Vakratundar

The next name is vakratundar.

 

When the amaram listed the names for face we also found the name tundam. Normally tundam means face, but in the case of animals such as pig and elephant which have a special nose, the tundam means nose. What is special the pig's nose? In the case of cow, goat, and horse the nose tapers small when it ends. But for the pig though the nose tapers a bit in the beginning, it finally becomes very large and flat when it ends. For the elephant the nose hangs like a trunk. This trunk is only called tundam. For birds the nose ends as a sharp dot. It is called "alahu" in Tamil. In Sanskrit that is also called tundam only.

 

While the head is the most important in the body, the nose is the most important in the face. While the mouth is the most important by its function, the nose is the most important for the form. We describe the good or bad look of a person as sharp nose and flat nose, by pointing to the shape of his nose only. In this nose also the trunk, i.e. nose of the elephant which has special shape, is called trunk.

 

Vakram means curve.

 

We say "he is very vakram" about the person who does cunning things. We derogatorily call that character in a person as "vakra character. Why do we call good character as "straight"? righteousness is straight. The straight line is the shortest path connecting two points. The curved line goes around here and there and does not reach the destination point quickly. In the same way, without any distraction reaching the desired goal is the straight forward character. In English also it is called straight forwardness. In Sanskrit the word for straight i.e. "arjavam" is also used to mean the straight forward character. It comes from the root word "ruju".

 

What is not straight is twisted, and in the same way we call a person who is not straight forward as "twisted personality". That is also called "vakra buddhi" (cunning character).

 

In the vakra tundam the vakra is not used to imply any bad meaning. It only means curved trunk. Because the lord vigneswarar has curved his trunk to the side, he is called vakra tundra.

 

While an elephant can bend its trunk without taking it to any side, the lord vigneswarar is always bending with his trunk on one side -- mostly having the form with his trunk on the left side, and rarely with the trunk on the right side. Therefore, he is given the specific name "vakra tundra".

 

We have a stotram, "Vakratunda mahakaya".

The poet dhishitar sang "pranava swaroopa vakratudam". When the trunk is twisted in the right side it takes the shape of the letter Om. Then only the shape of letter Om appears. Finally, because he twists his trunk without leaving it straight down, we get to see the shape of the letter Om. The special meaning of the name vakratundar given to him is because of that.

 

If we mentally repeat the various thefts done by the lord Krishna we will not imbibe any stealthy thoughts. If we mentally repeat the various lustful acts that he did, people say that we will be able to destroy lust in us. Like that, if we mentally repeat the curved trunk of the lord vigneswarar we will destroy cunning feelings in us.

 

In the gayatri mantra for lord vigneswarar, only this name is used, when we say that "we meditate on this form with a curved trunk". This mantra has been created to direct our minds in the proper direction. In such a mantra "vakram" comes to only remove the vakram in us.