The elephant worshipped by the lion

The elephant worshipped by the lion

 

The form of heramba is special. He has five faces. All five are elephant faces. One poet has sung "pancha mathanga muka". In the various statues of lord Ganesha in thiruvarur, the poet dikshitar has sung about the five faced lord.

 

Lord Siva has five faces. In the Siva prayer (Siva panchakshari) it is described so. The sankaracharya has also made fun using this five faces.

 

Because he has five faces, the lord Siva is called panchasyan. The lion has the name panchasyam. In this pancha means widely spread. The prapancham means that which is widely spread. Here pancha means five, and so prapancha can also means that which is made of the five elements. Let us leave that now. Lion and Siva both have the name panchasyam. The elephant is afraid of the lion. We call it "simha swapnam" (lion in a dream). An elephant will die even if it sees the lion in its dream! The lion is always furiously waiting for a chance to kill the elephant that is bigger than him. When it sees an elephant the lion will collect all its strength and rush to pounce to smash the head of the elephant. If such a lion (panchasyam) prayed to an elephant, would it not be a surprise? The sankarcharya has described that surprising event.

 

Mahatanti vaktrapi panchasya manya

 

This comes in the beginning prayer to the lord vigneswarar in the subrahmanya bhujangam that he composed at thiruchendur.

 

Sada bala roopapi vignatri hantri

Mahatanti vaktrapi panchasya manya

 

Vigneswarar is always child like – he is called sada bala roopar – however (api) means: sada bala roopa abi: while he is a child always, he is also the destroyer of all obstacles that are like a mountain – vignatri – the mountain of obstacles; hantri – destroyer.

 

After that only notwithstanding he being an elephant, he is worshipped by an elephant comes.

 

Mahatanti vaktrapi panchasya manya

 

Danti (tusk) means elephant. Because it has a tusk it is called danti. In the ganapathi gayatri we meditate on the tusk to induce in us good knowledge. The lord vigneswarar is Mahatanti vaktrapi – with the face of a large elephant – nevertheless he is panchasya manya – worshipped by a lion.

 

The sankaracharya has sung with poetic genius as if the lord vigneswarar is endowed with many usual matters. First he says that the small child breaks the mountain of obstacles, then he says something that would not happen normally is happening, by saying that the lion is worshipping the elephant. When people listen to this, they think panchasyam means lion. How can a lion worship an elephant – when we wonder this way, we can notice that the sankaracharya has made a pun here with the word panchasyam. Here panchasyam does not mean lion, but Siva. The lord Siva worshipped the lord vigneswara before going to the destruction of Tripura -- we will understand that is only referred to here as panchasya manya.

The lord with five faces and riding on a lion

 

Not just panchasya manyar, the herambar is the form with five faces – panchasyar (broad face). He has five elephant faces, 10 hands, and his vehicle is a lion. The vehicle of the five face vigneswarar is a lion. The elephant is not only not afraid of the lion, but also riding on the lion. As if reminding the divine father of the five faces, he reminds the divine mother by lion as vehicle. The divine mother is the one who rides the lion! The mahaganapathi also has 10 hands, but not five faces, or lion as vehicle. The herambar is only in that form. In nagapatnam, in the nilayatakshi temple the heramba idol is with a copper color body. Four faces are in the four directions, and the fifth face is on top of all these like a crown. When we see these five elephant faces we will be very happy.