DECODING THE BĪJA MANTRA OF GAṆEŚA
Śrī Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa, also known as the Gaṇapati Upaniṣad, was written by Atharva Ṛ ṣ i. It is one of the main texts of the Gā ṇapatya Saṃpradāya, a lineage adulating Gaṇeśa as the central divinity, thought to have become established in India from the 6th century onward. It is thought that a minimum of six groups of Gāṇapatyas (devotees of Gaṇeśa) existed, including one Tantric grouping centred on the worship of Ucchiṣṭa Gaṇapati [the Tantric form of Ga ṇeśa ], although relatively little is known about them. The Ga ṇeśa Upaniṣad belongs to a class of Vedic texts considered to be revelatory [śruti, ‘that which is heard’], and held to be without 'origin'. It is a manifestation of a particular 'Truth'. Atharva Upaniṣad is not meant to be read, but to be recited. The 7th verse of the Upaniṣad presents the Bīja or seed mantra of Gaṇeśa. The first perception of a mantra is held to arise from a human-divine contact of some kind; hence the first person to utter the...