The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (826 page)

Gan Eden
(Garden of Eden; destiny of the righteous)
:

see
EDEN
.

 
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(Skt., ‘Lord of the hosts’). Ga
apati, Vin
yaka (leader), Ekadanta (one-tusked), Lambodara (pot-bellied), Siddhad
ta (the one who gives success), Vighnar
ja (lord of obstacles), the elephant-headed god of wisdom and good fortune. Since early medieval times Ga
e
a has been one of the most popular Hindu gods. He is invoked before all undertakings—from religious ceremonies (excluding funerals) to written compositions, and before the worship of other deities. Though his origins may be that of a tutelary village deity, today all sects claim him as their own. A few sectarians worship him exclusively, especially the G
apatyas who produced the
Ga
e
a-g
t
(a version of the
Bhagavad-g
t