Gaṇeśa as Praṇava-svarūpa
Gaṇapati is referred to as Praṇava-svarūpa or Ōṃkāra svarūpa (the personification of the primordial word, Oṃ). His curved elephant’s trunk is considered to be a representation of the praṇava mantra, Oṃ, the sound from which the world was created. As the praṇava is the Upaniṣadic symbol for Brahman, this identification declares that Gaṇapati is Brahman itself. The identification of Ganesa with Oṃ is immediate and physical, because his curved or twisted trunk reminds one of the devanagari letter (ॐ). Similarly, the written form of the Oṃ sound in Tamil (ஓம்) resembles the face of Vināyaka.
In the highly symbolic language evolved by Vedic ṛṣis to reveal the nature of the Divine, Gaṇeśa forms the first letter, Oṃ. From the ice cave of the infinite, when the bindu began to expand with the first emanations of manifestation, the vibrations of Oṃ emerged. This Oṃ is Gaṇeśa. He is the first Word, vāc, the Primordial Cause. The Śiva Purāṇa says, “Oṃkāra emanated from my mouth. It is the indicator and I am the indicated. This mantra is identical with me.”
Oṃ is thought to be the most comprehensive, most universal sound-symbol and signifier of the Absolute. The Maṇḍūkya Upaniṣad begins by saying that “Oṃ is all this; whatever was, is, and will be, as well as that which is beyond the triple conception of time.”
Oṃ is symbolic not only of all sounds and of all the possible states of experience but also of the three
planes/ worlds of existence. They represent the three planes of bhuh, bhuvah,and svah. These represent this world, the middle region, and the next world alluded to in the famous Gāyatri mantra. When Oṃ is uttered, the phenomenal as well as the noumenal, the microcosm as well as the macrocosm, and the personal as well as the impersonal are represented. Hence Om is called the most perfect signifier of the Divine (tasya vācakāh praṇavah).
The Kathā Upaniṣad says, “This syllable [Oṃ] is, verily, the Absolute. This syllable, indeed, is the highest of the high; knowing this very syllable, whatever anyone desires will, indeed, be his.” The Ganapati six-syllabled (ṣaḍākṣari) mantra is “Om vakratuṇḍāya hum.” Tradition says that Lord Viṣṇu killed the demons Madhu and Kaitabha with the power of this mantra. Further, Viṣṇu, in his vāmana incarnation learned this mantra from his father, Kaśyapa, and by it killed the demon, Mahābali. Indra was redeemed from the curse of Sage Gautama with the power of this mantra. Kārttikeya obtained the grace of his brother, Gaṇeśa, and destroyed the demon Tārakāsura with the power of this mantra.
Simultaneous with the emanations of the Ōṃkāra, Gaṇeśa appeared as Nṛtya Gaṇapati, dancing with great abandon, swirling, whirling, creating, preserving, and dissolving. The Oṃ is the praṇava nāda (primordial sound); it is the anāhata (transcendent or unstruck sound) vibration; it is anādi (without an origin or beginning, eternal). As these concepts are subtle, beyond the comprehension of the mind, they are given in the symbolic form of Oṃ. Subtle and obtuse truths are protected, transmitted, and nurtured by this symbolic concretisation of Oṃ in Gaṇapati.
Source:
Grimes, J. A. (1995). Ganapati: Song of the Self. State University of New York Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.18253071
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