Non Vedic Origin of Ganesha

Ganesha or Vinayaka is the famous Elephant-headed deity. His role is to remove obstacles and bestow knowledge. According to legend, Parvati made a boy out of clay to guard the entrance to her house while she bathed. Shiva arrived to meet Parvati but the boy tried to stop him. Shiva out of anger used his trident to cut the boy’s head off. To pacify a grieving Parvati, Shiva obtains an elephant head and attached it to the headless copse of the boy and bestowed upon him life. Later, Shiva made Ganesha the leader of the Ganas, thus giving him the title of Ganapati.

Now it is the Ganas of Shiva, of which Ganesha leads, that offers a huge clue to his origins. The Ganas are in fact a host of spirits, and much like them, Ganesha originated as a spirit rather than a typical deity. But we shall get into that later.

Ganapati

The name Ganapati is found in the Rig Veda, but no connections to the elephant headed deity is known. Rather the word means what it literally means: a leader of a troop. For example in Rig Veda 2.23.1:

“gaṇānāṃ tvā gaṇapatiṃ havāmahe kaviṃ kavīnām upamaśravastamam | jyeṣṭharājam brahmaṇām brahmaṇas pata ā naḥ śṛṇvann ūtibhiḥ sīda sādanam”

“We invoke the Brahmaṇaspati, chief leader of the (heavenly) bands; a sage of sage; abounding beyond measure in (every kind of) food;best lord of prayer; hearing our invocations, come with your protections, and sit down in the chamber of sacrifice”

Similarly in Rig Veda 10. 112.9:

“ni ṣu sīda gaṇapate gaṇeṣu tvām āhur vipratamaṃ kavīnām | na ṛte tvat kriyate kiṃ canāre mahām arkam maghavañ citram arca”

“Lord of the companies (of the Maruts), sit down among the companies (of the worshippers), they call you the most sage of sages; without you nothing is done in the distance; have in honour, Maghavan, our great and various adoration. of wealth, (the wishes of) your friends; make war (for us), you warrior endowed with real strength, give us a share in the undivided riches”

So it seems that we can’t try our luck with the word Ganapti at this early on. However, there is an older term for Ganesha that offers us a great amount of evidence: Vinayaka. Even today, in south India, Ganesha’s older name Vinayaka is more popular, at least in Andhra Pradesh.

Vinayakas

If one looks at the older Indian literature, they will notice that Vinayaka appears in the plural, referring to a class of spirits on par with Bhutas and Pretas. The earliest text to mention them is the Manava Grihya Sutra.

“Atha ataH vinAyakAn vyAkhyAsyAmaH shAlakuNTas ca kuSmaNDarAjaputras ca uSmitas ca devayajanas ca iti etair adhigatAnAm imAni bhavanti loSTam mRdgAti”(MGS 2.14.1-4)

“Now hence we will account the Vinayakas. Shalakunta, Kushmandarajaputra, Usmita, and devayajana thus. By these, they will become of the learned. Softly he recites”

The 11th chapter of the Yajnavalkya Smriti, a person under the influence of a Vinayak will have negative symptoms, namely depression and absent mindedness. The examples get specific: a prince will have no kingdom, a girl wont find a husband, women won’t have children, a student will not learn well, a merchant may not obtain profit.

The very first verse of the 11th chapter in fact states:

“Vinayaka has been appointed for the purpose of bringing about obstacles in the performance of sacred rites, and he has been put at the head of all the hosts of Devas (Gana) by Rudra and Brahma as well as (by Visnu)”(Verse 271)

Here we see 4 Vinayaka becoming one. Later on in an enumeration of Vinayakas names, we see Kushmanda and Rajaputra. Admittedly the single name kushmandarajaputra split into two, but nonetheless there is preservation of an older tradition.

The 11th Chapter oes on explaining how to worship the deity should one be under his influence.From this, we see the formation on the familiar motifs surrounding Ganesha. In the Ritual, there is the throwing earth into 4 pots of water, and the chanting of the various names of Vinayaka. However, verse 287 has something interesting:

“ Then having taken all the following things and bowing his head on the ground let him invoke Ambika, the mother of Vinayaka : — Husk and unhusked rice as well as cooked rice mixed with sesa- mum paste, fish, raw and cooked fish, so also raw and cooked flesh. ”( YS Verse 287)

First thing to note is that Vinayaka is the son of Ambika. Ambika is the precursor to Parvati and Durga. This is interesting as at this time period we are seeing the commonly known belief that Ganesha is the son of Parvati. Keep in mind that Ambika herself is a deity of Dravidian origin (PDr amma > Skt. amba> Skt. ambika). The other interesting thing to notice is meet offerings, including that of fish and raw meat. We will get to this later.

Vinayakas spirit connection is also understood from his mention along side the Grahas (not the planets) and Kartikeya.

“Having thus worshipped Vinayaka and the Grahas according to rule^ he obtains the fruit of all actions as well as gets the highest fortune. ” (Verse 293).

Similarly,

“ He who always offers Puja of the Aditya and makes tilaka of Swami Kartikeya and MahE Ganapati, obtains all success. ” (Verse 294).

The Grahas are a disease-causing class of spirits, of which one of them is Skanda. Later on we shall see that the god Kartikeya (Skanda) originated as Grahas and other forms of spirit worship. The association of Vinayaka with the Grahas and Skanda suggests two things.

The first is that Vinayaka is a spirit or supernatural entity. His prominence made him foremost of the spirits, i.e. Ganas.

The Bhagavatam 8.12.2 establishes the spirit like nature of the Ganas, of which Vinayaka leads.

“vṛṣam āruhya giriśaḥ sarva-bhūta-gaṇair vṛtaḥ saha devyā yayau draṣṭuṁ yatrāste madhusūdanaḥ”

“Having mounted the bull, the lord of the mountain (Shiva) surrounded by all the bands of spirits (sarvabhutaganair) went along with Devi to see where Mashusudana is”

The second is that we see the origin, at least in part, of the modern Hindu belief that Skanda and Ganesha are brothers.

The other motif interestingly seen is that Vinayka is offered Modakas (verse 289). Modakas are balls of rice, and modern Hindus will mention how Ganesha is fond of them.The mention of a white cloth being used in the ritual may be the origin for modern iconographic deptions of Ganesha with a white garment.

Non Vedic Origins

Besides the ritual being very earthly, the other interesting thing to note in the 293th Verse of the Yajnavalkya Smriti is the offering of Raw Meat and cooked fish. Vedic rituals do use meat, but those are offered in the fire. Here, no such thing is recorded.

In addition, the use of fish is a staunch prohibition in the Manusmriti

“He who eats the flesh of an animal, is called the ‘eater of its flesh’; he who eats fish is the ‘eater of all kinds of flesh’; hence one shall avoid fish” (5.15)

Admittedly, in the next verse Manu makes an exception to two kinds of fish: Rohita and Pathina.

“The ‘Pāṭhīna’ and the ‘Rohita’ are fit to be eaten when used as offerings to gods or Pitṛs; the ‘Rājīva’, the ‘Siṃhatuṇḍa’ and the ‘Saśalka,’ (one may eaṭ) on all occasions”(5.16).

However the fish are specific and are an occasion for festivities. These seem to not be used for appeasing spirits. Besides there is no specification of the fish to be offered to Vinayaka in the commentary of Vejnanevara. Besides, the mention of raw flesh is a huge indicator to the non Vedic origin of the Vinayaka worship. Verse 288 also mentions offering wine, to which the commentator explains to be of the Gaudi type, made from molasses. This wine, as it is made from molasses, is forbidden for brahmins.

Gaudi is not the same as Soma or Sura, the latter is made from grains and is not necessarily sinful for a Brahmana to drink (Manusmriti 11.90, commentary by Medhatithi and notes by Ganganath Jha).

Returning to the offering of raw meat and fish, scholar Kenneth G. Zysk in his “religious Healing in the Veda” records a nuanced set of rituals pertaining to healing and exorcism associated with the Rig and Atharva Vedas. Despite the nuanced list of rituals, not a single one of them involves meat offerings. Admittedly though, there is an instance where animal hide to make a pouch to store herbs [6]. Beyond that, it seems that Vedic rituals pertaining to dealing with problematic spirits were vegetarian in nature. Thus, the presence of meat in the appeasement of Vinayaka suggests that the Vinayakas as a class of spirit are of non Vedic origin.

Dravidian and Tribal Parallels

Spirit worship is a feature in Dravidian folk customs and in tribal religion. In Kerala there is the festival of Theyyam where the spirit of a goddess enters a man, making him dance frantically. Tulu Nadu has Bhuta Kola, where gods and other spirits enter priestley men who also dance frantically. The Gonds, Santhals, Mundas, and other Central Indian tribes also believe that spirits dwell everywhere and influence the lives of living beings. They can be good or bad [7][8]. Gonds, like th eother tribes, also sacrifice animals to these spirits/gods [10].

In Andhra Pradesh, scholar Wilber T. Elmore notes that when a person is sick and no remedies work, a Bhuta Vaidyudu (demon doctor) is called to do an exorcism ritual. In that ritual there are uses of muggus, blood offerings, and pot offerings with rice [9].

“The demon doctor makes three kinds of the sacred muggu, and after a bewildering number of small ceremonies he makes an image of dough . He then forms nine small lamps o f dough and pours three kinds of oil into them. The lamps are lighted and placed on an offering o f food in front o f the image . A sheep is sacrificed, its blood caught in a broken pot and mixed with rice . This bloody rice is then sprinkled in the four corners of the room” (Emlore pg 53).

Later it is mentioned that:

“He then places the image of dough, one lamp, and the head of the sheep, in a pot, and the procession starts for the burying ground. Two men carry this pot and two others follow with the pot containing the bloody rice. After reaching the burying ground, they dig a hole and bury both pots with their contents, performing the usual burying ceremonies . After all is over another bloody nail is driven into the earth above the buried pots” (Elmore pg 54) [9].

The ritual mentioned to have occurred in rural villages in Andhra Pradesh is more gruesome than the ones for the Vinayakas mentioned in the Yajnavalkya Smriti. Admittedly, this may be because the Brahamnical influence may have toned the ritual down. In any case we see an earthly folk ritual involving pots, rice, and raw meat. This is good evidence to suggest that the Vinayakas were a belief originating amongst the non Vedic cultures of India [9].

Origin of the Elephant Head

The solidification of Vinayaka having an elephant head occurred around the Gupta period; however what factors led to Ganesha having an elephant head in the first place.The interesting thing about the iconography of spirits in Ancient India was that depicting them with animal heads was not unusual. The Bharata Natyasashtra for example advises the costumes of spirits to have various animal heads.

“Bhūtas are known to be of various colours. They are dwarfs with odd faces and may have faces of boars, rams, buffaloes and deer as well” (Natyasashtra 23.98).

In glass Khmer Art, Yaksas are depicted with heads of various animals including the elephant. And on the Mathuran Frieze #2335, 5 yakshas accompanying Kubera are shown with elephant heads.

Yoginis are worshippeed as goddesses and this worship is said to be non Vedic in orign. Yogininis are known for being depicted with various animal heads [11].

So the idea of Vinayaka having any animal head need not be questioned. However, what needs to be figured out is why the elephant is chosen out of all animals. Perhaps Vinayakas, back when there were more than one, may have had heads of other animals but this is speculation.

The most obvious answer to this question is that elephants in India were, and still are, a sign of high status and immense power [1]. A kings wealth is measured by how many elephants he had. Elephants were used for war, construction, and ceremonial purposes. Such an animal that people looked to with awe should no doubt be the prime choice of selection when depicting Vinayaka. In simple terms, the majesty of elephants made the spirit having an elephant head popular.

Other sources of influence come from other figures in Hindu-Buddhist lore. One Vinayaka mentioned in the Manavagrihya sutra was Kusmandarajaputra. The name gets broken into two: Kushmanda and Rajaputra. The Kushmandas (or Kumbhandas) are a class of spirits in Buddhist lore. They are headed by Virudaka, who wears and elephant helmet. Virduaka guards the southern direction; interestingly, later Puranas mention Ganesha as the guardian of the South [1].

Another name invoked when one is possessed by a Vinayaka is “Virupaksa”. Virupaksha is also the name of the western Diggaja, a group of 8 elephants said to hold up the earth in each of the 8 directions. In Buddhist lore, Virupaksha is not an elephant but said to be lord of the Nagas. While Naga is taken usually to mean snakes, it could also refer to elephants. The relation of the names of the Vinayakas to existing elephantine figures could have partly motivated the success of the elephantine Vinayaka [1].

Other elephant cults may have popularized the elephant headed Ganesha as well. For example, Pilusara. Pilusara was an elephant deity worshiped in the mountains of Gandhara. Hieun Tsiang writes in the 34th chapter of his Buddhist Records of the Western World [1][4]

“To the south-west of the town is Mount Pi-lo-sa-lo (Pīlusāra);[42] the mountain spirit takes the form of an elephant, hence the name. In old days, when Tathāgata was alive, the spirit, called Pīlusāra (siang-kien, i.e., elephant-fixed), asked the Lord of the World and 1200 Arhats (to partake of his hospitality). On the mountain crag is a great solid rock; here it was Tathāgata received the offerings of the spirit. Afterwards Aśoka-rāja erected on this same rock a stūpa about 100 feet in height. It is now called the stūpa of the Elephant-strength (Pīlusāra). They say that in this also is about a pint measure of the relics of Tathāgata” [4]

Later, the Indo Greeks adopted Pilusara as their own deity, identifying him with Zeus. In addition, Greek records indicate there is a a record of the tribe Hastikas which may have been an elephant worshiping tribe. The existing elephant cults may have helped propel the formation of Ganesha the way we know him today, as well as popularizing him [1].

Conclusion

The god Ganesha that people today know and love originated from a Non-Indo-European for of spirit worship. Namely, Ganesha originated from the worship of a class of spirits called the Vinayakas. Overtime, this worship evlovled. Spirits were now depectied as having various animal heads, and the Vinayakas must have been concieved with animal heads. Overtime these Vinayakas become one single Vinayakas whose mother was Ambika (Parvati) and he got is iconic elephant head because amongst all the animals that the spirits are depcited with, the elephant stood out, likely because the elphant was held in high esteem in historical India.

Citations:

1) ORIGIN OF GAṆEŚA by M. K. Dhavalikar 1990: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41693515...

2) AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE FIFTY-SIX VINAYAKAS IN BANARAS AND THEIR ORIGINS by Isabelle Bermijn:

https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/29335/1/10...

(The bulk of the article is from sources 1 and 2, but most source 1, so I have not put the citations in the main text. My contribution is the mentioning of no meat offerings in Vedic healing rituals and how the Natyasahstra mentions spirits to have animal heads).

4) Hieun Tsian’s Buddhist Records of the Western World

5) The origin of the Ganapati Cult https://www.jstor.org/stable/1178368?...

6)https://www.jstor.org/stable/20486646… - Religous Healing in the Veda

7) https://www.jstor.org/stable/1177671 - Tribal Traditions

8) https://www.jstor.org/stable/40444039 -Gonds of Eastern Ghauts

9) DRAVIDIAN GODS IN MODERN HINDUISM A STUDY OF THE LOCAL AND VILLAGE DEITIES O F SOUTHERN INDIA by Wilber Theodore Elmore.

10) https://www.jstor.org/stable/40450839?read-now=1&seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents - gonds offer to spirits several animals, but mostly goats and chickens.

11) https://archive.org/details/tribalrootsofhinduismtiwaris.k.sarupandsons_569_t/page/47/mode/2up (page 47 of Yoginis)