History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c23.261

v2.c23.261

(9) The gṛhyasūtras (except Pār. and Mānava) are agreed that a secret name is to be given to the boy by the parents, in the Sosyantīkarma according to Gobhila and Khādira, at birth according to some (like Āśv. and Kāṭhaka) and according to others (like Āp., Baud., Bhār. ) at the time of Nāmakaraṇa on 10th or 12th day. We saw above that Śāṅ. and Kāṭhaka give elaborate rules about the secret name, which rules are those of the Vyāvahārika⁵⁶⁰ name according to Āśv. and many other sūtrakāras. Gobhila and Khādira give no rules about the secret name. Āp., Hir. and Vaik. only say that the secret name should be derived from the nakṣatra of birth, but give no further rules. Bhāradvāja⁵⁶¹ speaks of the giving of two names in Nāmakaraṇa, one being derived by applying the intricate rules described above and the other being a nakṣatra name ; but it is not quite clear which was to be the secret name ; it is probable, however, that the nakṣatra name was to be the secret one. According to Āśvalāyana the secret name was called Abhivādanīya ( which was to be known to the parents only till the boy's upanayana and which was to be used by the boy for announcing himself in respectful salutations ) ; but he does not say how it was to be derived. Gobhila, Khādira, Vārāha (5) and Mānava speak of an abhivādanīya name. Gobhila prescribes that this name was to be given to the boy at the time of upanayana by the ācārya and was to be derived from the nakṣatra of birth or from the presiding deity of that nakṣatra. Gobhila⁵⁶² further adds that according to some teachers the abhivādanīya name was derived from the gotra of the boy (as e. g. Gārgya, Śāṇḍilya, Gautama &c.). This practice is based on the usage we find in the Upaniṣads, where Satyakāma when about to go to a teacher for Vedic study asks his mother what his gotra was (Chān. Up. IV. 4. 1) and where the teacher also asks him what his gotra was. In the Kaṭhopaniṣad Naciketas is styled Gautama and in Chān. V. 3. 7 Śvetaketu is addressed as Gautama by Pravāhaṇa Jaivali when the latter expounded Saṁvarga-vidyā to the former. But if the abhivādanīya was a gotra name there could have been no secrecy. From Gobhila it appears that the ācārya told the boy his abhivādanīya name, but the Khādira suggests that the boy already knew it (from his father or mother) and informed the teacher. The nakṣatranāma was of importance in the performance of Vedic sacrifices. The Vedāṅgajyotiṣa⁵⁶³ (of the Ṛg) in verses 25-28 enumerates 28 nakṣatras (adding Abhijit after Uttarāṣāḍhā and before Śravaṇa) and their presiding deities and adds that in sacrifices the sacrificer is to bear a name derived from the name of the presiding deity of his nakṣatra. The object of keeping the nakṣatra name secret seems to have been to prevent rites of abhicāra (magical practices) against a person, for the effective employment of which it was necessary to know a person's name.⁵⁶⁴