The science of giving names and why they remove sins

[Raghav K]

Namo vaH sarvebhyaH,

I am going through the following section of the Satapatha Brahmana where Prajapati begets Rudra and provides eight names to him. And, the Brahmana says by providing names, the child is freed from sins. "tasmāt putrasya jātasya nāma kuryāt pāpmānam evāsya tad apahanty api dvitīyam api tṛtīyam abhipūrvam evāsya tat pāpmānam apahanti"

https://archive.org/details/satapatha_bahmanam_with_sayana_bhashya__harisvami_bhashya_ed._vamsidhara_sastri_1940_gangavishnu/Satapatha%20Bahmanam%20with%20Sayana%20Bhashya%20%26%20Harisvami%20Bhashya%20Part%203%20-%20Vamsidhara%20Sastri%201940%20%28Gangavishnu%29/page/n87/mode/2up

In the commentary there, acharya Sayana says one is (janma) nakshatra nAma, the other is vyAvahArika nAma, and the third one, he says, is AhitAgnir iti. Could some learned scholar here please throw light on what this third name is? Also, how does this naming process address karma per astrology? Does a nakshatra nAma reduce/remove (bad) effects associated with a star? How should the vyAvahArika nAma be chosen for it to also have the effect of removing sins? And, what about the third?

Kind regards,

Raghav

[Bingming]

I think, the referred Vedavākya from Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa which states that the nāmakaraṇa saṁskāra destroys pāpas should be taken as a stutyārthavāda. In other words, it's an arthavāda, which does praśaṁsā or stuti of the śāstrokta vidheya i.e. anuṣṭhāna of nāmakaraṇa saṁskāra. Furthermore, if I am seeing the shared document correctly, the nakṣatra, vyāvahārika and āhitāgni nāmas aren't mentioned in Sāyaṇabhāṣya but in Harisvāmi's ṭīkā. An āhitāgni is one who does pratīṣṭhā of āhavanīya, gārhapatya, and dakṣiṇāgni or is simply an agnihotrī. So, it seems āhitāgni nāma seems to be a nāma for yajana specifically, which might be used in gṛhasthāśrama by a dvija.I have never seen such a nāma before. Usually, only four nāmas are prasiddha (as stated in śāstras such as Dharmasindhu, etc.) - devatānāma or kuladevatānāma, nākṣatranāma, māsanāma, and vyāvahārika nāma. According to me, āhitāgni nāma is a type of vyāvahārika nāma, just that it might be viśeṣa for yajana, etc. and not for janasāmānya. 
 

[Raghav K]

Thank you for your elaborate reply! This helps a lot!! 

Kind regards,

Raghav

On Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 10:57 PM Bingming <kanishkde...@gmail.com> wrote:

I think, the referred Vedavākya from Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa which states that the nāmakaraṇa saṁskāra destroys pāpas should be taken as a stutyārthavāda. In other words, it's an arthavāda, which does praśaṁsā or stuti of the śāstrokta vidheya i.e. anuṣṭhāna of nāmakaraṇa saṁskāra. Furthermore, if I am seeing the shared document correctly, the nakṣatra, vyāvahārika and āhitāgni nāmas aren't mentioned in Sāyaṇabhāṣya but in Harisvāmi's ṭīkā. An āhitāgni is one who does pratīṣṭhā of āhavanīya, gārhapatya, and dakṣiṇāgni or is simply an agnihotrī. So, it seems āhitāgni nāma seems to be a nāma for yajana specifically, which might be used in gṛhasthāśrama by a dvija.I have never seen such a nāma before. Usually, only four nāmas are prasiddha (as stated in śāstras such as Dharmasindhu, etc.) - devatānāma or kuladevatānāma, nākṣatranāma, māsanāma, and vyāvahārika nāma. According to me, āhitāgni nāma is a type of vyāvahārika nāma, just that it might be viśeṣa for yajana, etc. and not for janasāmānya. 
 

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[Mahamaho. Subrahmanyam Korada]

नमो विद्वद्भ्यः

शतपथब्राह्मणम् - पूर्वमीमांसा - व्याकरणम् - कल्पः (गृह्यसूत्रम्) - ज्योतिषम्

"tasmāt putrasya jātasya nāma kuryāt pāpmānam evāsya tad apahanty api dvitīyam api tṛtīyam abhipūrvam evāsya tat pāpmānam apahanti"

 please throw light on what this third name is? Also, how does this naming process address karma per astrology? Does a nakshatra nAma reduce/remove (bad) effects associated with a star? How should the vyAvahArika nAma be chosen for it to also have the effect of removing sins? And, what about the third? --- विद् राघवः

Before going to study the वैदिकसाहित्यम् one should understand the fundamentals of पूर्वमीमांसा / वाक्यशास्त्रम् ।

तत्तदुत्प्रेक्षमाणानां पुराणैरागमैर्विना ।

अनुपासितवृद्धानां विद्या नातिप्रसीदति ॥ 485 , वाक्यकाण्डः , वाक्यपदीयम्

One should study वेद , वेदाङ्गs etc under a गुरु / आचार्य , and should not go on guessing / self study......

Today I do not find a single scholar  who studied the 12 अध्यायs of पूर्वमीमांसा (along with commentaries) across the globe . 

Even in 8th century Kumarilabhatta lamented at the poor state of affairs with regard to पूर्वमीमांसा --

प्रायेणैव हि मीमांसा लोके लोकायतीकृता ।

तामास्तिकपथे कर्तुमयं यत्नः कृतो मय़ा ॥  श्लोकवार्तिकम् 1-1, प्रतिज्ञासूत्रम् - 10

भर्तृमित्र etc commentators on पू मी  made it a नास्तिकविद्या (लोके आयतं व्याप्तं लोकायतं नास्तिकविद्या - even in कौटल्यस्य अर्थशास्त्रम् ) ।

Today the situation is not better - there are many  विद्वांसः who do not know the meaning of the term मीमांसा ।

The fundamentals of पू मी are available in मीमांसान्यायप्रकाश ।

There are five kinds of वाक्यानि in वेद -- 

विधि-मन्त्र-नामधेय-निषेधार्थवादात्मकानि ।

1. विधिः -- a वाक्यम् which gives an Injunction -- do this - ज्योतिष्टोमेन स्वर्गकामो यजेत ।

2.मन्त्रः -- the one which is employed while recollecting its meaning - चित्तं च स्वाहा चित्तायेदं न मम (जयादिहोमः) । Connect with विधि ।

3.नामधेयः -- उद्भिदा यजेत पशुकामः - उद्भित् is a name of a याग । connect with विधि ।

4. निषेधः -- the one which denotes censure - न कलञ्जं भक्षयेत् ।

5.अर्थवादः -  the sentences of commendation / eulogy - स्तुत्यर्थवादाः and those of condemnation - निन्दार्थवादाः । Connect with विधि /  निषेध । अर्थं वदतीति

अर्थवादः - कर्मणि घञ् ।

Take it for granted -- be it वेद or लोक -- the gamut of sentences can be put under two headings -- विधि (do it ) or निषेध ( do not do it ) . The rest can be 

put under either .

For a detailes study visit महावाक्यविचारः  and  Theories of Language : Oriental and Occidental (both available online) .

अर्थवादs do not ordain any विधि but are useful to generate an urge in the mind of a person to perform a particular कर्म / rite --

वायव्यग्ग्ं श्वेतमालभेत भूतिकामः -- विधिः ।

वायुर्वै क्षेपिष्ठा देवता । वायुमेव स्वेन भागधेयेनोपधावति -- अर्थवादः ।

The above is for स्तुत्यर्थवाद - since वायु  is the fastest देवता he renders things fast - so one should perform वायवीययाग where श्वेतपशु is dedicated to वायु ।

स्तुत्यर्थवाद is विधिशेष ।

निन्दार्थवाद is useful to arrest one from performing a कर्म / rite that would be detrimental to यजमान --

बर्हिषि रजतं न देयम्  -- निषेधः ।

सो’रोदीत् यदरोदीत् तद्रुद्रस्य रुद्रत्वम् -- अर्थवादः ।

One should not use silver in a याग ।  रुद्र wept and from his tears silver had emerged

 ( So we get a piece of gold  embedded in the middle of a silver plate used for meals) .

निन्दार्थवाद is निषेधशेष ।

As per नहिनिन्दान्याय any  निन्दा  of निन्द्य would finally end up in the स्तुति  of स्तुत्य  rather than in the निन्दा  of निन्द्य । रावणनिन्दा ends up in रामस्तुति ।

In काव्यs etc we come across many वर्णनs and all of them are just flowery - not to be taken literally - just useful to teach sodmeone - रामवद्वर्तितव्यम् , न तु रावणादिवत् (रामायणम्) ।

So in the present case 'पाप्मानम् एवास्य तद् अपहन्ति’ - is an अर्थवाद -- or if you apply लक्षणा -- हरि is the name of the son then while calling him the father and mother pronounce the word which would kill their sin -- I knew a lady who used to call her son in high pitch even when he was in the vicinity - श्रीहरि(3) in Telugu . 

There is no any शास्त्रम् -- ज्योतिषम् / धर्मशास्त्रम् / पुराणम् , which prescribes नामकरणम् to kill  पापम् ।

पूर्वजन्मकृतं पापं व्याधिरूपेण बाधते ।

तच्छान्तिरौषधैर्दानैः जपहोमसुरार्चनैः ॥ ज्योतिषम्

नामकरणम् --

दशाम्यामुत्थितायाग्ं स्नातायां  पुत्रस्य नाम दधाति पिता मातेति - आपस्तंबगृह्यसूत्रम् 15-8

द्व्यक्षरं  चतुरक्षरं वा  नाम ....... ibid 9

See पस्पशाह्निकं of महाभाष्यम् also .

पिता माता च नाम निदधाति -  should be the usage - not ...नाम करोति --

’ पुत्रस्य पिता  नाम दधाति व्यवस्थापयति , न तु करोति शब्दार्थयोः संबन्धस्य नित्यत्वात् माता च। इतिशब्दश्चार्थे मातापितरौ नाम धत्ते इति । इममर्थं मन्त्रवर्णो’प्याह - ’ मम नाम प्रथमं जातवेदः पिता माता च दधतुर्यदग्रे ’ (तै सं 1-5-10) इति (सूत्रतात्पर्यदर्शनम् of  सुदर्शनाचार्य) ।

There will be नक्षत्रनाम and व्यावहारिकनाम ।

नक्षत्रनाम is considered as secret (आपस्तंबः) - an enemy cannot perform अभिचारहोम (अथर्ववेद) without the knowledge of नक्षत्रनाम ।

आहिताग्नि is a common name given to one -- आहितः अग्निः येन सः ।

The process of नामकरणम् is discussed in लघुमञ्जूषा (P96)  by नागेश । There is a lot of confusion .  One should fololow his सूत्रम् - आश्वलायन - आपस्तंब etc. and borrow from other सूत्रम्  when necessaary .  See also History of Dharmasastra .

धन्यो’स्मि

 

Dr.Korada Subrahmanyam
Adju.Professor , Dept of Heritage Science and Technology, IIT, Hyderabad

299 Doyen , Serilingampally, Hyderabad 500 019
Ph:09866110741

https://sites.google.com/view/koradeeyam/home

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[Ramanujachar P]

'शास्रेणैवावसेये विहतिविरहिते नास्तिकत्वप्रहाणम्' इति श्रीवेदान्तदेशिकाः ।

'अनपहतपाप्मा वा अहमस्मि, अनाहितनामा, नामानि मे धेहि, पाप्मनोऽपहत्यै' इति श्रुतत्वात् अदृष्टसंस्कारद्वारा (सायणः ऋग्भाष्ये द्विनामप्रकरणे) पापापहतिः न असाध्या ।
'द्विनामा ब्राह्मणोऽर्धुकः' - ऋद्धिशीलः इति भट्टभास्करश्च । सोमयागप्रकरणे ।

'द्विनाम्नी दीक्षा वशिनी ह्युग्रा' इति च श्रूयते ।

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Dr. P. Ramanujan
Parankushachar Institute of Vedic Studies (Regd.)

Bengaluru

[Mahamaho. Subrahmanyam Korada]

नमो विद्वद्भ्यः

अर्थवादः -- कर्मण्यण्  पा 3-2-1  (not कर्मणि घञ्) - यथा कुम्भकारः - नगरकारः|

धन्यो’स्मि

Dr.Korada Subrahmanyam
Adju.Professor , Dept of Heritage Science and Technology, IIT, Hyderabad

299 Doyen , Serilingampally, Hyderabad 500 019
Ph:09866110741

https://sites.google.com/view/koradeeyam/home

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bvparishat/CACPsRkaa6VAS8-oiK38OomHg261-6g5f%2B05md7qsd%2BMVsVCTZw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Bingming]

Dr. Korada has already explained the five kinds of Vedavākyas as per Mīmāṁsā and related info to the question, thereby elaborating my answer. I am just trying to add on the āhitāgni nāma which I didn't elaborate in my previous comment on this post. Āhitāgni nāma is mentioned in both Vaikhānasa smārta sūtra & Baudhāyana gṛhya sūtra 

agnyādhānātparamāhitāgnyādi svakarmāntaṁ prakāśaṁ nāma bhavet // ~ Vaikhānasa smārta sūtra (3.19)

namāsmai dadhāti nakṣatranāmadheyena / dvitīyamasya nāmadheyaṁ guhyamasyānyadabhivādanīyamopanayanakālānmātāpitarau saṁviditau bhavataḥ /.... somayājī tṛtīyaṁ nāma kurvīta iti vijñāyate // ~ Baudhāyana gṛhyasūtra (1.11.4-8)

Somayājī, Vājapeyī, etc. are examples of āhitāgni nāmas, which are kept by those who have done yajana/yājana of Somayajña, Vājapeyayajña, etc. 
The gaṇitajña and daivajña Nīlakaṇṭha Somayājī from Kerala is an example. In this case, Somayājī is his āhitāgni nāma. 

[Mahamaho. Subrahmanyam Korada]

नमो विद्वद्भ्यः

........thereby elaborating my answer ---- Vid Bingming

Let me clarify - I was not elaborating anyone's answer . I started the post the immediate day . But a lot of work has to be done before posting .

The following is with regard to the answer I offered -- स्तुत्यर्थवाद ।

Does it stand the test of मीमांसान्याय -- न विधौ परः शब्दार्थः ? ( actual text -  ’विधौ हि न परः शब्दार्थः प्रतीयते’ पू मी शाबरभाष्यम्  1-2-29 सू अर्थस्तु विधिशेषत्वाद्यथा लोके) ।

भाष्यविवरणम् - विधौ हीति । न परस्य = अन्यस्य शब्दस्यार्थः प्रयोजनं तया प्रतीयते इत्यर्थः ; लक्षणायां हि परशब्दार्थः प्रयोजनं भवति । विधिपक्षे तु अपूर्वविषयत्वात् न लक्षणा युक्ता 

इत्याशयः ।

तन्त्रवार्तिकम् - विधानं हि अत्यन्तानवगतार्थविषयम् । तत्र यथाश्रुतादन्यथाग्र्हणं निष्प्रमाणकम् । एतदेवाह - विधौ हि न परशब्दार्थः प्रतीयते । परशब्दार्थो हि लक्षणासु प्रयोजनम् ।

'अनपहतपाप्मा वा अहमस्मि, अनाहितनामा, नामानि मे धेहि, पाप्मनोऽपहत्यै' इति श्रुतत्वात् अदृष्टसंस्कारद्वारा (सायणः ऋग्भाष्ये द्विनामप्रकरणे) पापापहतिः न असाध्या -- विद् रामानुजन्ताताचार्

The above quotaation also is useful in taking the said  कर्म - नामकरणम् as a विधि and there will be पाप्मानम् एवास्य अपहन्ति as a विधि and not an अर्थवाद।

पापनाशनं by performing a कर्म that is prescribed by वेद -- वेदो’खिलो धर्ममूलम् (गौतमस्मृतिः / मनुस्मृतिः) ।

धन्यो’स्मि

Dr.Korada Subrahmanyam
Adju.Professor , Dept of Heritage Science and Technology, IIT, Hyderabad

299 Doyen , Serilingampally, Hyderabad 500 019
Ph:09866110741

https://sites.google.com/view/koradeeyam/home

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[Bingming]

Seeing Dr. Korada's explanation, I agree that it's not wrong to take the referred Vedavākya (by the OP) as a vidhi instead of an arthavāda. This is because, in the framework of Pūrva Mīmāṁsā, anuṣṭhāna of nitya-naimittika karma is said to do kṣaya of pūrvakṛta pāpa. as is said by Kumārila & Śaṅkara.

pratyāśramavarṇaniyatāni nityanaimittakakarmāṇyapi pūrvakṛtaduritakṣayārtham akaraṇanimittānāgatapratyavāyaparihārārthaṁ ca kartavyāni / ~ Tantravārttika (1.3.27)

The anuṣṭhāna of nityanaimittika karmas, anurūpa to one's varṇa & āśrama, should be done for the kṣayārtha of pūrvakṛta pāpas as well as for the parihāra of pratyavāya that would arise due to their ananuṣṭhāna.

nityānyadhigatāni karmāṇyupāttaduritakṣayārthāni / ~ Śāṅkarabhāṣya on Taittirīyopaniṣat

Saṁskāras such as nāmakaraṇa, karṇavedha, etc. are naimittika karmas, and their anuṣṭhāna does do pāpanāśana, as per Mīmāṁsā.

[Raghav K]

namo vaH vidvadbhyaH,

Immense thanks to each of you for clarifying this. The essence of what you are all saying is this is to be taken as a vidhi instead of an arthavada, and, by following the vidhis enjoined in the Veda one is able to rid one of sins. Related to this, I heard from a scholar on panchangam during panchanga sravanam on the new year that by mere hearing the panchanga, one is able to nullify any bad effects associated with the rAshis during the year. I am assuming this is also to be taken not as an arthavada, but as a vidhi enjoined in the Veda, following which one is able to rid one of sins.

Related to respectable Prof. Korada's comments on the lack of students of purva mimamsa today, I would like to humbly submit that there is an equal dearth of teachers (or rather, their time) today even if there is someone sincere with a desire to learn. 

I am fairly young, but I have not been through formal Vedic education in a gurukula setting. I had been put through modern education like most people today and that wasn't my choice. That was the decision my parents felt best to take given their circumstances. It was not until I was 20 or so that I realized this is really not what I wanted but I was helpless in that I couldn't drastically change courses at that point. So, the best I could do was continue what I was doing in my field and pursue my Vedic education part-time with whatever resources I had. Professionally, I am a gold medalist from JNTU, a doctorate in Computer Science and Statistics from University of Minnesota, a full-time scientist and pursuing another part-time masters from MIT. I am newly married and given the phase of life I am in, my full-time job and on-going studies, and anushtanam I have to, I can devote at most an hour on an average everyday for study/hearing. Within this time, I am doing my best to learn as many things as I can, but in no systematic order. I don't rank myself anywhere near most of you as far as your knowledge in Indological Sciences is concerned. I just have an immense thirst to learn everything and try my best to listen to discourses that are available and resort to self-study. And, most such discourses are on Uttara Mimamsa or Itihasas or Puranas. So, quite naturally, that is where I would start. I fully agree with approaching a guru, rendering services to them, and learning systematically from them, but most gurus I've tried to reach out to in the past had been busy with their own programs and even to get clarification on one question, I have had to sometimes wait for several days to months, what to speak of someone finding time to systematically teach everything from scratch? In the course of my own self-study, I found this group and I've joined here and am posting questions that I am getting in my mind with a sincere desire to learn from all of you, who I deem highly respectable scholars. In the process, I am also contributing to this group with whatever knowledge I have. On a certain level, I have completed prasthana trayi bhashyas and some puranas and itihasas and some sampradaya granthas by purvacharyas mostly with self-reading and hearing discourses. In one of those discourses, I heard from one guru that a guru should be such that if a shishya approaches them with all sincerity they should teach them in such a way that there will be no need for them to approach any other guru. Honestly, I am waiting for someone like that to learn everything systematically from them. Until such an opportunity comes, I have to continue to resort to whoever teaches whatever subject and continue my self-learning. I would, therefore, like to humbly request your continued patience as I ask these questions.

This is, sort of, also an introduction to me, because I never introduced myself formally to this forum of scholars. I hope you will all accept me as part of this group and allow me to learn. I am, honestly, amazed with the way some of you answer by quoting all kinds of references. The answers are very comprehensive. I would like to seek all of your blessings so that I may become learned in these texts one day and similarly help the future generations.

Kind regards,

Raghav

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