

He also said: “The duty this day is to contemplate on the Universal and Eternal Truth embodied in Ganesha and worship Him with purity and faith, praying for the Grace which can prevent lapses and promote progress in all efforts to achieve the highest goal”.

And again: “Vigneswara dwells in each one of you as your intelligence (buddhi) and wisdom (vijnana). When you make proper use of your inherent intelligence and wisdom, you will be successful in life.”

Ready to test your inherent intelligence and expand your wisdom? Let's go.

1. Pranavaswarupa Vinayaka

Swami says: “Everything is Divine vibration - the walls, the roof, and this mike. The great sages were the ones who had these vibrations. The Veda was heard through sound, through vibrations. If you sit down and listen with a pure heart, you too can listen to it.”

What is the vibration from which everything originated?

2. Vigneshwara, Remover of Obstacles - The biggest obstacle to Peace and Self Realisation -   Chinna Katha

Once a disciple went to a preceptor and requested to impart to him the Supreme Knowledge of Omni-Self (Brahma-tatvam). The guru asked him to return after a year of continuous chanting of a mantra without any selfish interest. After a year of duly carrying out the instructions of the preceptor with devotion, the disciple had a sacred bath and was on his way to the preceptor.

Unaware of the presence of the disciple, a maid cleaning the ashram swept some dust onto the young man. Immediately, he lost his temper, as he felt that his purity after a sacred bath had been sullied by the dust that fell on him, and glared at the maid with great anger.

The disciple went in and offered his salutations to the guru and said, "Guruji! I have been waiting for a year to secure your grace. The time is now ripe for realising it. I am eager to receive the Supreme Knowledge from you."

The preceptor said, "You are not yet competent to receive that knowledge. You have the qualities of a snake. You got angry with a girl who unwittingly caused some dust to fall on you. How can Brahma-Jnana be imparted to one who has not even have this amount of forbearance? Go back and practise the sadhana for one more year."

At the end of the second year, following the instructions of the guru, the maid again swept the dust on to the disciple, this time knowingly. Enraged at her conduct, the disciple went to beat her but somehow controlled himself from doing so.

He then went into the ashram and paid his respects to guru. The guru told him, "You have not yet acquired the competence to receive the knowledge. You are exhibiting the qualities of a dog. Come back after ridding yourself of these animal qualities."

At the end of the third year, the disciple was entering the ashram after a sacred bath. Carrying out the instructions of the guru, the maid of the ashram poured some dirty water on the disciple. The latter calmly offered his pranams (obeisance) to the maid and said, "Mother! My salutations to you. You have helped to strengthen my forbearance so that I can be worthy of the preceptor's grace." Without getting angry with her, he told her that he would be always grateful to her for what she had done to him.

When he went in, the guru welcomed him and said: "Son! Today you have become eligible to receive the Supreme Spiritual Knowledge."

What was the most important obstacle that the disciple had overcome?

3. Prasanna Vadanam – the One with a pleasant mien - Simple way to secure bliss

Swami says: “Ganapathi is the embodiment of buddhi (intellect) and jnana (wisdom). Truth emerges out of wisdom and ultimately leads to ananda (bliss). This is the teaching of Ganapathi. Where there is no truth, there can be no bliss. Trikala badhyam sathyam (Truth is changeless in the three periods of time). Dharma is also changeless in the three periods of time.

“The injunction of the Vedas is: Sathyam vada, dharmam chara (speak the truth and follow dharma). But nobody pays heed to this dictum. Today, people misinterpret Truth as that which is expressed, seen, heard, and experienced by the senses. Similarly, dharma is also misinterpreted. This is in fact prakrita sathya and prakrita dharma (worldly truth and worldly dharma). This is related to the outward path (pravritti). The inward path (nivritti) is related to the fundamental truth and righteousness (sathya and dharma). But today no one seems to be taking cognisance of this, let alone practicing it. Vedokhilo dharma moolam (The Veda is verily the basis of dharma).

“God is the embodiment of sathya and dharma. So, whatever God says is sathya and whatever He does is dharma.”

Therefore, what is the easiest way to follow truth and dharma arising from wisdom and secure bliss? To _______ God.

4. Offering to Vinayaka

Swami says: “In one puranik story, it is stated that once Shiva and His consort Parvathi were playing a game of dice. For any game there has to be an umpire to declare who is the winner. Shiva and Parvathi agreed to have Nandhi (the divine bull) as the umpire. Nandhi is a favourite of Shiva, as he is Shiva's vehicle. Although Shiva lost the game, Nandhi declared Him the winner.

“It is stated that Parvathi was indignant over Nandhi's partiality for Shiva and cursed him that he should die from an incurable disease. Thereupon Nandhi fell at the feet of Parvathi and pleaded for forgiveness. 'Mother! Forgive me. Should I not show at least this amount of gratitude to one who is my master? Is it not humiliating for me to declare that my master has lost the game? To uphold His honour I no doubt uttered a lie. But am I to be punished with such severity for so small an offence?'

“Nandhi prayed for forgiveness in this manner. Parvathi forgave Nandhi and taught him the means to atone for his lapse. She asked Nandhi to offer green grass on the birthday of Lord Ganesha.”

Symbolically this means that we should offer to the Lord what is most pleasing to ______.

5. Ekadantha – Single tusked Lord

Swami says: “When Vinayaka was writing the Mahabharata to the dictation of Sage Vyasa, the latter laid down the condition that Vinayaka should go on writing non-stop whatever Vyasa said. But Vinayaka also stipulated a condition that Vyasa should never stop his dictation and go on without a break. While he was writing, Vinayaka's pen broke and he did not hesitate to break one of his tusks to use it as a pen. That is why he is called Ekadantha or one with a single tusk.”

This act of Vinayaka highlights many qualities of Vinayaka, especially the one quality that is required for attaining immortality. Which quality is this?

6. Mooshika Vahana – rider on the mouse

Swami says: “The Vinayaka-principle means that which removes all the bad qualities, bad practices, and bad thoughts in men and inculcates good qualities, good conduct and good thoughts.

“How does it happen that Vinayaka has the head of an elephant and has a mouse as His vehicle? The mouse is called Mooshika in Sanskrit. It is a sign of night, which signifies darkness. The mouse is a symbol of darkness.

“As one who controls darkness, Vinayaka leads us from darkness to ________.

7. Vinayaka - the Master Within

Swami says: “In our college, we have M.B.A – meaning, Master of Business Administration, but it is not that. It stands for Mind, Body and Atma. We need to understand the integration and coordination of all the three.

“Mind is given to enquire. Body is granted to perform. The Atma monitors the performance of these two. Atma is permanent. Mind is fickle and has to be made steady. It should be exercised properly. One should constantly enquire whether one has a mind like that of a man or a beast. We should not act according to our mind.

“The body should not do what the mind has decided. Intellect has the capability to discriminate whether a thought is good or not. If the thought is good, the intellect acknowledges it to the Atma. Man should realise that he is the combination of Mind, Body and Atma.”

Swami therefore exhorts us to master the mind to become a _______.

8. Ganapathi is full of wisdom

Swami says: The name Ganapati denotes that He is full of vijnana (higher wisdom), sujnana (discriminatory wisdom), and prajnana (constant integrated awareness).

He also says: “Wisdom (jnana) is the precious ambrosia gathered from all sources of knowledge. It is the sweet, sustaining butter churned and collected from the scriptures. Wisdom is not to be defined as the capacity to discriminate and declare, 'This is flat', 'this is round', 'this is a hill', 'this is a house', or 'this is a thorn'. That is the common belief. This is only knowledge.

“Next, we have what may be called good knowledge (sujnana), when one is able to distinguish between right and wrong or good and bad, when one can discover, 'This activity is for my betterment and the betterment of others'. Both wisdom and good knowledge are confined to one’s intellect.

“There is a higher wisdom, when the heart is transformed by loyalty to truth, nonviolence, and compassion. A person with this higher wisdom can understand oneself and their kinship with the cosmos and its Creator. The person lives in accordance with that understanding, without doubt or disharmony. Ignorance (ajnana) breeds sorrow; higher wisdom (vijnana) confers joy. If one hesitates to call any experience the higher truth (vijnana), let that person examine whether it is material or spiritual on the touchstone 'Does it give me unalloyed joy?' and then classify it as such.”

What is the yardstick to measure the higher wisdom?

9. Ganadhipathi – Supreme Lord of the ganas

Swami says: “The Vedas proclaimed 'Oh Ganadhipa!' Who are these ganas? Are they celestial hosts or asuras (demonic beings)? They are celestial beings. Where are they? Are they wandering in the external world or are they present subtly in human beings? He (Vigneshvara) is called Ganadhipathi because He is the Supreme Lord of the ganas. The ganas are the embodiments of the Jnanendriyas (organs of perception) and of Karmendriyas (organs of action). The mind is the master of these ten senses. The presiding deity of the mind is called Indra as He is the Lord of the Indriyas (the senses). The master over the mind is the Buddhi (intellect).”

Where are the ganas situated?

10. Lord of Buddhi (Intellect) and Siddhi (Achievement)

Swami says “Ganesha is the embodiment of buddhi (intelligence) and siddhi (achievement).” (SSS Volume 18 chapter 21).

What does Swami pinpoint as that quality which is fulfilment or siddhi?