Ganapati Atharvashirsa

Ganapati Atharvashirsa

The Śrī Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa is a Vedic religious text dedicated to the deity Ganesha (Gaṇeśa). It is a late Upanishad that celebrates Ganesha as the embodiment of the ultimate Brahman. The text asserts its own status as an upanishad in its final line, which reads "Thus, the Śrī Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa Upanishad" (Sanskrit:श्रीगणपत्यथर्वशीर्षोपनिषद्; śrīgaṇapatyatharvaśīrṣopaniṣad).

It is also referred to as the Sri Ganapati Atharva Sirsha, the Ganapati Atharvashirsha, the Ganapati Atharvasirsa, or the Ganapati Upanishad.

It is the most widely-recited Sanskrit text among devotees of Ganesha in Maharashtra. The entire text is written over the entrance to the temple hall in the aṣṭavināyaka Ganesha shrine at Ranjangaon. Ghurye notes its emergence in the early nineteenth century, corresponding to the rise of the Ganapati worship in Maharashtra among Brahmins centered in Pune.

Read more about Ganapati Atharvashirsa:  Dating, Textual Variants