Vakratunda Mahakaya

What it says, word by word

• Vakratunda: "O one with the curved trunk" (vakra, curved; tunda, trunk or face).
• Mahakaya: "O one of great body".
• Suryakoti samaprabha: "whose brilliance equals ten million (koti) suns".
• Nirvighnam kuru me deva: "O Lord, make [it] free of obstacles for me".
• Sarvakaryeshu sarvada: "in all my undertakings, always".

Put together: O curved-trunked, mighty-bodied Lord, radiant as ten million suns, make all my work free of obstacles, always. It is a single anushtubh shloka, four quarters of eight syllables each, the same metre as most of the Gita. That is part of why it is so easy to memorise, and why it is often the first Sanskrit verse a child learns.

Why Ganesha is invoked first

Ganesha is Vighnaharta, the remover of obstacles, and also Vighneshvara, the lord of obstacles, the one who can place them as well as clear them. So Hindu practice invokes him before anything else is begun, and this shloka is the shortest complete way to do it. Notice that it doesn't ask for success, wealth or any specific result. It asks only that nothing gets in the way, which leaves the outcome to the effort and to God. Vakratunda is not a random epithet either. In the Mudgala Purana, Vakratunda is the first of Ganesha's eight incarnations, the one who subdues the demon Matsarasura, the personification of envy.

When to recite it

• At the very start of any puja, before the main deity is worshipped.
• Before beginning study, an exam, a journey, a new job, a business deal or a building project. Many people say it silently before signing anything important.
• At the opening of weddings, housewarmings and the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi.
• As a daily prayer, especially on Wednesdays, Ganesha's day.

Once, or three times, is the usual practice before an activity. As a japa practice people also recite it 11, 21 or 108 times. No initiation is needed.

Going further

For a longer practice, follow it with the Ganesh Gayatri Mantra, which also names him Vakratunda (vakratundaya dhimahi), the Ganesh Chalisa, and the Ganesh Aarti.