Came across this article in one of Sri Sri's blogs which is eventually an extract from Ganpati Upanishad:
The
stories in the Puranas contain many incredible and hard-to-believe
occurences. But they should not be interpreted as a nursery rhyme. Their
language is Shakespearean and laden with great depth and meaning. We
need to interpret these stories with a very refined state of mind.
The
story goes that Parvati created a boy out of dirt from her body and
appointed him to guard the doorstep. The first question that comes is
how could Parvati, the Goddess Herself, have so much dirt? Parvati
symbolizes the triguna - sattva, rajas and tamas. The entire creation is
made up of trigunas. The dosha or imperfections that originate out of
the triguna is an obstruction for the functioning of Prakriti. That was
the boy that Parvati created to stand guard at the door.
Shiva
is Shuddha Chaitanya, pure consciousness. Like the sun does not
recognize darkness and cuts through it, Shiva does not recognize dosha
and slays the impurity. But Prakriti cannot stay without impurity. So
Shiva replaces the dosha with the head of an elephant, which symbolizes
knowledge. Through knowledge, all the doshas or obstructions of Prakriti
can be taken care of. This is the spiritual and metaphysical meaning of
Ganpati being slain. So worshipping Ganpati as the remover of obstacles
and the giver of gyana, knowledge is the most amazing depiction of the
nature of consciousness.
Going
a step further, even this difference between Prakriti and Purusha is
done away with. That is why, the Ganpati Upanishad says,
ajam nirvikalpam niraakaaram-ekam
niraanandam aanandam advaita poornam
param nirgunam nirvishesham nireeham
para brahma roopam ganesham bhajema
Ganesha
is the only One unborn unmanifest Reality. He is nirvikalpa and advaita
- the formless, undivided One. This is the play and display of
consciousness within itself.
While
Ganpati is certainly the nirakara Parabrahman, he is invoked and
worshipped in the mud idol for a period of time for the joy of the
devotees. Then the Ganpati is asked to merge back into our heart and the
idol is immersed in water. This ritual is observed for the sake of
devotees, not for the sake of Ganpati. He who is without form is invoked
in a form and then his spirit is invoked back into one's heart as the
idol is immersed.
