The symbolism of Ganesha worship

Today is Ganesha Chaturthi, the birthday of Lord Ganesha. He is the lord of good fortune. Every Hindu is expected to remember him before beginning any important task. Westerners and many Indians have little idea of what the stories of Ganesha represent. A solid understanding of Advaita requires an analysis of the stories that surround Sri Ganesha.

Let us look at some common questions:

1) Why is Ganesha so popular in India?

Evolutionary dynamics suggest actions that work or help an individual is repeated in the long term, and actions that fail to help the individual vanish in the long term. People across the world have seen greater success with their actions, once they offer prayers to Ganesha. Hence, the popularity of the deity is a testament to the fact that worshipping him works. Again, if you do not want good luck, there is no need to remember him. The choice of worshipping Ganesha boils down to a simple hack about getting more good luck in your life. This is Hindu belief.

Criticism 1: Such a reasoning encouraging worship to deities is mere blind belief and encourages blind superstition.

This is a valid argument only if the belief is random, a fad or if it does not work. Belief is Ganesha has probably existed since the beginning of civilization. The Rig Veda talks about Ganesha. Hence, this belief has been around for 10,000 years or more, depending on when the oral tradition of the Vedas began. Believing in Ganesha is one of the oldest, continuous and unbroken chains of belief systems practiced anywhere in the world. Hence, Ganesha worship is neither a recent idea nor a fad. It works for a billion plus people who believe in him. Even if you were a non-believer, you should at least respect a tradition which has been around for ten thousand years.

Every European also understands that the Rig Veda is part of their legacy, though they have no idea what it means. Every European language is derived from Sanskrit. The Rig Veda records the earliest sounds and thoughts uttered by humans after civilization began. The fact that the chanting has been preserved immaculately in India, through the oral tradition, makes the teachings of the Vedas invaluable for all of civilization. Without understanding the stories of the Rig Veda and their symbolism, everybody is the loser, including all of Europe. The Vedas are not superstition; they are an account of how civilized man emerged and how they envisioned their relationship with nature.

Criticism 2: There is no proof that worshipping anyone can increase luck.

This statement as much a hypothesis as much another more acceptable one - if one works hard, they will get more success in their life. Why do we accept this relation between hard work and success as an axiom, when we have seen that hypothesis fail innumerable times in our daily life? Think over it. Luck and success are not objective criteria; they are mental projections. Luck to one may not be luck to another. Success to one is failure to another. Science can study objective criteria of the external world, not subjective states of mind in the inner world of the mind. So, asking for proof is a reflection that you have no idea about the limits of the scientific method, and more importantly have no idea that the inner world exists. That is pathetic.

However, for the sake of argument, if anyone wants to prove that Ganesha worship is wrong, they really have to perform multiple double blind randomized controlled test (RCT) to check the hypothesis - Does the worship of Ganesha indeed bring luck. If yes, is it moderated through belief, self-priming, motivation, hard work, self-hypnosis or something else?

As far as I know, no scientist has ever attempted to do anything similar to this. Hence, researchers have to do some solid homework before passing verdict on a hypothesis. Merely, dissing an idea because you personally do not like it, is as stupid and unscientific as a scientist can ever be. If a scientist lets their personal bias dictate his beliefs, that person then is no different from a flat-earther. A flat earther believes in a flat earth because that belief strangely decreases their cognitive dissonance.

2) Is Ganesha a real God?

This question gets into a discussion of religion and Indian spirituality. Religion has little to no connection to Indian spirituality. Since, neither Hindutva, Buddhism nor Jainism are religions in the strictest sense; none of the divinity they worship are gods. Secondly, the Hindu understanding of God is the divinity within. However, this is not the western understanding of God. Hence, Ganesha is not God in the way the west has defined the word "God."

3) What is the Advaita meaning of Lord Ganesha?

I have discussed the significance of the story of Ganesha in detail and his iconography in the following paper:

Aravindakshan, V. (2025). Advaita and Adhyathma perspectives: The symbolic iconography of Sri Ganesha. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16967206