"Rupam rupa Vivargithasya bhavathe dhyanena yakalpitham
Sthuthyanirvachaniyathakhilaguro durikritha yanmaya
Vyapithawanja nirakritham bhagavatho yathirthayathradina
Kshanthavyam jagadisa thatyukalatha doshthrayam mathkritham"

The meaning of the above is as follows:

I committed my first Sin Oh Lord of the Universe, by ascribing form to the formless; Praising with laudation that which is indescribable, I committed my second sin: Locating in a particular temple and locality the great Lord of the Universe, I committed my third sin; Oh Lord of the Universe pardon me for the triple sin.

The note of attrition contained in the above verse should be taken as a guide line by all in the study of Shankara and his philosophy. This is in consonance with the ancient vedantic philosophy. A similar verse of attrition is also found in the Avadutha Gita of Dattatreya which is produced below:

"Tvad-yatraya vyapakata hata te
Dyanena Chetah-parata hata te
Stutya maya vak-parata hata te
Kshmasva nityam trividhaparadhan"

Meaning, by my making pilgrimage to thee thy allpervasiveness has been destroyed by me; with my meditations thy transcendence of the mind has been destroyed by me; By my singing thy praise thy transcendence of speech has been destroyed by me: forgive me these three sins.

Regarding the worship of Ganesha we have seen that he is popular with all cults and sects within the Hindu fold. He is worshipped in two forms. One is in his abstract ideal form. The other is in his concrete idol form. The worship of his idol form is done by ritualistic methods. It all depends upon the faith of the worshippers. Bereft of faith he still survives as a curio, attracting the attention of such people who have no faith in him.