Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
"What's in a Name?"
The current craze among people is for "Nameology". This has acquired the
proportions of a "science" and its practitioners are minting money. Even
eminently rational people appear to be impressed by its tenets and the thing is
fast assuming the veneer of wisdom. For those who haven't heard of the term,
Nameology refers to the science of names, their properties, their power to
influence people's lives, etc. Though no University of repute is yet awarding
degrees in the subject, yet its practitioners appear to have conferred
impressive-sounding titles upon themselves. Their advice has resulted in
people's names undergoing rather funny transformations, with "R. Gopalan"
becoming "R.G. Pal" and so on.
Even before the advent of these Nameologists, an undesirable trend had become
noticeable in naming the new-born. Where previously people used to search for
suitable sobriquets in the Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam or the LakshmISahasranamam,
they shifted their research to dictionaries and encyclopeadeas. And since each
parent wanted to be individualistic and unique in naming his or her offspring,
there was a profusion of "TanUjA"s, "KavyA"s, "NetrA"s and so on, while boy
babies ended up with fancy names like "Dhanush", "PeeyUsh", etc. I would say
that these parents were somewhat short of foresight, from a purely aesthetic
angle, for, a name should sit well on a person as well as it does in infancy
and youth, as in old age. It would sound indeed incongruous to call a person
"Dhanush Tatha" or " ShObha Patti". In my banking career, I have come across
people with names like "Russia", making me wonder at the innovativeness of
parents, which often results in their offspring being greeted with derision
everytime their name is called out. In their anxiety to be "different", parents
often bestow upon their offspring names like "TanUjA", (which really means one
who was born out of a body), "Neha", "Sangita" etc., which are pretty prosaic,
with little significance. And there are those with a smattering of classical
Sanskrit, who come up with perhaps grammatically correct but unappealing names
like "advE", leaving you with a feeling of something missing from the
appellation. Worse still, many exhibit their devotion to political leaders by
naming their children after these figures with feet of clay. Some take perverse
pleasure in giving their infants the names of dreaded asurAs-it was hence no
surprise to me to come across recently a book by one Mr.Ravanan- I looked
carefully to see whether the work was dedicated to Mr Marichan or Mr. Indrajit,
but obviously the author felt one unconventionality to be enough.
Not only are fancy names becoming the order of the day, but even grown-up
people, who had already been named well, have begun changing their
appellations, as they would clothes. Abbreviation has become the name of the
game, with "Sundararajan" cosnsidering himself to be having too long a handle
and shortening himself to "S.Rajan", Srinivasan becoming S.Vasan, Krishnaswamy
changing into "K.Swamy", "Narayanan" shedding excess baggage to become
"Narayan", and so on. In the process, the beautiful and profound purports
behind most of these names are mutilated and mangled beyond recognition.
All this makes us wonder as to the purpose for which a name is chosen. The most
obvious objective is to confer a distinctive tag to the baby, to distinguish it
from others: but then, considering the fact that most of the names are
repetitive (there must be any number of Satakopans in our Sampradaya, as there
are Ramanujans, Krishnans and Ramans), there must indeed be a more profound
purpose to this naming business, than mere identification. Some names are
universally popular and in a crowd, if the name "Venkatesan" is called out,
there would be a forest of hands going up. And among women, there is a
veritable proliferation of "LakshmI", "PadmA", "IndirA" etc.
When we analyse the naming pattern that was prevalent before the advent of
these fancy monickers, we find that babies were mostly named after the Lord. It
would be either a Rama, a Krishna, an Aravamuda, a Srinivasa, a Parthasarathy,
an Oppili and so on, not to mention the Ranganathas and the Varadas. And as far
as female infants were concerned, they were called Lakshmi (and its variants
like Vijayalakshmi and Rajalakshmi), Vedavalli, Alarmelu (this had become
slightly unfashionable, for some unknown reason, quite some time back), Padma,
Pankajam, Ranganayaki etc. It was thus axiomatic to name children after
Emperuman and Piratti. And no one could complain of lack of choice in this
regard, because the Lord has a thousand names and more, as does His Consort,
affording a wide variety of titles to choose from, according to the parents'
taste and inclination. From an aesthetic angle too, all these divine names were
sweet-sounding, none of them being tongue-twisters, with most of them sporting
the added advantage of brevity.
Beyond merely conferring an identity, the Lord's names have an extremely
significant role to perform, which is highlighted by Sri Periazhwar, in the
first Tirumozhi of the fourth decad ("nAgam karayudai kooraikku"). Azhwar says
that the mother who names her child after the Lord would never even peep into
Hell ("Naranan annai narakam pugAL"). She would never contract any sin,
necessitating a sojourn in narakam, and even if she did, the stigma would be
washed away by merely calling to her infant by name. Before extolling the
virtues of bestowing children with the Lord's holy names, the Azhwar points out
the folly of naming our offspring after human beings (however venerable they
are) and inanimate objects.
"What is the point of naming your child after a perishable mortal, born in our
same clan of human beings and subject to decay and death, when you have the
option of choosing from among the innumerable tirunAmams of the incomparable
Lord, capable of conferring upon you coveted immortality?" enquires Azhwar-
"MAnida sAdiyil tOndrittOr mAnida sAdiyayi
MAnida sAdiyin pEr ittAl marumaikku illai
VAnudai Madhava! Govinda! Endru azhaitthkkAl
NAnidai Naranan tam annai narakam pugAL"
If you name your child after a human being in ancticipation of deriving from
him or her material benefits like riches, bounty or favours, you may or may not
attain these coveted baubles, for human beings are fickle-minded and whimsical
and may or may not be gratified by lending their names to others' infants.
However, the Lord's names are immensely powerful, as would be attested by
Droupati, Gajendra, Dhruva and others, and would definitely confer upon the
bearers untold benefits including immortality ("immayum sAdittu....Veedum
tarum", as Sri Nammazhwar says). The divine name thus emancipates not only its
bearer, but also the parents and others who have the good fortune to call out
the names time and again.
The story of ajAmiLa attests to the aforesaid averment of Sri Vishnuchitta.
Though born a Brahmin with all virtues and adherence to shAstraic dicta,
ajAmiLa fell into bad ways, left his family and was living with a woman of
dubious morals, ignoring his children born of his legally-wedded wife and
lavishing all affection on the child born out of wedlock, whom he had
providentially named "Narayanan". When this fallen Brahmin was on his death
bed, he was overwhelmed at the thought of separation from his beloved boy and
called to him with all love and affection, when his lifebreath ebbed out of his
body. When YamakinkarAs came to take away his soul for undergoing just
punishment for all his sins of omission and commission, they found themselves
confronted by messengers from VishnulOkam, claiming custody of the departed
soul for blissful sojourn in the land of the immortals, solely by virtue of
ajAmiLa having uttered the Narayana nAmam. In vain did the minions of Yama
remonstrate with the angels from VishnulOka that it was not the Paramapurusha
Narayana that ajAmiLa had called to , but his own infantile son, born out of
wedlock. A name is a name, said the VishnudootAs, laying down for posterity
that the utterance of the Lord's names, whether in right earnest with due
devotion, or casually and derisively or even without any reference to the Lord
("SAnkEtyam pArihAsyam cha stobham hElanam Eva vA"), would definitely confer
only the best on the utterer. The bottomline was that despite his innumerable
offences, ajAmiLa escaped the fires of hell, simply because he had named his
son after the Lord and called to him while on his death bed. It is with this in
mind that Sri Periazhwar adopts the refrain, "Naranan tan annai narakam pugAL".
There are some interesting sidelights on names.
According to the Purusha Sukta, it was the Lord who first gave names to all His
creation, sentient and non-sentient, calling each created being by its given
name-"nAmAni kritvA abhivadan yadAstE".
And there is the fascinating episode of VasishttA's arch rival VisvAmitra,
loathe to calling the Prince of Ayodhya by the name "Rama:" given by Kula guru
VasishttA, thinking long and deep during their travel to DandakA vanam,
searching for a suitable sobriquet for the young prince, seeking to replace the
one He was already answering to. However hard he racked his brains, the sage
was unable to come up with a better tirunAmam, and finally ended up calling the
Lord by the name given to him by Maharshi Vasishtta-"Rama! iti madhurAm vANeem
VisvAmitrO abhyabhAshata".
A significant point made in the aforesaid Periazhwar Tirumozhi is that parents
who give their offspring the names of the Lord are spared the rigours of Hell.
When Azhwar says "MAnida sAdiyin pEr ittAl marumaikku illai", he seems to hint
that naming our children after the Lord and calling them often, can by itself
bestow emancipation on us. The important question arises here as to the
efficacy of the Lord's tirunamas-by themselves, can they lead us to the gates
of Paramapadam? Are they an independent strategy by themselves, capable of
liberating us from our mundane shackles, as extolled in the phalashruti portion
of the Sahasranamam- "SankIrtya Narayana sabda mAtram vimukta du:khA: sukhinO
bhavantu" and in numerous other pramANams?
If the hallowed names of Vishnu are by themselves capable of liberating us from
Samsara and affording us eternal bliss in Paramapadam, what about the various
upAyAs prescribed by Shastras as essential for achieving emancipation? Why
should we adopt the infinitely hard strategies of Bhakti or the thirty-odd
Brahma vidyAs prescribed by the various Upanishads? Why should we even attempt
Prapatti, which, though held out to be an easy strategy, is indeed difficult
for us who are unable to inculcate the MahAvisvAsam or unshakeable faith it
calls for in the Lord and His capabilities? When such an easy path, that of
merely reciting the Lord's names, is available, forming a virtual short cut to
Paramapadam, why strike out for the other thorny trails which lead to journey's
end only after strenuous and arduous travel and considerable detour?
Acharyas tell us that while Emperuman's tirunamam is indeed extraordinarily
powerful and is definitely capable of bestowing on us the ultimate fruit, viz,
a blissful existence in Paradise, it does so through an appropriate upAya of
our choice. Thus nAma sankeertanam leads us to Moksham not directly, but
through the alleyway of an upAya like Bhakti or Prapatti. For, the Lord has
made it clear that He would not admit anyone to Paramapadam, unless they
perform Prapatti-
"PrapannAt anyEshAm na disati MukundO nija padam".
The constant recitation of the Lord's names and the resultant exultant
experience leads us to the company of similarly blessed souls, bringing us
together with BhAgavatAs. This, in turn, leads us to an Acharya, who, in his
infinite mercy, enlightens us as to the nature of the Lord, of ourselves, the
need for us to strive for liberation from this mundane morass, the strategy to
be adopted therefor and what impediments lie across the way of the Pilgrim's
Progress. With a mind made blemishless by such sermons, we pray to the Acharya
for upAya anushttAnam, which request the Preceptor fulfils with alacrity,
surrendering our souls at the lotus feet of the Divya Dampati, thereby ensuring
for us a berth in Sri Vaikuntam, at the end of this human birth.
We thus find that the Lord's holy names do lead us to liberty, but through the
adoption of an appropriate option like Bhakti or Prapatti. And all this, says
Sri Periazhwar, can be done by merely naming our progeny after the Lord, for
this affords us infinite opportunities to chant the Lord's names on the pretext
of calling our children. And whether or not we recite His tirunAmams with
devotion, He gives us the benefit of doubt (as He did to ajAmiLa) and leads us
on to Himself in due course. Just as a fire scorches us, whether or not we know
its property of burning, the BhagavannAma too affords us all that is
auspicious, whether we utter it with due devotion or with disinterest or even
disdain.
The next time you come across parents of a new-born, please persuade them to
eschew the temptation to be "fashionable" in naming their child. Keshavan or
Narayanan might be old-fashioned, but they are tried, tested and found good.
And better even than the Lord's names are those of Azhwars and Acharyas, for
they portray infinite bhakti, unmatched devotion and boundless humility, all of
which are hallmarks of excellent human beings. There are definitely better
prospects of a Ramanujan or Venkatanathan or Padma attaining enlightenment,
than a "Nitin", "Rahul" or "Shrishti".
Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
Dasan, satakopan.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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