A single-verse dhyana shloka on Ganesha, recited at the start of worship and often taught as a child's first Sanskrit verse — short enough to memorise in one sitting, and complete in itself. Rather than describing his form, it introduces him by his family: "He whose maternal uncle is Śrīkānta — the husband of Śrī, Vishnu — whose mother is Sarvamaṅgalā, she who is all-auspicious, and whose father is Lord Śaṅkara: to him, the elephant-faced one, I bow." The whole force of the verse is in that last word, kuñjarānanam. Having placed him among the greatest of the gods, the verse names him simply as the one with an elephant's face, and bows.
The full recitation, in the order it is chanted. Pick a section to begin.
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