गणपत्यथर्वशीर्ष (with translation) /5

It would be necessary to go back several centuries

in the Vedic period in order to assess the antiquity of the

Ganesha cult of worship. The popular Gods of the Vedic

Aryans reflected the sense of dependence of human welfare

on the powers of nature. Aryan religion and philosophy

tended to invest the then largely unknown forms of nature

with a divine form so that their gods and goddesses were

essentially nature-oriented. The Aryan Sky Father

DY AUSH PITA and Earth Mother PRITHVI MATA merely

typified the falling of the rain from the sky to help the
earth produce corn and fruits*
earth produce corn and fruits.
 

 
The concept of a cosmic force as the source of creation

in the form of a Great Mother Goddess and her male

counterpart, the Father God, is essentially an earlier

concept brought into India from Greece and Asia Minor.

The Aegean Mãā or Kubala (Cybele) and Atthis or Hepit

and Teshunp was one of the basis of the Siva-Uma cult of
ā cult of
Hindu worship of the pre-Aryan periods.
 

 
Aryan worship centred around the "Homa" or sacrificial

fire. Agni was the messenger to carry the oblations of the

Aryan devotee to his gods".
 

 
Puūja or worship to an image of a God with flowers,

leaves, fruits, water, etc. was a Dravidian usage and as

such frowned upon by the Aryans. The sanskrit word

'puja' is derived from the Dravidian 'puū' flower and
=flower and
'ge' = to do, and means literally a flower ritual or
 

service¹.
 
=
 

 
Gradually with the process of synthesis, which is a

a characteristic of Hindu religion and culture, pūjā has

gained a firm foothold in every Hindu home and temple,

whereas Homa or sacrifice has receded into the background.
 

 
Ganesha was worshipped as a Vighna-hartãā even prior

to the advent of the Aryans in India. Murugan or Murukan

was also worshipped as the Dravidian god of youth, wedded

to perpetual celibacy. Murugan, in course of time, was

adopted by the Brahminical Hindus and became Kumāra
 

 
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