Why is Ganesha worshiped first of all?

In Hindu religion, it is considered necessary to worship Lord Ganesha before doing any work in the morning because he is said to be the remover of obstacles and the master of Riddhi-Sidhi.
By remembering, meditating, chanting and worshiping them, wishes are fulfilled and obstacles are destroyed.

Ganesh ji is the presiding deity and the embodiment of the intellect that becomes happy very quickly. Meaning of Ganesha is – Lord of Ganas i.e. Lord of Ganas.
Lord Ganesha should not cause any hindrance in any worship, worship, ritual or work, hence by worshiping Lord Ganesha first of all one gets his blessings.

Before every auspicious work, “Shri Ganeshaya Namah” is chanted and this mantra is recited:

Vakratunda Mahakaya Suryakoti Samprabha |
Dev Sarvakaryeshu Sarvada in Nirvighnam Kuru ||

Meaning: “O God (Ganesh ji), who is like millions of suns with huge size and crooked trunk, always complete all the tasks without any hindrance.

Even in the Vedas, while praising and invoking the importance of Lord Ganesha and his destroyer of obstacles in the form of Brahma, it has been said that –

Ganaanaam tva ganapatim havamahe kavin kabinamu pasravastamam.
Jyeshtharaja Brahmanna Brahmanasapta Aa Na: Shrivannatibhi: Sid Sadanam.

That is, by being the Lord of the gods, you are Ganapati, you are the best among the wise, you are the best among the excellent people, you are the eldest son of Shiva, hence we appeal to you with respect. Oh Brahmanasapta Ganesha, you come to this Asana with all your powers.

It is said in the second mantra that –

Ni Shu Sid Ganapate Ganeshu Tvamahu Virpratma: Kabinaam.
Na reete tvatt kriyate ki chaanare mahamak maghavak maghavachitramarch ||

That is, ‘O Ganpati’, you sit in the group of gods etc. because you are the best among all the intelligent ones, no work near or far can be done without you. Oh respected Ganpati, please grant us the blessings of completing our good deeds without any hindrance.

Ganeshji is the god of discipline, one should have high level of foresight in sadhna, one should be able to identify right and wrong, duty and non-duty, hence the method of worshiping Ganesha has been mentioned in all the auspicious activities.

There is a story from Padmapuran behind why Lord Ganesha is worshiped first, which is as follows…

At the beginning of creation, when the question arose as to who should be considered the first worshipper, all the gods approached Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma said that whoever circumambulates the earth first will be worshiped first. On this, all the gods boarded their respective vehicles and set out for the parikrama.

Since Ganesha’s vehicle is a rat and his body is heavy, how could he revolve around it? Devarshi Narad solved this problem. According to the solution suggested to him by Narad, Ganeshji wrote the name “Ram” on the land and circumambulated it seven times and reached Brahmaji first. Then Lord Brahma called him the first one to be worshipped, because the name “Ram” is the actual form of Shri Ram and the entire universe is contained in Shri Ram only.

A similar story is told in Shivpuran also, according to which once all the gods approached Lord Shankar with the problem of which god should be chosen as their head. Lord Shiva proposed that whoever would return to Kailash after circling the earth three times would be the first to be worshiped and would be made the lord of the gods. Since Ganeshji’s vehicle was a rat whose speed was extremely slow,

Therefore, due to his intelligence and cleverness, he completed three parikrama of his father Shiva and mother Parvati and stood with folded hands.

Shiva was pleased and said that no one in the world is more clever than you. By revolving around your parents three times, you got the virtue of revolving around the three worlds, which is bigger than revolving around the earth. Therefore, the person who worships you before starting any work will not face any obstacle. That’s it, from then on Ganeshji became the most revered.

According to Varaha Purana, when Mahadev, after listening to the prayers of the gods, looked at Uma with his eyes fixed on him, a very beautiful and stunning Kumar appeared there from the face of his time. All the qualities of Brahma were present in him and he looked like another Rudra. Seeing his appearance, Parvati got angry and cursed, O Kumar! You will become the one with the head of an elephant, the long stomach and the sacred thread of snakes.

Angered at this, Shankarji washed his body and from his hair came forth so many Vinayaks, having elephant heads, having a blue complexion, carrying many weapons, that the earth became enraged and even the gods became frightened. Then Brahma prayed to Mahadev, “O trident wielder! May these Vinayakas born from your mouth remain under the control of this son of yours. Please be pleased and grant such a boon to all of them. Then Mahadev said to his son that may you, Gajasva, Will be named Ganesh and Vinayak.

All these ferocious Vinayaks with cruel eyes will be your servants and you will be worshiped first in Yagya activities, otherwise you will create obstacles in the completion of the work.” After this, the gods praised Lord Ganesha and Shankar anointed him.

Once the gods started the Yagya on the banks of Gomati, many obstacles started appearing in it, the Yagya could not be completed. Feeling sad, the gods asked Brahma and Vishnu the reason for this. Dayamay Chaturanan found out and told that Lord Ganesha is creating obstacles in this Yagya and if you people please Vinayak, then the Yagya will be completed. On the advice of the creator, the gods took bath and worshiped Lord Ganesha with reverence and devotion. By the grace of Lord Ganesha, the Yagya was completed without any hindrance.

So in this way we worship Lord Ganesha first so that there is no hindrance in our work.

Benefits of worshiping Lord Ganesha on Wednesday

Gods also worship Lord Ganesha first to complete their work without any hindrance. This is because the gods themselves have made the rule of worshiping them.

It is once mentioned in the scriptures that when Lord Shankar failed to kill Tripurasura, he seriously thought about why his work was hampered.

Then Mahadev came to know that he had gone to fight with Tripurasura without worshiping Lord Ganesha. After this, Lord Shiva worshiped Lord Ganesha and offered him laddus and again attacked Tripurasura, then his wish was fulfilled.

In Sanatan and Hindu scriptures, Lord Ganesha has been described as Vighnaharta i.e. the one who eliminates all kinds of problems. In the Puranas, devotion to Lord Ganesha is said to remove all planetary defects including Saturn. Worshiping Lord Ganesha on the auspicious day of every Wednesday increases a person’s happiness and good fortune and removes all kinds of obstacles.

General worship method of Lord Ganesha

After getting purified by taking bath in the morning, meditation etc., first of all the Sri Ganesh Yantra made of copper plate should be cleaned thoroughly with clean soil, salt and lemon. At the place of worship, face east or north and install Shri Ganesh Yantra in front, sitting on a chair.

Sitting in a pure posture, after collecting all the worship material, flowers, incense, lamp, camphor, roli, mauli lal, sandalwood, modak etc. are offered to Lord Ganesha and Aarti is performed.

In the end, one should remember Lord Ganesha and chant the 108 name mantra of Om Gan Ganpataye Namah.

A person gets benefits by doing these small measures mentioned here on Wednesday.

👉 To undo spoiled work, recite Ganesh Mantra on Wednesday-

Trayimayayakhilbuddhidatre buddhipradipaya suradhipaya. Nityaya Satyaay Cha Nityabuddhi Nityam Nirihay Namostu Nityam.

That is, Lord Ganesha is the giver of intelligence to all of you, the awakener of intelligence and also the God of gods. You are the embodiment of truth and eternal understanding. I always bow to you. This mantra must be chanted at least 21 times.

👉 For protection from planetary defects and enemies-

Ganapujyo Vakratunda Ekadashtri Triyambakah.
Nilagrivo Lambodaro Vikto Vighrarajkah.
Dhumravarnon Bhalchandro Dashmastu Vinayak:.
Ganapartihastimukho dvadshaare yajedganam.

In this, twelve names of Lord Ganesha have been remembered. If these names are chanted while sitting in the temple then it is said to be best. When the entire puja ritual is completed, it is auspicious to chant these names at least 11 times.

Simple ways to remove sorrow from family and individual

Om Satya

By installing white colored Ganpati in the house on Wednesday, all types of Tantra powers are destroyed.

To get wealth, offer ghee and jaggery to Shri Ganesha on Wednesday. After some time, feed ghee and jaggery to the cow. By taking these measures, money related problems can be solved.

If there is discord in the family, make a symbolic idol of Lord Ganesha of Durva on Wednesday. Install it in the temple of your home and worship it daily with rituals.

Placing the idol of Lord Ganesha on the main door of the house maintains happiness and prosperity in the house. No negative power is able to enter the house.