What’s In A Name?

Names are important when it comes to invoking a God, and I’ve seen a lot of variation from website to website on Ganesh. Sometimes it’s Ganesh, other times it’s Ganesha, and then sometimes it’s Ganapati. So I decided to look it up, and this is what I found:

The word Ganesha comes from the Sanskrit words “Gana eeshaha, Ganeshaha”. Ganesha is the right term and Ganesh is a short form used to name a first born boy in the family of Hindus. Hence we can use both.

There is no difference between Ganesh and Ganapati.

• Gan + Ish = Ganesh : means Lord of People.
• Gan + Pati = Ganapati : means Lord of People.

Ganesh, by the way, has 1008 names. Here is a super cool recitation with music, it’s by Suresh Wadkar from the Album, Shree Ganesh Sahasranamavali.