Vighna
Vighna · vi-ghna, “an obstacle”
Grammar: masculine noun, from the root han (to strike) with the prefix vi: “that which strikes apart”, an obstacle. The one who rules the obstacles is Vighneśa, Gaṇeśa.
Meaning: an obstacle or hindrance that stands between a person and what he sets out to do.
In the scriptures: at the very close of the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa, Brahmā tells Nārada how the obstacles that meet the pilgrim to the Gautamī came to be.
Umā‘s word to Gaṇeśa. Ever since the Gaṅgā came to rest in the matted hair of Hara, she had become the great favourite of Śambhu. Devī Umā, mother of the universe and giver of bhoga and moksha, knew this, and spoke to her son. The elephant-faced one answered: “What is to be done? Tell me, mother; without doubt I shall do it.” Umā asked him to make the Gaṅgā come down from Maheśvara’s matted hair and to turn Śiva away from her, for where Śiva stays the devas, the Vedas, the ṛshis, men and the pitṛs stay too.
Gaṇeśa’s answer. Gaṇeśa said that Śiva could not be turned away from the Gaṅgā by him, nor the devas with him. He told his mother what he had heard directly from Śiva: when Gautama brought the Gaṅgā down, he asked as his vara that Śiva be present along her whole course, so that every place on her is a tīrtha, and Śiva granted that whatever a man does on the Godāvarī bears ample fruit. “For this reason Śambhu is always present in the Gaṅgā,” Gaṇeśa said. “Still, mother, this much can be done. Bound by the nooses of obstacles (vighnas), men may fail to go to the Godāvarī even when it is near; they may not bow to Śiva, nor remember him, nor praise him. I will do something for your satisfaction, for there is distress in disobeying your word.”
The obstacles and the fruit. Brahmā says that ever since then Vighneśa creates some obstacles for men. He who goes devoutly to the Gautamī, disregarding the obstacles, has his purpose fulfilled, and no further duty remains for him. Many obstacles arise for the base man even as he wishes to set out from his house; yet if he sets his foot firmly over them and goes to the Gaṅgā, does he not gain the benefit? He surely does (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 105).
Related terms: Vighneśa · Gaṇeśa · Gautamī · Tīrtha · Yātrā
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 105