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Mythological Notes
1.1
Gaņeśa : (Gana + īsa), Gana-Pati. Lord of the Gaņas or troops of inferior deities, especially those attendant upon Śiva. He is the god of wisdom and remover of obstacles; hence he is invariably propitiated at the beginning of any important undertaking, and is invoked at the commencement of books. There is a variety of legends accounting for his elephant head. One is that Pārvatī went to her bath and told her son to keep the door. Siva wished to enter and was opposed, so he cut off Ganesa's head. To pacify Parvati he replaced it with an elephant's that first came to hand.
1.2
Bhārati : A name of Sarasvati.
1.3
Divyam mithunam (Ardha - nārīša or Ardhanārīśvara) : A form in which Siva is represented as half-male and half-female, typifying the male and female energies.
Martya-Simha (Nrsiṁha) Narasimha : 'The manlion' Visnu assumed this form (avatāra, incarnation) to deliver the world from the tyrrany of Hiranyakaśipu, a demon who, by the favour of Brahmā, had become invulnerable. This demon's son, Prahlāda, worshipped Visnu, which so incensed his father that he tried to kill him, but his efforts were all in vain. Contending
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