गणेश [ gaṇeśa ] [ gaṇeśa ] m. (= [ °ṇa-nātha ] ) N. of the god of wisdom and of obstacles (son of Śiva and Pārvatī , or according to one legend of Pārvatī alone ; though Gaṇêśa causes obstacles he also removes them ; hence he is invoked at the commencement of all undertakings and at the opening of all compositions with the words [ namo gaṇeśāya vighneśvarāya ] ; he is represented as a short fat man with a protuberant belly , frequently riding on a rat or attended by one , and to denote his sagacity has the head of an elephant , which however has only one tusk ; the appellation Gaṇêśa , with other similar compounds , alludes to his office as chief of the various classes of subordinate gods , who are regarded as Śiva's attendants ; cf. Lit. RTL. pp. 48 , 62 , 79 , 392 , 440 ; he is said to have written down the Lit. MBh. as dictated by Vyāsa Lit. MBh. i , 74 ff. ; persons possessed , by Gaṇêśa are referred to Lit. Yājñ. i , 270 ff.)

   N. of Śiva Lit. MBh. iii , 1629

   = [ gaṇa-puṃgava ] Lit. VarBṛ. xiii , 8

   m. pl. (= [ vidyeśa ] or [ °śvara ] ) a class of Siddhas (with Śaivas) Lit. Hcat. i , 11 , 857 ff

   m. N. of a renowned astronomer of the 16th century

   [ gaṇeśa ] of a son of Rāma-deva (author of a Comm. on Lit. Nalôd.)

   of a son of Viśvanātha-dīkshita and grandson of Bhāvarāma-kṛishṇa (author of a Comm. called Ciccandrikā)

   m. (with Jainas) a disciple who is put in charge of a few others.