For a communicator who claims to love to analyze and therefore KNOW communication codes, I goofed mightily when I posted the image of my ceramic artwork and told a little story.
For example, I began the post by saying:
“We love our elephant-headed, chubby, comfortable, protector of the universe.”
How egocentric! My we was not just royal, it was universal, globe encompassing! As if I have the right to speak for everyone in the world. So, with a mea culpa, let me at least offer a few more details. The following paragraph for that post might be called useful but in complete. Below it, I offer some more explanation:
“But we also love to shower our Gods with innumerable names in praising them. So here 13 names of Ganesh in stylized Gujarati script have been graphically drawn to represent his most popular image. He is seated with a lotus flower in one hand and a large ball of sweet dessert in the other. He carries a axe and a rope in his other two hands. He wears various adornments on the arms and feet. His elephant head shows a broken tusk near his left-turned trunk. At his feet is the mouse, his vehicle, lowly and yet as speedy as needed.”
A Vedic practice is to demonstrate your commitment to the Unknowable Supreme Spirit (often called Brahm, not to be confused with Brahma, the Creator in the trinity, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, respectively Creator of the Universe, Preserver of Mortal Existence, and Destroyer of Absolute Evil), by piling on descriptive attributes. Reciting the thousand and one names of your favorite deity is a very popular past-time. So here are the thirteen names of Ganesha in English transcription, with explanations.Text for head, chest, belly, arms, legs, seat, vehicle in that order.
| Ganesha = | gana + ish= | Servants + Lord of = | Lord of those who serve |
| Vakratunda = | vakra + tund = | Crooked + Trunk = | One with trunk crooked (to the left) |
| Ekdanta = | ek + dant = | One + Tooth/Tusk = | One with single tusk (2nd is broken) |
| Krishna = | krishna | Blue God = | One also known as Krishna |
| Pingaksha = | ping + aksh | Pink + Eye = | One with red-pink eyes |
| Vikata = | vikat | Fearsome | One who is fearsome (L upper arm) |
| Dhumravarna = | dhumra+varna | Cloud-Colored | One who is cloud-colored (R upper) |
| Vighnaraja = | vighna + raj | Obstacles + King of = | One who controls obstacles (R. lower) |
| Bhalachandra | bhala + chandra | Forehead + Moon | One with the moon on his forehead |
| Gajavaktra | gaja +vaktra | Elephant + Face | One who is elephant-faced (L. leg) |
| Lambodara | lambo + udara | Big + Belly | One who is big-bellied (R. leg) |
| Vinayaka | vina + nayaka | Servers + Leader | One who is the leader of servers |
| Ganapati | gana + pati | Servers + Lord | One who is the lord of servers |
| Gajaanana | gaja + anana | Elephant + Face | One who is elephant-faced |
