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The Ganesa Purana - Upasana Khanda

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Item Code: NAN873
Publisher: MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD.
Author: Greg Bailey
Language: English
Edition: 2023
ISBN: 9788120836990
Pages: 428
Cover: Hardcover
Other Details 9.0 inch X 6.0 inch
Weight 630 gm
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Book Description
Preface

This book is a reworking of an earlier work The Ganesa Purana. Volume One . Upasanakhanda, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1995. I have revised the translation for this new edition, the Introduction has been substantially shortened and the notes to the translation have been severely truncated.

I have tried to make the translation less literal than in the previous volume and I have been able to correct some mistakes in the initial translation, especially following some good suggestions made by reviewers such as Ludo Rocher and John Brockington.

Introduction

1. THE GANESA PURANA
The Ganesapurana (GnP.) is a Puranic text probably composed in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Its contents derive partially from earlier literature dealing with Ganesa, but also draw on the body of myths found in the mahapuranas and upapuranas. It is divided into two books, called Upasanakhanda (Ukh.) and Kridakhanda (Krkh.), which are complementary with each other from the perspective of contents. Each book contains many myths and sections of text detailing rituals to be performed to Ganesa, though 'these are much less common in the Krkh. In addition, the forty-sixth chapter of the Ukh. contains a sahasranamastotra and chapters one hundred and thirty-nine to one hundred and fifty of the Krkh. contain the Ganesagita. The presence of both these plus the large body of myths makes this an almost complete devotional text for the worship and theology of Ganesa. Whether the text was developed as a literary expression of one of the Ganapatya sects, cannot be determined because of lack of any direct connection between it, and the other Purana dealing with Ganesa-the Mudgalapurana-, and the presence of a distinct sect of Ganesa worshippers located at a specific time and place probably in Maharashtra. Yet there must have been an audience for the text, a growing audience judging from the large number of manuscripts dating from about 1760 until the end of the nineteenth century. In addition, institutional support to fund the initial composition of the text must have come from one or more patrons, conceivably, though speculatively, the family of Moraya Gosavi in Cincwad.

One should not read the extant GnP. in order to find out about the early history .of the development of Ganesa as a god, I nor should it be read to discover the meaning of the myths about the early birth of Ganesa, his functioning as Parvati's house-guard and his clash with Siva, subsequent beheading and acquisition of the head of an elephant. 2 As for the first, Ganesa was already a very popular god by the time his Purana was composed and had many sacred places associated with him, though the founding of some of these is provided in the GnP. itself. For the second, the myths of his childhood as they are expressed in the mahapuranas are reinterpreted in the Ukh. and are directly present in the Krkh, but in an extremely muted manner, with the tension between Ganesa and Siva being underplayed, though still in evidence.

Rather the GnP. must be read as the product of a time when Ganesa had already assumed a status as one of the most popular Hindu gods over much of the sub-continent. The appearance of both it and the Mudgalapurana at similar periods suggests a need was felt by certain groups of Ganesa worshippers to establish Ganesa textually as a god of status not unlike Visnu and his more popular avataras, Siva, Hanuman or the goddess. I am not saying there occurred a competition between the worshippers of these gods- especially given the likelihood that many individuals worshipped more than one of them-but that it was considered a god like Ganesa should be represented in a text or texts where he was unambiguously the principal god. This would be a text not only drawing together any myths that might have been developed to expose the unique activities of this god within the larger framework of received mythology, it would also present his theology (through the vehicle of myth and stotra) and collect together as much material pertaining to puja as was deemed necessary. It is true that a series of Tantras dealing with Ganesa had been in existence for some time, but knowledge of them would surely have been restricted to a small circle of adepts.

Regrettably we have no direct evidence as to how it was used in a recitational sense, though I heard in October 1983 that recitations from it were being performed in a Ganesa temple in Pune. The sahasranama stotra has been recorded in compact disc form and vernacular versions of the text have existed since the early eighteenth century. I have easily been able to purchase several summaries of the text in Marathi and copies of the Tamil Vinayakar Purana can easily be purchased in temple book stalls. Despite this the GnP. seems not to have been widely known outside of a certain intellectual elite and even now, when all the signs suggest Ganesa is becoming a popular god all over India, the text remains largely unknown.

II. DATING AND PLACE OF COMPOSITION OF THE GANESA PURANA
Determination of the date of any Sanskrit text, except for the most recent is always difficult. Not only is it necessary to date the beginning and end of the compositional process, it is also necessary to date the stages corresponding to the development of new recensions if these arise. In the case of the GnP., the manuscript evidence I have looked at does not suggest the evolution of the text through various stages. Of course this applies only to the manuscript tradition. Any evidence pertaining to the presence of an oral tradition is completely lost to us. The manuscript evidence is consistent in presenting a very late date for the text and does not allow us to establish a stemma for the manuscripts of which there are a very large number.

That so many appear at a particular time (between 1700 and 1850) is in itself a significant development in the dispersal of the text and is one definite indication of the popularity of the god and the systematization of attempts to portray him as a popular god. The existence of both the GnP. and the MudP, with their huge body of myths, metaphysical component and substantial ritual element, reflect a felt need to codify all aspects of Ganesa worship and to universalize a god who must have already been universalized, if we can judge from the dispersion of iconographical evidence. What this means is that any scholarly study of the GnP. will be required to date the text and date the extensive appearance of manuscripts.

We cannot know the prior history of the development of the GnP. if it did in fact exist prior to its earliest manuscript evidence. Obviously, using the epics as a parallel example, a given text can exist either in oral or written form long before its earliest manuscripts but to prove this we need to have external evidence of the kind that includes testimonia. Only in the latest of the Nibandhas (1708) do we find evidence of the use of the GnP. as a source and in the earlier Nibandhas, sources for the Ganesacaturthi rituals are listed as several of the mahapuranas which deal extensively with Ganesa.

Contents

 

A. PUBLISHER'S NOTE v
B. ABBREVIATIONS xi
C. INTRODUCTION  
I The Ganesa Purana xiii
II. Dating and Place of Composition of the Ganesa Purana xv
III. The Idiosyncratic Nature of the Ganesa Purana xxi
V. Content of the upasanakhanda xxiii
VI. Traditional and non-traditional material in the upasanakhanaa xxxiv
VII. The upasanakhanda as a ritual text xxxix
VIII. A note on the text xlii
D. TRANSLATION AND NOTES  
  PART I  
1 Description of Somakanta 1
2 The Second Chapter 4
3 Description of Conduct and so forth 7
4 Entering the City 12
5 Conversation between Sudharma and Cyavana 16
6 Arrival at Bhrgu's Hermitage 20
7 Description of Somakanta's Earlier Life 24
8 The Restraining of many Birds 27
9 The Tale of Instruction to the King 31
10 Description of Vyasa's Questions 34
11 The Tale of the Mantra 37
12 The Vision of Ganesa 40
13 Description of Brahma's Eulogy 43
14 Description of Brahma's Anxiety 49
15 Description of Gajanana's Worship 51
16 The Entreaty to the Goddess 55
17 Instruction in the Mantra 58
18 The Tale of the-Origin of Siddhaksetra 62
19 Description of Kamala's Son 66
20 Daksa's Eulogy 70
21 Description of the Teaching of the Man 75
22 The Tale of Ballala and Vinayaka 78
23 The Narration of the Future 83
24 The Tale of the Vision 87
25 Description of the Consecration Ceremony 89
26 Description of the Lineage 92
27 Description of the Consecration of Rukmangada 95
28 The Fasting unto Death 97
29 The Visit of Narada 99
30 The Violation of Ahalya 102
31 The Description ofIndra's Curse 104
32 The tale of the Mantra 107
33 Indra'sGoing Forth 110
34 Description of the Sacred Forge of Cintamani 113
35 Description of the Fate of Kadamba City 117
36 The Tale of Grtsamada 122
37 The Tale of the Boon-giver 126
38 The Gift of Boons 130
39 Indra's Defeat 134
40 Description of the Eulogy 138
41 The arrival of Narada 144
42 Description of the Battle 147
43 Description of the Victory 150
44 Description of the Austerity 153
45 The Gift of a Boon to the Mountain Dweller 156
46 Narration of the Thousand-names of Ganesa in the conversation between Siva and Ganesa 160
47 Siva's Victory 181
48 Parvatf's Appearance 185
49 Description of the Ritual for an Earthen Image of Ganesa 189
50 The Tale of the Vow of the Fourth during the conversation between Parvati and Himavat 195
51 The Fifty-first Chapter 197
52 The Traditional Narration in the Conversation between Himavat and Parvati 203
53 Description of Nala's Vow in the Conversation between Himavat and Parvati 206
54 The Tale of Candrangada 210
55 The Conversation between Indumati and Narada 213
56 The Union of Siva and Parvati 216
57 The Conversation between Indra and Surasena 220
58 The Short Tale of Bhrusundi 223
59 Tale of the Vow called the Samkastacaturthi 228
60 The Narrative concerning the Vow of the Fourth 231
61 The Tale of the Angaracaturthi Vow 234
62 Description of the Moon's Curse and favour 239
63 The Tale of the Durva Grass 244
64 The Durvamahatmya 247
65 The Durvamahatmya (Contd.) 252
66 The Durvamahatmy (Contd.) 254
67 The Durvamahatmya (Contd.) 258
68 The Durvamahatmya (Contd.) 261
69 Description of the Vow called Samkasta of the Fourth 266
70 Description of the Vow of the Fourth 270
71 The Tale of the Vow of the Fourth 276
72 The Tale of the Vow of the Fourth 278
73 The Caturthimahatmya 281
74 The Caturthimahatmya (Contd.) 285
75 The Caturthimahatmya (Contd.) 288
76 The Seventy-sixth Chapter 292
77 The Caturthimahatmya 296
78 The Seventy-eighth Chapter 302
79 The Tale of Kartavirya 307
80 The Tale of Kartavirya (Contd.) 311
81 The Tale of Rama 315
82 Relating to Bhargava 317
83 The Gift of a Boon to Rama 320
84 On the Solicitation of Kama 325
85 The Burning of Kama 330
86 The Tale of Visakha 336
87 The Tale of Karttikeya 336
88 The Killing of the Demon Taraka 338
89 Kama's Request for a Boon 344
90 The Tale of Sesa 324
91 The Tale of Sesa (Contd.) 352
92 Description of Various Forms of Worship 357
93 Description of Gajanana's Name 362


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