Chapter 8

Ganapati — why he comes first

The name spoken before every worship, and the tradition that held him to be the Supreme itself

Before every worship

Before a wedding, a house-warming, a journey, an examination or almost any new undertaking, Ganesha is traditionally invoked first.

One explanation lies in the familiar Puranic boon that gives him precedence in worship.

But the practice was also reinforced by a later religious tradition in which Ganesha was not merely one god among others, but the highest reality itself.

The Ganapatyas — for whom he alone is Brahman

The Ganapatyas were devotees who regarded Ganesha as Para-Brahman, the supreme reality, rather than simply as Shiva's son.

The sect is clearly attested from the early medieval period and became influential in some regions before gradually declining. Scholars do not agree on the exact period of its rise or peak. The Ganapatya tradition helped strengthen the custom of invoking Ganesha first, although it was not the only reason that custom spread so widely.

One important text associated with this tradition is the Ganapati Atharvashirsha, with declarations such as "tvam brahma tvam vishnus tvam rudrah…" It is recited as an Upanishadic text, but it is much later than the ancient Upanishads, probably dating to around the sixteenth or seventeenth century.

Two Puranas, eight incarnations

Only two Puranas are devoted entirely to Ganesha: the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana, both classed as Upapuranas.

The Mudgala Purana describes eight forms or incarnations of Ganesha, each associated with the defeat of an inner flaw — jealousy, pride, delusion, greed, anger, desire, attachment and egotism.

In these stories, the demons outside the self become faults within it.

Eight temples, one circuit

Maharashtra has another famous group of eight: the Ashtavinayaka temples at Morgaon, Theur, Siddhatek, Ranjangaon, Ozar, Lenyadri, Mahad and Pali.

These eight shrines have nothing to do with the Mudgala Purana's eight incarnations beyond sharing the same number.

And once again, the old Rigvedic verse returns: "gananam tva ganapatim." Ganapatya tradition reads it as foundational to Ganesha worship, while historically the Rigvedic verse is addressed to Brahmanaspati, later associated with Brihaspati. The tradition and the textual history are not identical, and both are worth keeping in view.

Note: The Ganapatya traditions held Ganesha to be Para-Brahman; they are clearly attested from the early medieval period, though scholars disagree on when they rose and peaked. The practice of remembering Ganesha first in every worship should not be tied to this one sect alone. The Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana — both Upapuranas — are the only ones devoted to Ganesha alone. The Mudgala Purana's eight incarnations destroy eight inner faults (matsara, mada, moha, lobha, krodha, kama, mamata, ahamkara). The Ganapati Atharvashirsha is a composition of around the 16th–17th century. Maharashtra's Ashtavinayaka pilgrimage (Morgaon and the other seven self-manifested temples) is a separate thing from the Mudgala Purana's eight incarnations. The Rigveda verse (2.23.1) with "ganapati" in it is there addressed to Brahmanaspati.

Source: from several texts, Ganapati — why he comes first

Now — how much stayed with you?

Fact

In a widespread Hindu convention, whose name is invoked first before many rites and new undertakings?

  • Shiva's
  • Vishnu's
  • Surya's
  • Ganesha's
Read the whole story — First, every time

A wedding, moving into a house, a journey, an examination, a new ledger — it begins with an invocation of Ganesha.

One root of this is the boon he received after the elephant head (Chapter 3).

The Ganapatyas helped develop and reinforce this Ganesha-centred outlook, but the convention was not fixed by that one sect alone.

Fact

What did the Ganapatya sect hold Ganesha to be?

  • A servant of Shiva
  • Para-Brahman
  • One of nine deities
  • A local village deity
Read the whole story — Those for whom he was everything

The Ganapatyas were one of those sects that hold one deity supreme and place all others below him — as the Shaivas do Shiva, the Vaishnavas Vishnu.

For them Ganesha was Para-Brahman, and the other gods his forms.

This sect is clearly attested from the early medieval period; it was fairly influential in some regions, then declined.

Fact

In the whole body of Puranic literature, how many Puranas are devoted to Ganesha alone?

  • One
  • Two
  • Six
  • Eighteen
Read the whole story — Two Ganesha Puranas

Of the eighteen Mahapuranas, each leans toward some deity, but none is of Ganesha alone.

The Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana — both Upapuranas — are the ones fully centred on Ganesha.

Both are later texts, that is, written when Ganesha devotion was fully rooted.

What happened?

In the Mudgala Purana, what do Ganesha's eight incarnations destroy?

  • Eight asuras
  • Eight diseases
  • The doorkeepers of the eight directions
  • Eight inner faults
Read the whole story — Outer asuras, inner faults

The Mudgala Purana sets each incarnation against an asura, but each asura is the symbol of an inner fault.

Vakratunda–Matsara (jealousy), Ekadanta–Mada (pride), Mahodara–Moha, Gajanana–Lobha, Lambodara–Krodha, Vikata–Kama, Vighnaraja–Mamata, Dhumravarna–Ahamkara.

So Ganesha's battle is not with an outer demon but an inner fault — this is this Purana's particular reading.

Fact

The Ganapati Atharvashirsha — "tvam brahma tvam vishnus tvam rudrah…" — is held to be a composition of when?

  • Around the 16th–17th century
  • The time of the Rigveda, three thousand years old
  • The Upanishadic age, two and a half thousand years old
  • It is not part of any text, it is oral tradition
Read the whole story — A late Upanishad

The Ganapati Atharvashirsha is read and worshipped like an Upanishad, and in it Ganesha is said to be Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra — everything.

But modern scholars hold it to be a much later composition, often of the 16th–17th century.

So being called an "Upanishad" does not make it ancient — it is a relatively new text of the Ganapatya tradition.

Fact

What is the pilgrimage among Maharashtra's eight self-manifested Ganesha temples called?

  • Char Dham
  • Panch Kedar
  • Ashtavinayaka
  • The twelve jyotirlingas
Read the whole story — Eight temples, one circuit

The Ashtavinayaka is a pilgrimage in Maharashtra that links eight Ganesha temples.

Devotional tradition holds the images at all eight to be svayambhu — self-manifested.

Note: this "eight" is a different tradition from the Mudgala Purana's eight incarnations — only the number is the same.

Why is that?

What is kept clear in this chapter about the verse "gananam tva ganapatim"?

  • That it is not recited in Ganesha worship
  • That it is originally addressed to Brahmanaspati; the Ganapatyas take it for their own, but modern scholars treat it as a later borrowing
  • That it is in no Veda
  • That it is for both Ganesha and Shiva
Read the whole story — Both, kept together

For the Ganapatya tradition this verse is a proof that Ganesha is Vedic, the oldest of all.

But in the Rigveda's original passage (2.23.1), "ganapati" is an epithet, a name of Brahmanaspati — not of the elephant-headed god.

This telling does not hide the collision — it records both the tradition's claim and the scholars' account.

Why is that?

Why is it a mistake to take the Mudgala Purana's "eight" and the Ashtavinayaka's "eight" as one?

  • Because both are really nine
  • Because the Ashtavinayaka pilgrimage has stopped
  • Because the Mudgala Purana has seven incarnations, not eight
  • Because they are two different traditions
Read the whole story — Same number, different matter

The Mudgala Purana's eight incarnations are a spiritual frame — each incarnation the destruction of an inner fault.

The Ashtavinayaka is a geographical frame — eight real temples spread across Maharashtra, linked in one pilgrimage.

Merging them is a common mistake, which is why it is set out separately.

Riddle

I am not merely Shiva's son — for one tradition I am Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra, the Supreme itself. Who am I, and which tradition?

  • Shiva, the Shaiva tradition
  • Vishnu, the Vaishnava tradition
  • Ganesha, the Ganapatya tradition
  • Devi, the Shakta tradition
Read the whole story — Every sect its own summit

Hindu tradition has many sects, and each places one deity at the summit.

The Ganapatyas are the sect that places Ganesha there — above the birth stories, above Shiva and Parvati.

The Ganapati Atharvashirsha is the text of this view: "tvam brahma tvam vishnus tvam rudrah."

Later tradition

What needs to be kept clear about the Ganapatya sect?

  • That it is clearly attested from the early medieval period, but scholars disagree on when it rose and peaked
  • That it is still the largest sect of Hinduism
  • That it never existed at all
  • That it composed all of Ganesha's stories by itself
Read the whole story — A blurred date

Evidence for the Ganapatyas is found in images, inscriptions and texts, but they do not quite line up.

So "when the Ganapatyas were strongest" does not go beyond an estimate.

And the practice of "Ganesha first in every worship" should not be tied to this one sect alone — the boon story and ordinary devotion both had a part.