Verse 2.30 [The ‘Naming Ceremony’ (nāmadheya)]

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

नामधेयं दशम्यां तु द्वादश्यां वाऽस्य कारयेत् ।
पुण्ये तिथौ मुहूर्ते वा नक्षत्रे वा गुणान्विते ॥ ३० ॥

nāmadheyaṃ daśamyāṃ tu dvādaśyāṃ vā'sya kārayet |
puṇye tithau muhūrte vā nakṣatre vā guṇānvite || 30 ||

One should have his ‘naming’ (Nāmadheya) done on the tenth or the twelfth (day), on an auspicious lunar date and at an auspicious moment. and under a propitious lunar asterism.—(30)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

One should perform the ‘naming,’ ‘Nāmadheya,’ of the child on the tenth or the twelfth day.

No significance is meant to be attached to the sense of the causative affix in ‘Kārayet,’ should have it done.’ For the Gṛhyasūtra simply says—‘On the tenth day the father should take up the child and perform his naming’ (without the causal form).

The term ‘Nāmadheya’ means simply ‘nāma,’ ‘name’; and it is that word by which a person is called during life.

In as much as the section has started with the mentiou of the ‘Jātakarma,’ as to be done ‘before the cutting of the umbilical cord,’ it follows that the ‘tenth’ and ‘twelfth’ (of the Text) refer to the day as counted from the day of birth; and they do not refer to the lunar dates.

On this point some people have held that the mention of the ‘tenth day’ is only meant to indicate the ‘passing of the days of impurity’; the past-participle epithet ‘atītāyām,’ ‘having passed,’ being understood. So that the meaning is that, ‘for the Brāhmaṇa the Naming should be done after the lapse of the tenth day, for the Kṣatriya after the lapse of the twelfth day, and for the Vaiśya after the lapse of the fifteenth day.’

This explanation, however, is not right. For there being no ground for taking the words in the indirect figurative sense suggested, the ceremony could very well be performed during the period of impurity, just like the ‘Birth-rite.’ If the feeding of the Brāhmaṇas were enjoined (as a necessary accompaniment of the Ṛte), then there might be some justification for the suggested figurative interpretation.

If the ‘tenth’ or the ‘twelfth’ day happen to fulfil the conditions mentioned in the second line of the verse, then the ceremony should be done on those days. Otherwise it should be performed on some other auspicious lunar date.

The ‘auspicious lunar dates’ are the, the fifth (day of the lunar month), and so forth.

‘Puṇya,’ ‘auspicious,’ means commended. The ninth, fourteenth and such other days (of the lunar month),—which are commonly called ‘Riktā,’—are ‘not commended,’ ‘inauspicious.’

‘Muhūrta,’ ‘moment,’ stands for what is called ‘lagna’ (the point of time indicated by the ‘contact with the Horizon,’ i.e., the ‘rising,’ of a particular Zodiacal Sign), Aquarius, and the rest. ‘At a moment that is auspicious,’—i.e., which is not possessed by any evil planet, which is looked upon by Jupiter and Venus. Such ‘auspiciousness’ of the moment can be ascertained with the help of the science of Astrology.

‘Under a propitious lunar asterism,’—the ‘are those beginning with Śraviṣṭhā; and that day on which these happen to be ‘propitious.’ The ‘propitiousness’ of the Lunar Asterism consists in its being free from the contact of ‘malignant’ and ‘evil’ planets, as also from the condition of ‘Vyatīpāta’ (a malignant aspect of the Sun and the Moon).

The particle ‘Vā’ in the Text has a collective sense (meaning ‘and’); hence the meaning is that ‘the ceremony should he performed on an auspicious day, and at an auspicious moment, and under a faultless lunar asterism.’ The due combination of all these conditions can be ascertained with the help of the Science of Astrology.

The final upshot of the whole comes to this:—The ceremony should never be performed before the tenth or twelfth day,—and after these days it may be performed only at the auspicious moment on that day which is found to be under a propitious lunar asterism.’—(30)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Daśamyām dvādaśyām’—‘The tenth of twelfth day of the month’—Medhātithi, who also notes and rejects the explanation—‘after the lapse of the tenth or twelfth day—i.e., ‘on the lapsing of the period of impurity’—which is accepted by Kullūka.

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Saṃskāra, p. 233) where it notes the latter explanation and says that it has been rejected by Medhātithi and Aparārka. It is curious that having the work of Medhātithi before him, the author of Vīramitrodaya did not note his explanation that the ceremony is to be performed on the 10th or 12th day (tithi) of the month.

The verse is quoted in Madanapārijāta (p. 855) also, where however no explanation is given—and in Nirṇayasindhu (p. 371), where it is added that what is meant is that the naming of the Brāhmaṇa should be done on the expiry of the tenth day, of the Kṣatriya on the expiry of the twelfth day, of the Vaiśya on the expiry of the sixteenth day and of the Shudra on the expiry of the twenty-first day;—and the second half of the verse lays down substitutes.

This verse is quoted in Saṃskāramayūkha (p. 24), which adds that ‘daśamyām’ has been taken as ‘daśamyām añtāyam’, ‘after the lapse of the tenth day’,—that no significance attaches to the causal affix in ‘kārayet’;—in Saṃskāṛaratnamālā (p. 850), which adds that the causal affix in ‘kārayet’ has the reflexive sense;—in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Saṃskāra, p. 34a);—and in Sṛmticandrikā (Saṃskāra, p. 52), which explains meaning as ‘on the tenth day from the day of the birth, the father should do the naming’, it being the father’s business to do this.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Viṣṇu-Smṛti, 27.5.—‘The naming should be done after the lapse of the period of impurity.’

Yājñavalkya, 1.12.—‘The naming on the eleventh day.’ Āśvalāyana (Gṛhyasūtrā, 1.4).—‘They should give him a name.’

Pāraskara (Gṛhyasūtrā, 1.17.11).—‘On the tenth day, the father should take him up, and after having fed the Brāhmaṇas, should perform the naming ceremony.’

Gobhila (Gṛhyasūtrā, 2.7.7).—‘On the expiry of ten days, or hundred days, or a year, after birth, the Naming.’

Jyotirvaśiṣṭha (Vīramitrodaya-Saṃskāra, p. 231).—‘The naming of the boy should be done either on the day of birth, or on the twelfth day, or in special cases, on the tenth day.’

Maheśvara (Ibid).—‘The Jātakarma and the naming of the boy should he done either by the father or brothers at the time of birth; or on the twelfth day from birth, or on the first day.’

[The naming on the day of birth refers to the imparting of a secret name, which is done along with the Jātakarma; see above.]

Viṣṇu-purāṇa (Ibid).—‘The father should do the naming on the tenth day.’

Vyāsa (Ibid).—‘Some wise men hold that the naming is to be done on the tenth day; others mention the twelfth day; and yet others hold that it should be done after the lapse of one full month.’

Nārada (Do.)—‘From the birth, on the tenth day, or the twelfth day, is performed the naming of Brāhmaṇas; of the other two castes, it is on the expiry of the period of impurity;—so also for Śūdras; hut some people hold that the naming of the Śūdra should be done on the thirty-first day.’

Śaṅkha (Do.)—‘The naming has been prescribed as to be done on the lapse of the period of impurity.’

Vaśiṣṭha (Do.)—‘The naming is prescribed as to be done on the tenth or the twelfth dav.’

Bṛhaspati (Do.)—‘The naming should he done, for the Brāhmaṇa, on the tenth or tho twelfth day; for the Kṣatriya on the thirteenth day; for the Vaiśya on the sixteenth day; and for the Śūdra either on the nineteenth (v. l. twentieth) or the thirty-second (v. l. twenty-second) day.’

Mahābhārata (Do.)—‘The naming of the twice-born castes should be done on the twelfth, the sixteenth, the twentieth and the twenty-second day respectively; for the Brāhmaṇa it may be done on the tenth also.’

Bhaviṣyapurāṇa (Do.)—‘On the expiry of the twelfth night, or, according to others, on the expiry of one month, or, according to others, on the eighteenth day.’

[Thus we find that the choice lies among the following days—the day of birth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, sixteenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, twenty-second, thirty-first, hundred and first and the end of a year.]

As regards the ‘puṇya tithi, muhūrta and nakṣatra’ the reader is referred to the Vīramitrodaya-Saṃskāra, pp. 234-237.