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Monday, March 28, 2011

Meaning of Ganesha Shloka - Agajanana Padmarkam


Agajaanana Padmaarkam 
Gajaananam Aharnisham
Aneka Dam Tam Bhaktaanam 
Eka Dantam Upasmahe

 Pronounciation:
agajānana padmārkam gajānanam aharniśam
anēka dam tam bhaktānām ēkadantam upāsmahē

 अगजानन पद्मार्कम् गजाननम् अहर्निशम्
अनेक दम् तम् भक्तानाम् एकदन्तम् उपास्महे


Word to word meaning:
*Agaja = Parvati;  Aanana = face; Padma = lotus flower; Arkam = sun; Gaja = elephant; Aananam = face/faced; AhaH = day; Nisham = night; Aharnisham = day & night (all the time or round the clock); Aneka = more than one / multiple; #Dam = giver; Tam = you/your; Bhaktaanaam = to the devotees; Eka = single or one; Dantam = tooth (tusk since it is an elephant); Upasmahe = I meditate upon;

Meaning:  Seeing the elephant-faced Ganesha all the time, Goddess Parvati's face lighted up, just like how a lotus opens up seeing the sun and I meditate upon the Lord with single tusk, the giver of many boons to the devotees.

*The meaning of the word agaja is derived as follows: In Sanskrit, 'ga' refers to anything that moves; ga means gamana. When you add 'a' ( a negative sound) in front of 'ga' it gives an opposite meaning. So aga means something which can not move, in this context mountain or parvatam. [similarly, satya - asatya; dharma - adharma etc.]. The letter 'ja' means to be born out of / from; Thus, agaja means born from the mountain or the child of the mountain, in this context, Goddess Paarvati who is the daughter (suta or tanaya) of the parvata raja or himavanta (hence himaja) or giri (hence girija). 

#While reciting this shloka many people make a common mistake saying "aneka damatam bhaktaanaam", it is actually two sounds or words "dam tam" which should be pronounced with a very brief pause between the sounds.  Because, if you say it as 'damtam' as one word, it sounds like 'dantam' which means tooth, and thus 'aneka danatam' gives the meaning of teeth, which is not true. We all know that Lord Ganesh has only one tusk (tooth). So it should be "aneka dam tam bhaktaanaam".

24 comments:

  1. The recital of this sloga by SP .B IS PLEASING AND ON KNOWING THE MEANING word-by-word makes it clear to undrstand and fixes the text as if it were nailed in my heart.
    learning any thing with meaning makes it easy to underatand and hard to forget.EFFORTS LIKE THIS WILL PROPAGATE DIVINITY IN THE MINDS OF NOT ONLY DEVOTEES BUT ALSO PUBLIC PEOPLE.
    My pranams to you,OH!Blessed Soul,
    M.Meyyappan.

    ReplyDelete
  2. thank you for the meaning.... would be useful if the meanings of the whole shloka is given.

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  3. Dear Anonymous, thanks for the good words. This is a complete shloka. Let me know what else you mean. I appreciate if you identify yourself. This blog is just about spiritual topics.

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  4. Dears, You are right. many of us including me recite the sloka with the common mistake highlighted.
    Thanks for the word by word meaning and the correct way of recitation.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Sir,

    I had been reciting this shloka since many years not really understanding the exact meaning. Thank you for explaining word by word and the overall summary. Appreciate your efforts in sharing this information!

    Regards,
    Prasanth

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks Prasanth. I am happy that lot of people are benefited.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I recently heard the learned Mathur Krishnamurthy on the radio.(Please visit:http://www.ourkarnataka.com/Articles/starofmysore/mkmurthy008.htm) He explained the literal meaning of the samskrita Ganesha Shloka - Agajanana Padmarkam. The important difference between damtam, and dam tam. I wanted to make a note of it and trawled the web and landed at your blog site. Thank you for the posting.
    Would you please excuse me for taking the liberty of pointing out a minor error. 'aneka damatam' could be construed as "teeth", not "several teeth"(tooth:singular,teeth plural,collective noun)

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  8. Dear Sri Mysoorwala, you are correct. Thanks for catching the error. I corrected that.

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  9. Thanks Sir,

    word by word meaning is very educating.

    thanks again.

    Please keep up the good work

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you very much for the meanings and summary. It's very good.

    ReplyDelete
  11. NAMASKARAM. This morning while sitting in front of the PC , suddenly i remembered the shloka being recited by my elderly parents. Out of curiosity i wanted to know the exact pronouncation of the same and also its meaning. In the google while i entered the first two words, i got your commentary with beautiful photo of the Divine Mother & Child. You have given the essence like sugar-cane juice, which is lingering in my being.

    Shri Agaja is the Kundalini Shakti in each and every one of us who can not be awakened without the consent of Her 'Priyaputra' Shri Ganesha, because He guards Her abode's entrance when She is taking rest. When a Tamil Raja and party were going through akasha to Mount Kailasha to have Shri Shiva Parvati darshan, the Tamil Poetss Avvaiyar was also to accompany them. As She was doing Shri Ganesha puja at that time She asked them to proceed and She will join after completing the puja. She dedotedly did puja to Shri Ganesha and composed a beautiful Tamil poem called 'Shri Vinayakar agaval' . Agaval means the sound of peacock. She was singing like a peacock in praise of Shri Ganesha. This poem contains the essence of 'Yoga saastra & Kundalni awakening'. Pleased with Her dedicated puja. Shri Ganesha lifted Her with His mighty trunk and before the king and party reached Mount Kailasha, He placed His bhakta Shri Avvaiyar at the gate of Kailasha.

    Let us repeatedly bow down to our divine brother Lord Ganesha to lead us to the Sahasrara , that is the abode of the Divine Parents.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Guwahati Venkat, Thanks for visiting my blog and your reponse.

      Delete
  12. Wow.. After reading this meaning, the shloka looks so beautiful.

    Similarly when i looked at this article on Ganesha the whole outlook to look at Ganesha idol changed:
    http://www.artoflivingsecrets.com/2012/09/ganesha-rahasya.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm Meera Punarvasu, thanking you for the word to word meaning and apt interpretation of Sri Ganesha Stuthi. March 16th 2013

    ReplyDelete
  14. There's definately a lot to find out about this subject. I like all the
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  15. I recited these lines from my childhood with out knowing its meaning.
    Thank you to you. I now understand what it means.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi,
    Found another link.. Please see if that explanation is correct.( which seems to be)
    http://www.greenmesg.org/mantras_slokas/sri_ganesha-agajanana_padmarkam.php

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No sir. The explanation is not correct although the meaning is not bad.

      Delete
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