Ganapati Upanishad
| Ganapati Upanishad | |
|---|---|
|
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| Devanagari | गणपत्यर्थवशीर्ष |
| Date | ~16th- or 17th-century |
| Linked Veda | Atharvaveda |
| Verses | 14 |
| Philosophy | Vedanta |
The Ganapati Atharvashirsa (Sanskrit: गणपत्यर्थवशीर्ष, Gaṇapatyarthavaśīrṣa) is a Sanskrit text and a minor Upanishad of Hinduism. It is a late Upanishadic text that asserts that Ganesha is same as the ultimate reality, Brahman. The text is attached to the Atharvaveda, and it is also referred to as the Sri Ganapati Atharva Sirsha, the Ganapati Atharvashirsha, the Ganapati Atharvasirsa, or the Ganapati Upanishad.
The text exists in several variants, but with the same message. Ganesha is described to be same as other Hindu gods, as ultimate truth and reality (Brahman), as satcitananda, as the soul in oneself (Atman) and in every living being, as Om.
Ghurye notes that the text identifies Ganesa with the Brahman and is of a very late origin, while Courtright and Thapan date it to the 16th or 17th century. While the Upanishad is a late text, the earliest mention of the word Ganapati is found in hymn 2.23.1 of the 2nd-millennium BCE Rigveda.Ganapati literally means "leader of the multitudes", it is however uncertain that the Vedic term referred specifically to Ganesha.
The Ganapati Upanishad text is listed at number 89 in the Muktikā canon of 108 Upanishads compiled in the mid 17th century, and also mentioned c. 1800 by Upanishad Brahmayogin in his commentary on the Muktika canon.
The text exists in several versions. A critical edition was published in 1984 by Gudrun Bühnemann with a translation.
A heavily edited and abbreviated translation was made in the early nineteenth century by Vans Kennedy.
J. R. Sartha published a 1969 edition. In 1985 Courtright published an English translation based on the Sartha edition.
Swami Chinmayananda published a variant of the Sanskrit text with an English translation in 1987. In his version of the source text he groups verses together to form sections that he calls upamantras. He notes that as a result of this his line numbering and versification may differ from those given in other variants.
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