Transcript:

Hi, Happy Ganesh Chaturthi! The Ganesh Stotram starts like this: Ajam, Nirvikalpam, Nirakaram. Let's look at these words.

Ajam means what? One who is never born. Why is Ganesha never born? Because he cannot be born. Ganesha is the obstacle remover for even the universe to manifest itself. So how can Ganesha be born? He has to be there even before the universe is born. So Ganesha is Ajam.

Next is Nirvikalpam. Nirvikalpam means what? Ganesha has no complete set of attributes to define him. The set that is defined by all the attributes of Ganesha is an infinite set. That's what it means—Nirvikalpam.

The third one is Nirakaram. He is formless. Ganesha has no form. Why does Ganesha have no form? Because the dude is an obstacle remover for every level, from the gross to the subtle. If he has a form, he is limited. He cannot be the obstacle remover for the length scales that are below his form. So, by definition, Ganesha has to be formless. Nirakaram.

This is the beauty of the definition of Ganesha. Now that I have told you all these qualities of Ganesha—Ajam, Nirvikalpam, Nirakaram—I am going to leave you with this form representation of Ganesha. That's the beauty of it. You need the form to understand the formless.