Source: TW
I intuited a link between gaṇapatitva and brahmaṇaspatitva. At the highest level, Gaṇapati is the generator of universals, of categories. For every set of entities, their defining X-ness—their innate and essential characteristic—is the universal.
brahma & creation
The Brahma (Veda) is employed by the śrāṣṭṛ (creator) to bring forth such categories (gaṇa-s) of bodies, objects, actions, and so forth. Manusmṛti (1.21) affirms this:
sarveṣāṃ tu sa nāmāni
karmāṇi ca pṛthak-pṛthak | veda-śabdebhya evādau
pṛthaksaṃsthāś ca nirmame ||
“In the beginning he assigned their several names, actions, and conditions to all beings, with the words of the Veda.”
In the Śaivasiddhānta, the universal does not exist apart from its individual members. It is abstract and has no separate ontological status; it is captured only by the word—the name of the universal (gotva “cow-ness,” etc.). Thus the universal is, in essence, śabda, sound.
For sentient beings, that universal—their dharma—is Śivatva itself: the innate capacity to know and act fully and freely.
nAda & ears
It is fitting, then, that the Vātulāgama proclaims Gaṇeśa to be born from the throat of Maheśvara, which signifies his connection with Nāda. His origin in Nāda can be seen reflected in the trumpet-blast of the elephant, while his great ears signify receptivity to Brahma—the mantras, and indeed all words—which ultimately pass back and resolve into the primordial Nāda.
vighna
From this perspective, vighna is nothing but an obscuration or blockage of Śivatva in the individual soul. Vighna here signifies the blockage between the perfect form of every individual—i.e. the universal, the state of Śivatvam, our categorical reality—and the bound individual whose true nature is obscured. When the bearer of Śivatva is hindered from manifesting its natural freedom of knowledge and action, obstacles arise. Thus Gaṇeśa is at once the maintainer of order through categories (“Gaņa-s”) and the remover of Vighna-s (restorer of Śivatva’s unobstructed manifestation).
gaNas
When things (matter and souls, both) proceed from a state of rest to a state of action—material causes evolving into products, souls proceeding into the world of action, birth, and death from their cosmic sleep—they scatter into their respective individual trajectories of growth and decay, as if leaving their respective gaṇa-s or categories. The return to the state of rest would therefore be a return to their gaṇa-s.
The Gaṇapatitva also refers to how at pralaya-s, the insentient effects of aśuddhamāyā and prakṛti go back to their respective material causes and become an assembly of latent potentialities (gaṇa-s, so to speak) there once again. This state is called samaṣṭi, where the products/effects culminate together in the cause. This is important because the various products of aśuddhamāyā/prakṛti have limited lifespan in terms of utility before they eventually break down or decompose into an irreversible state, where they no longer are useful.
When the entire cosmos of effects go back into the material cause, they are able to be re-generated afresh (at the start of a new creation) with their full potentiality. The saṃhāra (absorption), which is destruction only in a narrow perception of ours, enables renewed creation. This potency of Gaṇeśa, which is simultaneously destructive and creative, appears to be embodied through the elephantine imagery.
Elephant
The natural image of the elephant itself reinforces this dual role. Though destructive in its violent activity—uprooting trees, clearing vegetation—such acts create open plains and opportunities for smaller creatures to graze and flourish. What appears as disruption is, in truth, a clearing for new life.
Seen in this light, the visualization of Gaṇeśa in elephant form is not merely symbolic but appears to be profoundly inspired apt and meaningful.
mantra
The term Ṛta is related to and the predecessor of Dharma that is used in the sense of innate characteristic.
य᳓स्माद् ऋते᳓ न᳓ सि᳓ध्यति
यज्ञो᳓ विपश्चि᳓तश् चन᳓
स᳓ धीनां᳓ यो᳓गम् इन्वति+++(=व्याप्नोति)+++
It is interesting to see that the Yajña performed even by a Vipaścit (a learned one, a knower) will not fulfil its purpose (na sidhyati) without Brahmaņaspati. This clearly coheres with Gaņapati being worshiped at the start of all rites so that they may bear fruit without obstacles. Clearly, those who saw a link between Brahmaņaspati & Gaņapati were on the right track.
And the 2nd half-verse refers to Brahmaņaspati’s nourishing the unifying of the Dhī-s (could be thoughts of an individual mind or many minds). The unifying of thoughts (creating one-mindedness in the worshiper) appears to be meant to be read together with Brahmaņaspati’s implied obstacle-removing role, causing the ritual to come to fruition.+++(5)+++
The coming of thoughts together also goes well with my earlier point (see above post) about Gaņapati being the God of the Samaṣṭi (the aggregate that remains upon dissolution/absorption). He causes the laya of the manas or Buddhi and nourishes this now unified mind of the worshiper, so that all his thoughts going forth & outward may all be directed towards the ritual.
Gaņapati’s connection with Nāda and Manolaya, one is reminded of the verses of the Vināyakar-Agaval by the saintess Avvaiyār
சத்தத்தின் உள்ளே சதாசிவம் காட்டிச்
சித்தத்தின் உள்ளே சிவலிங்கம் காட்டி
Within the Śabda, (Vināyaka) showing Sadāśiva
Within the Citta, showing the Śivalińga…