History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c23.235

v2.c23.235

In Ṛg. VIII. 80. 9 we read 'when you give us a fourth name connected with (the performance of) a sacrifice, we long for it; immediately afterwards, you, our master, take us' (forward to glory)⁵⁴⁸. This shows that a man could have a fourth name even in the times of Ṛg. and the fourth was a name due to the performance of a yajña. Sāyaṇa explains that the four names are: nakṣatranāma (derived from the nakṣatra on which a person was born), a secret name, a publicly known name and a fourth name like Somayājī (due to having performed a *Somayāga*). In Ṛg. X. 54. 4 there appears to be a reference to four names (though Sāyaṇa takes *nāma* here to mean the body or deed). In Ṛg. IX. 75. 2 there is reference to a third name 'the son has a third name unknown to the parents and which is in the bright part of heaven'. The two names are the nakṣatra name and the ordinary name, while the third would be the name due to the performance of a sacrifice (which the parents could not foresee at his birth). In the Ṛg. frequent reference is made to the secret name of a person. Vide Ṛg. IX 87. 3, X. 55. 1-2. We saw above (note 541a) that the Śat. Br. speaks of a second or even a third name for a person given to him by his parents. The same Brāhmaṇa⁵⁴⁹ recommends 'Therefore a brāhmaṇa when he does not prosper should give himself a second name'. But how these names were formed is not stated anywhere in the Vedic literature. In the Tai. S. VI. 3. 1. 3 it is said 'therefore a brāhmaṇa who has two names prospers'.⁵⁵⁰ The Śat. Br. (II. 1. 2. 11) says 'Arjuna is the secret name of Indra and the constellation of Phālgūuīs being presided over by Indra they are really Arjunyaḥ, but are called Phālgunyaḥ in an indirect way'.⁵⁵¹ We saw above (p. 230) that the Bṛ. Up. speaks of a secret name given by the father on the day of birth. Hardly any secret names are expressly mentioned in the Vedic literature except the name of Arjuna given to Indra (and being secret they cannot be expected to be mentioned). How the secret name was given is not clear from the Vedic literature. In Vāj. S. 17. 89 there is a reference to the secret name of ghṛta⁵⁵². The Tai. S. gives expression to the request that the (āhavanīya) fire should bear the name of one who keeps sacred fires, while the person praying was away on a journey⁵⁵³.