Elements of Hindu Iconography v1.c9.59

v1.c9.59

We have already remarked that Gaṇeśa is the *ākāsic* part of Śiva looked upon as the Lord of the Universe. Perhaps to represent him as the vast expanse of space which is everywhere and encloses all things, his belly is made so capacious as to contain in it the innumerable thousands of *mōdakas*—round, ball-like cakes,—which most probably represent the various beings in the universe floating in the ocean of *ākāśa* or ether. The *Pādma-purāṇa*, however, explains the *mōdaka* to be the symbol of *Mahābuddhi*, Supreme Wisdom.