[Advaita-l] The mantra 'gaNaanAm tvaa...'

[V Subrahmanian]

The famous mantra

गणानां त्वां गणपतिं हवामहे
कविं कवीनामुपमश्रवस्तमम्
ज्येष्ठराजं ब्रह्मणां ब्रह्मणस्पत
आ नः शृण्वन्नूतिभिः सीद सादनम्

is chanted at the beginning of Veda parayana, commencement of Puja, etc.
and it is popularly held to be addressed to Vinayaka, Ganesha.  However,
those opposed to this belief by many followers of Sanatana Dharma claim
that this mantra is not addressed to Ganesha but some other deity and cite
the Rg Veda where the mantra occurs.  However be that view, we have in the
Saura purana a detailed  dUrvA Ganapati Vrata where this mantra is cited
for upahaara (neivedya) upachara to Ganesha:

http://www.peterffreund.com/Vedic_Literature/Vedic%20Literature%20Unicode/Upapurana/saura%20purana.txt

गणानां त्वां गणपतिं हवामहे
कविं कवीनामुपमश्रवस्तमम्
ज्येष्ठराजं ब्रह्मणां ब्रह्मणस्पत
आ नः शृण्वन्नूतिभिः सीद सादनम्  ४९
इत्युपहारमन्त्रः

What adds credence to the view that this mantra is chanted in devotion to
Ganesha is that the Saura Purana dUrvA Ganapati Vrata, along with the above
mantra, is cited in complete detail by Hemadri (13 Century CE) in the Vrata
KANDa of the Chaturvarga Chintamani, Vol.2.  pdf p.558. In the pdf, though,
the mantra has been depicted in a mutilated manner. When one checks the
Saura Purana chapter 43, verse 49 in any edition one finds the correct
depiction of the mantra, as shown above.

regards
subbu