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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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