You are correct, In the context of the above dhyāna śloka, the trident does not exist. The lower left forearm hugs his consort indicating that He is not separate from His consort and śakti, Siddhalakṣmī. The other forearm is holding the tusk. We can correspond the 2nd set of arms from bottom to Mahi and Varāha, holding the pomegranate and paddy representing nourishment. The 3rd with the club and rope with Śiva and Śakti. The 4th with the sugarcane bow and blue lily (divine flowers) with Manmatha and Rati. Finally the 5th, associating the cakra and rope with Viṣṇu and Mahālakṣmī. The sugarcane bow crushing also refers to the squeezing of the ego to allow the divine nectar to flow.

Dear Krshna, Thank you very much for such a detailed answer. I have one follow up. In your description you say that in the second set of arms Ganesha is holding a trident. However, in the translation of the dhyana sloka I haven't found a description of a trident - "He is holding pomegrante, a club, sugarcane bow, chakra, a lotus flower, a rope, divine flowers, paddy plant, His own tusk, hugging His Consort Vallaba (vallaba means wife), a kalaśa made of precious gems."

I have practiced dhanada yakshini, felt her presence next to me on more than one occasion. She did bless me with wealth. I practiced a different variant of the mantra.. Each person has different experience, my friend got a totally different experience with vatayakshini, she came in many female forms.. He stopped it as it was an inconvenience. The same person has got yakshini visitation during mantra Japan of the great goddess

Śrī Mahāgaṇapati caturāvṛtti tarpanam is for accomplishing the four (caturā) tasks (vṛtti-s), namely dharma (righteousness, justice, virtues etc.), artha (material wealth, accomplishments etc.), kāma (desires, goals etc) and mokṣa (self-realization and liberation). Lord Mahāgaṇapati in the Gaṇapatya or the Gaṇeśa tradition, is the manifested Supreme singular reality or Brahman. The śloka referred to here is the general obstacle removing verse of Lord Viṣṇu, which is also His dhyāna śloka. It is very auspicious to invoke, before embarking on a very important prayer and sādhanā, such as this tarpanam. It is also very apt for this tarpanam, as the four arms (catur-bhuja) here refer to the same four aims of life, for the complete fulfillment of life’s purpose. Most of Lord Gaṇeśa’s forms have the four arms indicating the same as well. Related to the Śrī Mahāgaṇapati dhyāna, the ten arms are related to the seed syllables (bīja-s) and can be described as follows, showing the descent of the Supreme super-consciouness manifesting into the Creation. – Om̐ is Śabda Brahman or the Ultimate reality manifested as sound and this refers to the entire mantra and form of Lord Mahāgaṇapati. Śrīm̐ is the fructification bīja of the Divine Mother Mahālakṣmī and in this context, refers to the hind arms (from the top, the 1st set of arms) holding the discus (cakra), slicing through all karma accrued in the causal body and the lotus (padma), represents the evolution of the consciousness to it’s highest state (turiya) granting self-realization and liberation. This is also the stage of destruction of all attachments from the material world and merging into the Supreme singular reality. Hrīm̐ is the Mahāmāyā bīja of the cosmic virtual reality, referring to the hind arms (2nd set from the top) holding the trident piercing the tripurā – the triads such as the physical, astral and causal bodies etc, as well as the noose (pāśa), that binds the Creation to the Divine Mother Mahāmāyā. This operates in all the three bodies and seeds karma. This is the preparatory stage for Creation. Klīm̐ is the Kāma bīja, indicating all desires and referring to the hind arms (3rd set from the top) holding the sugarcane bow representing cupid’s arrows to strike desire and the blue lilly indicating amorous love and passion. This is the stage of Creation and the consciousness binding to the physical body. Glaum̐ is the Pṛthvi or Pārthiva bīja indicating Earth and all terrestrial worlds, referring once again to the hind arms (4th set from the top) holding a mace (sometimes an axe or even a plough) and paddy, separately in each of the arms. The mace/axe/plough are for sculpting the terra and making it feasible for the seeding of life forms. It is also for breaking the ground, minerals etc for building and making the best of our material existence. The paddy here refers to food grains for nourishment. This is the stage of Preservation and Sustenance. Gam̐ is the Gaṇeśa bīja indicating removal of all obstacles. It refers to the lower fore arms holding a pomegranate and His own tusk. The seeds of the pomegranate represent the seeds of all life forms and the tusk represents advaita or the ultimate singular reality. All though there are many forms of Brahman, It is but one and is beyond description. Gam̐ is also the Gāyatrī Mātṛkā bīja (seed) mantra which represents clarity of the discerning knowledge, direct vision and eternal wisdom, masked by delusion. This bīja marks the awakening of the mūlādhāra cakra and the the beginning of the ascent of the Kuṇḍalini and the spiritual awakening within the individual beings. Vallabha means consort or his śakti called Siddhalakṣmī, who hugs Him indicating Her aspect as the dynamic super-consciousness carrying out all His actions. Lord Mahāgaṇapati is the static super-consciousness. The kalaśa or pot, which He holds by the trunk indicates all the material wealth, as well as the base mūlādhāra cakra. The trunk itself is the suṣumnā for the serpentine Kuṇḍalini to rise. He is the cause of Creation, Preservation and Destruction of the multi-dimensional multi-verse. He is depicted as red in color indicating the desire to devolve and create, from the state of super-consciousness to the individual consciousness seeded in all matter and life forms. He is shining forth with the radiance of countless suns to light up the entire Creation and He Himself is the cause of light, having descended from the unmanifested Para-Brahman.

Hello, I'm wondering how come the dhyana sloka describes the 10-armed Ganapati but the samkalpa describes him as having 4 arms? Can you also post a deeper meaning behind each one of his 10 attributes that he holds in his arms? Thank you!

śrī Mātaṅgī śatanāma stotram is now published and available on this link - https://www.manblunder.com/articlesview/sri-matangi-satanama-stotram

Thankyou Gurugaru

Well' I started chanting this namavali since a couple of weeks before playing an instrument or studying if you can share the other documents would be cool. I found the yantra i described you in this website http://amritananda-natha-saraswati.blogspot.com/2016/11/syama-yantra-puja.html?m=1 . I found it when I was looking a bala yantra to print.

We can help fellow beings in a way or ways that is possible to us. Helping beyond one's capacity is also not good. You can help others by teaching them Advaita Philosophy, Bhagavad Gita, etc. 

Namaskaram Gurugaru , "Man is born not only to take care of himself but also to help others" . I request you to guide me how I can help others.