One always starts any prayer, ritual and/or occasion by worshipping our Beloved Elephant God. One of the famous mantras dedicated to Ganpati follows:
Vakratunda Mahaakaaya Suryakotee Sama Prabha
Nirvighnam kuru mey Deva
Sarva kaaryeshu Sarvadaa
| Vakratunda | curved trunk |
| Mahakaaya | large bodied |
| Surya kotee | million suns |
| Sama Prabha | with the brilliance of |
| Nirvighnam | free of obstacles |
| Kuru | make |
| mey | my |
| Deva | Lord |
| Sarva Kaaryeshu | in all work |
| Sarvada | always |
O Lord Ganesha of Large body, curved trunk, with the brilliance of a million suns, please make all my work free of obstacles, always.
Read: How to Pray
GLOSSARY (Pronunciation)
A Like in ‘but’
Aa Like in ‘Far’
Ai Like in ‘hair’
Ey Like in Whey
I Like in ‘Pin’
Oo Like in ‘Shoot’
Oon ‘n’ has got a nasal sound.
U Like in ‘Put’
SANSKRIT
Sanskrit believes that the sound of the word never gets ruined and that it has an everlasting value.
Words in Sanskrit open out from their seed (beej) form.
A root is always a single syllable that contains one of the basic sounds a, I, u, ri
The root or seed may create a word, yet the word will vibrate to its best, and gives it tremendous power.
The Vedic or the Sanskrit view gives more importance to the special sound it should produce, than to the meaning of the spoken word.
Shakun Kimatrai 