A Look at Lord Ganesha's Description in the Litanies of His Thousand Names
Ganeša, the elephant-faced god, with a single tusk, a curved trunk, a prominent belly, drooping ears, and a third eye, is the Lord of the Ganas, and entertains them despite being their chief. Smoke-coloured (Dhümravarna), he is the Awakened Spirit. This remover of obstacles (Vighnanayaka), this king of obstacles (Vighnaraja) is also called the happiness of the gods (Surananda). These qualities are beautifully captured in Ganesha statues, making them a popular choice for devotees seeking his blessings.
He has two forms, two arms, two eyes, and two tusks. He protects the continents. He has two mothers, Pärvati and Ganga. He has two heads,
He has three radiances (Sun, Moon, Fire). In addition to his body, he has three souls the inner soul (antaratma), the knowing soul (jñānātmā) and the supreme soul (paramatma).
He has four heads (Caturmukha). He is the support of the four classes and the four stages of life. He puts into motion the transformation of speech into four distinct forms. He likes the worship on the fourth day (Ganeśacaturthi). He was born on the fourth day
He possesses five faces, he is the author of the live actions, the support of the five elements; he has five colours, sometimes he has five thumbs, at others, five cubits; he likes the five sweets Imandaka, puri, pheni, vataka and vadai). He has five arrows, he is made from five Sivas
He has six heads. He has a hexagonal throne, he is the residence of the six cakras, he severs the six bonds of ignorance, he destroys the gloom of six paths, he has a grand pond six digits deep for bathing at his leisure; he is the brother of Subrahmanya, the six-faced god (Sanmukha), he is surrounded by the six šaktis, he destroys the troop of the six enemies; he is the substance of the six flavours.
His foot is venerated by the seven subterranean worlds. His vast kingdom encompasses the seven continents. He has for his diadem the seven celestial worlds, he grants a favour to Sürya, the god with seven steeds, and he bestows happiness to the kingdom with seven constituents (the king, the minister, the friend, the treasure, the country, the fort, the army); he is surrounded by the seven sages and the troop of the gods; he is the treasure of the seven poetic metres; he is unto himself alone the seven sacrificers, the basis of the seven notes on the scale. He plays in the seven oceans, he is served by the Seven Mothers; he is the Master of sacrifices using the seven poetic metres.
He is the object of meditation under eight forms, the cause of the eight sources, the source of the quintessence of yoga in eight parts; he has for seat an eight-petalled lotus; his beauty is embellished by the eight saktis; he bestows the eight powers; the Seven Mothers and Mahälakşmi encircle him; he is served by the eight Bhairavas, saluted by the eight Vasus. He assumes eight forms which shine in the eight circles of his sacred diagram (yantra) where he loves the oblations of eight substances.
He stands on a throne of nine serpents; he reigns over nine treasures, his citadel has nine gates; he is praised by the nine Näräyanas, served by the nine Durgas, he is the great Lord of the nine masters; he has for ornaments the nine serpents; his body is decorated with the nine gems, he is carried on their heads by the nine Saktis.
He is made of the ten directions; he has ten arms; he is saluted by the Lords of the ten directions; he is the ten parts of the Revelation; he the ten breaths, he controls the ten organs knowledge and action, the indriyas; he has great ten-syllable formula (mantra); his body covers the ten directions.
He is praised by the eleven Rudras, he has eleven syllables. He has twelve arms similar to wild, unbridled staves, he dwells in the point situated twelve digits above the skull (dvādaśānta).
He is the deity presiding over Višvedeva designated under the name of "Thirteen".
He grants favour to the fourteen Indras; he is the master of the fourteen Manus; he knows the fourteen sciences; he is the master of the fourteen worlds.
He is the fifteen melodies of the saman; his purity comes to him from the Moon which is the pañcadaši.
His dwelling is the base of the sixteen chakras; he is the alphabet of sixteen vowels, he has for his dwelling the top of the skull, the sodašanta, he is made from the sixteen quarters of the moon.
He is the seventeen parts of a mantra, the seventeen hymns of the Vedic sacrifice; the seven- teen syllables.
He is the master of the eighteen continents; the author of the eighteen Puranas; the creator of the eighteen medicinal plants; he is the eighteen rituals, he is skilful in the distinct and global knowledge of the eighteen scriptures.
He is the twenty-first Puruşa, the Ekavimśa- puman.
He is the twenty-four realities of Sankhya; Master of the twenty-seven Constellations, the twenty-seven yogas, and the thirty-two Bhairavas.
He has thirty-four large shrines where his cult is celebrated; he is the origin of the thirty-six realities, he is not bound by the troop of the forty-nine prostrated Maruts.
He is the series of the fifty phonemes, he has for his body the fifty Rudras, he is the master of the fifty Baktis of Visnu, he dwells in the alphabet of the fifty phonemes
He is the treasure of the sixty-four arts, he is saluted by the troop of the sixty-four great Siddhas and Yoginis. He instals the cult of Siva in the sixty- four great holy places (tirthas and kshetras).
He is made from the mantra of ninety-four syllables, he is above the ninety-six deities.
He has one hundred blisses, a hundred joys: his eyes are as large as the lotus with one hundred petals, he has one hundred armies; he has accomplished one hundred sacrifices; he possesses an excellent weapon with one hundred sharp, cutting edges.
He dwells in the thousand-petalled lotus; he has for his ornament a serpent with one thousand heads, He is the Being with one thousand heads of the Purusasükta; he has one thousand eyes, one thousand feet; he is praised by one thousand names, he removes power from the one who has one thousand eyes (Indra).
He has taken for his throne the king of serpents who has ten thousand heads; he is lauded by eighty-eight thousand great sages, millionaires venerate him (Lakşadhīšapriyadhara).
He is manifested in four hundred thousand writings; he stands in the body of eight hundred and forty thousand souls; he has the brilliance of ten million suns; he is as pure as ten million moons.
He is the head of thirty-five million demons who belong to Pärvati and Siva; he shines by seventy million deities of the sacred formulae (mantras); his sandal is greeted by a row of three hundred and thirty million deities; he has an infinite number of names; an infinite fortune. He gives an infinity of infinite blessings.
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