[jagabuwana]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

The name "Nawa Sari" is interesting. In Balinese the word "nawa" means "nine", the word "sari" is situational and has several meanings depending upon the situation, but all these meanings can be understood to have the same essence. The meanings of the word "sari" in Balinese are understood as:- flower, pollen, mother's milk, the best of something, egg yolk, yellow, rice, coins when used in an offering.

Thus, in the context of the name "Nawa Sari", the word "sari" can be understood as "flower", so Nawa Sari : Nine Flowers. Clearly there is a deeper meaning to this name, and I am still working on the "nine", I suspect it is tied to the Balinese Trinity. I've been working on Nawa Sari for around 25 years, but I have not yet been able to get a clear explanation of the "nine" part of his name. This is one of the problems with deities in Bali, they are not regarded in the Mediterranean way, but rather in a distinctly Balinese way --- which we need not go into here.

A couple of questions, Alan:

• Have you come any closer to an explanation of the "Nine" meaning in his name?
• What do you mean by the Mediterranean way of regarding deities? I took this to mean that depicting and naming Mediterranean deities has far less euphemisms, ambiguities and hidden or multiple meanings than Balinese ones. But I'd like to clarify that with you.