Gana
Encyclopedia
The word also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
: ), in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, means "flock, troop, multitude, number, tribe, series, class" (Monier Williams
Monier Monier-Williams
Sir Monier Monier-Williams, KCIE was the second Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University, England...
's dictionary). It can also be used to refer to a "body of attendants" and can refer to "a company, any assemblage or association of men formed for the attainment of the same aims".
In Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, the s (Devanagari: ) are attendants of Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and live in Kailasa. Ganesha
Ganesha
Ganesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
was chosen as their leader by Shiva, hence Ganesha's title or , "lord of the ".
The word "gana" can also refer to councils or assemblies convened to discuss matters of religion or other topics.
Ganas as Shiva's attendants
In Hinduism, the gana or bhutagana are attendants of Shiva that reside in chthonic and liminal locations such as cemeteries and charnel groundCharnel ground
Charnel ground is a very important location for sadhana and ritual activity for Indo-Tibetan traditions of Dharma particularly those traditions iterated by the Tantric view such as Kashmiri Shaivism, Kaula tradition, Esoteric Buddhism, Vajrayana, Mantrayana, Dzogchen, and the sadhana of Chöd, Phowa...
s. The bhutagana also attend to Shiva on Mount Kailash
Mount Kailash
Mount Kailash is a peak in the Gangdisê Mountains, which are part of the Himalayas in Tibet...
. The story of creation of Virabhadra
Virabhadra
According to Hindu mythology, Virabhadra or Veerabhadra was a super being created by the wrath of Rudra , when he stepped in to destroy the Yagna of Daksha, after his daughter Dakshayani - consort of Shiva, self-immolated in yagna fire...
from the Shiva's lock and destruction of Daksha
Daksha
In Hinduism, Daksha, "the skilled one", is an ancient creator god, one of the Prajapatis, the Rishis and the Adityas. Daksha is said to be the son of Aditi and Brahma...
by Virabhadra
Virabhadra
According to Hindu mythology, Virabhadra or Veerabhadra was a super being created by the wrath of Rudra , when he stepped in to destroy the Yagna of Daksha, after his daughter Dakshayani - consort of Shiva, self-immolated in yagna fire...
and his ganas is a popular myth.
Thakur Deshraj
Thakur Deshraj
Thakur Deshraj was a social worker, journalist, nationalist, freedom fighter and author of many books. He was from Rajasthan state in India. He was revenue minister in the princely state of Bharatpur....
has claimed that the story arose from a clan of Jats named Shivi
Shivi
Shivi was a republic in ancient India, ruled by a democratic system of government known as ganatantra. Kshudrakas had formed a sangha with Malavas. Shivis formed a sangha with a big federation or sangha known as Jat, which is clear from Pāṇini's shloka in grammar of...
who had a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
ruled by democratic system of administration known as ganatantra. Kshudrakas had formed a sangha with Malavas. This view is not mainstream
Ganas as assemblies
Many books of Sanskrit literature have used ganas and sanghas frequently. The famous Sanskrit scholar Pāṇini of 900 BCE has mentioned in his Sanskrit grammar known as in the form of shlokaShloka
A ' is a category of verse line developed from the Vedic Anuṣṭubh. It is the basis for Indian Epic verse, and may be considered the Indian verse form par excellence, occurring, as it does, far more frequently than any other meter in classical Sanskrit poetry. The Mahabharata and Ramayana, for...
as जट झट संघाते or Jata Jhata Sanghate. This means that the terms 'Jata' and 'democratic federation' are synonymous.
Pāṇini in his Sanskrit grammar used gana as:
संघोद्घौ गण प्रशंसयो Sanghoddhau praśansayo
Narada
Narada
Narada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Vaisnava tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana...
smriti
Smriti
Smriti literally "that which is remembered," refers to a specific body of Hindu religious scripture, and is a codified component of Hindu customary law. Smṛti also denotes non-Śruti texts and is generally seen as secondary in authority to Śruti. The literature which comprises the Smrti was...
in Sanskrit mentions as:
It shows that the ganatantra (republic) system of rule was prevalent in India since ancient period.
Ganas in Shanti Parva
A detailed analysis has been done about ganas in chapter 108 of Shanti Parva in which YudhisthiraYudhisthira
In the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira , the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti, was king of Indraprastha and later of Hastinapura. He was the leader of the Pandava side in the Kurukshetra War...
asks Bhisma about the ganas that how ganas increase, how they defend themselves from the dividing-policy of enemies, what are the techniques to conquer enemies and making the ganas friends, how they hide their secret mantras being in majority. The Bhisma's answers to these questions have been recorded in the form of shloka
Shloka
A ' is a category of verse line developed from the Vedic Anuṣṭubh. It is the basis for Indian Epic verse, and may be considered the Indian verse form par excellence, occurring, as it does, far more frequently than any other meter in classical Sanskrit poetry. The Mahabharata and Ramayana, for...
s (verses) from 16 – 32 in Shanti Parva.,
Ganas in Vedas
Ganas have been narrated in Vedas in the form of assemblies of warriors as is clear from the following sutraSutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...
s of Rigveda
Rigveda
The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
(RV 3-26-6):
व्रातं व्रातं गणम् गणम्
Gana in brief means an assembly. Ganatantra (republic) means a state run by assemblies.
The representative members of clans were known as ganas and their assembly as sangha
Sangha
Sangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose...
s, there chief as ganadhipati or Ganesha and Ganapati.
Ganas in Buddhist literature
The Buddhist literature Mahabagga mentions that:गण पूरकोवा भविस्सामीति
It indicates that there was an officer who used to see the number of ganas and their koram in the Rajasabha (state assembly).
During Buddhist period, the Buddhist books like ‘Pali-pitaka’, Majjhamnikaya, mahabagga, Avadana shataka have mentioned ganas and sanghas many times. During Buddhas period there were 116 republics or ganasanghas in India.
In Buddhist times, s were assemblies of the Sangha
Sangha
Sangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose...
s, early democratic republics known as s, literally "rule of the assembly", a term paralleling demo-kratia
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
or soviet
Soviet (council)
Soviet was a name used for several Russian political organizations. Examples include the Czar's Council of Ministers, which was called the “Soviet of Ministers”; a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia; and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union....
republic. The term was revived in , the official name of the Republic of India.