Adi Shankara the expounder of non-dualism (Adwaitha) who was himself a great yogi, in his wisdom and consideration for ordinary people belonging to all communities countenanced panchayatana worship of five Deities which included Ganesha, the other Deities being Shiva, Sura (Sun), Vishnu and Ambal. Obviously Shankara thought such devotional form of worship may help a devotee to merge his mind in the Deity which symbolically is ending the state of duality. If the devotion is tainted then the merger will amount to a delusion brought about by something like self hypnotism. If the devotion is pure then the devotee imperceptibly comes into the path of yoga. Shankara also had made it clear that the Panchayatana Deities are essentially one and the same though they appear differently to the uninitited.

Although Ganesha images appear to be jumbles of incongruent parts, Shankara considered the images as meaningful symbols. He had described the meaning in the following lines in his "Ganesha Bhujangam"

"Ya mekaksharam nirmalam nirvikalpam gunathithamanda makara sunyam" which means - The one imperishable, stainless, unconditioned, transcending qualities, supreme bliss and formless.

Ganesha also attracted the Tamil Saint and Poetess Avvayar who wrote her Akaval explaining how Ganesha is a symbol of all knowledge about yoga and how his devotees will be benefited by his worship knowing the full implications of what be stands for.

To appreciate this yoga aspect of Ganesha, we have to know something about yoga.