నమామి విఘ్నేశ్వర పాదపంకజం

గజాననం భూతగణాది సేవితం
కపిత్థజంబూఫలసార భక్షితం .
ఉమాసుతం శోకవినాశకారణం
నమామి విఘ్నేశ్వర పాదపంకజం ..

I bow to you, the Lord with the face of an elephant (Gajanana), one who is served by the celestial attendants (Bhoota ganas) and other beings.
The one who consumes the extract of Kapitha (wood apple) and Jambul fruits (Jamun).
O the son of Goddess Uma, who is responsible for destroying all sorrows.
I reverently bow to the lotus feet of Lord Vigneshwara (who removes all obstacles).

ఓం గణానాం త్వా గణపతిం హవామహే
కవిం కవీనాముపమశ్రవస్తమం .
జ్యేష్ఠరాజం బ్రహ్మణాం బ్రహ్మణస్పత
ఆ నః శృణ్వన్నూతిభిః సీద సాదనం ..

Among the celestial attendants (Ganas), you are the Lord (Ganapathi), We offer sacrificial oblations to you.
You are the wisest among the scholars. Your wisdom is known to be highest quality and incomparable for its glory.
You are the eldest or foremost of the kings (referring to devas), the Lord of the sacred prayers, rituals and its performers.
O Lord, come to us by hearing our hymns and be seated in this sacred sacrificial altar.

శుక్లాంబరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం .
ప్రసన్నవదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వవిఘ్నోపశాంతయే ..

śuklāmbaradharaṃ viṣṇuṃ śaśivarṇaṃ caturbhujam .
prasannavadanaṃ dhyāyet sarvavighnopaśāntaye

I meditate upon (Lord Ganesa), the one who wears a white garment, who is all-pervasive, who has a (bright) complexion like the moon, who has four hands, who has a cheerful face, for the removal of all obstacles.

On this Vinayaka Chavithi, Paramacharya's discourse on Vinayaka:

"Now about this sloka starting with ‘suklaambaradaram’, which we all say to start with any of our religious and ceremonial ‘karya’, though thought to be addressed towards PiLLaiyar; does not contain any reference to PiLLaiyar, surprisingly!

None of his names such as, GaNapathy, GaNesa, Vinayaka, and or words such as, Gowrisuta or Sivatmaja; have been used in the sloka. His ‘vahanam’ (carrier – mooshika the rodent rat), or favourite weapon (paashahastha), or favourite dish (modaka) find a mention in that sloka!

None of his physical identifications such as, gajamukha (elephant faced), ekadanta (whose one tusk had been broken thus giving him the name of ‘single tusked’); or lambhodara (whose tummy is big); are referred! Not mentioning even a single one of his famous exploits!

The sloka is as follows:- “shuklaambaradharam, vishnum, sasivarNam, chaturbhujam I prasannavadanam dyaayet sarvavignaupasaantaye II” ‘shuklaambaradharam’ = wearing white dress; so do all males. Those who wear other colours are referred as ‘pitambaradhari’ or ‘raktambaradhari’ wearing yellow or red dress respectively. So, the first word does not refer to only PiLLaiyar!

Next word is, ‘vishnum’! This means, ‘Omni present’, especially known as a name for PiLLaiyar’s uncle and not him! So, the nephew gets the name of his maternal uncle and we also are reminded of him only and not PiLLaiyar!

Next is, ‘sasivarNam’ = of the colour of the moon; so is Easwara and Saraswathy! This is followed by ‘chaturbhujam’ = four armed; this is the common characteristic of all deities! So, again it does not necessarily refer to PiLLaiyar! Then the sloka talks of, ‘prasannavadanam’ = smiling faced; can you think of a God who is not having a pleasant smiling face?

Except for KaaLi, Nrusimha Murthy, Veera Bhadra and such UgraSwaroopa-s, all Gods are pleasant faced only! But, more than any other God, in one way, it will be agreed that PiLLaiyar has a smiling face dripping happiness, with a broad countenance of a baby elephant!

For each of the above five words, we have to knock on the fore-head with our knuckles, known in Tamil as ‘kuttik-koLvadhu’- five times! Then we have to do ‘dhyaayet’ that is think deeply of, ‘sarvavignaupasaantaye’!

Having not mentioned a word of his name or any of the known characteristics, now you have to deeply think about that special ability of that God, who can get all your trouble cancelled! That is PiLLaiyar!

Before starting on any venture or endeavour, think of him and pray – say this sloka and at least once do the ‘kuttu’!

Even before the child grows up to be able to learn any of these sloka-s by heart, the child is told, “Son, before starting anything, think of PiLLaiyar and pray to him to obviate all sorts of problems”.

Then as he grows up, the moment he hears the words, ‘sarvavignaupasaantaye’, he knows that we are praying to our PiLLaiyar. The word ‘vishnu’ in the sloka is indicative of the very closeness between the uncle and nephew!"