[Advaita-l] Sons known after their Mothers' names

[V Subrahmanian]

A few more names:

Ānjaneya - son of Anjanā

Āditya - son of Aditi

Daitya - son of Diti.

On Wed, Jul 6, 2016 at 1:20 PM, V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
wrote:

> In the Shruti/Smriti  literature we have a number of instances where a son
> is referred to through the mother's name.
>
> What comes to mind immediately are: Kaunteya, Pārtha - names of Arjuna and
> sometimes applicable to his brothers too in the MB/BG.
>
>
> Kosaleya is Rama, son of Kausalya.
>
> Soumitrī is Lakshmaṇa, son of Sumitrā.
>
> Rohiṇeya is Balarāma, son of Rohiṇi.
>
> Rādheya is Karṇa, son of Rādha, his foster mother.
>
> In the Chandogya Shruti we have the famous name: Jābāla, Satyakāma, son of
> mother Jabālā.
>
> There is even a straight name: Devakīputra Kriṣhna in the Chandogya
> Upanishad 3.7.6.
>
> It is not that all the above named persons did not have a father or the
> father's identity was unknown. Yet they are popular by those names.
>
> In the Mahabharata serial, we have seen Gāndhāri addressing her husband
> Dhṛtarāṣṭra as 'Ārya putra'.  It looks like the practice of uttering the
> husband's name was not present in the olden times.
>
> I heard a humorous story in a Madhva gathering for a 'aṣṭāvadhāna'
> presentation in the Uttarādi Maṭha recently.  It was narrated by the
> 'aprasakta prasanga' person, part of the avadhāna, thus:
>
> The Swami of the Maṭha has influenced many of his devotees by saying that
> a chaste woman will not utter her husband's name.  Once a census party
> visiting a house had this experience:
>
> They asked for the husband, the head of the family.  He had gone out and
> his wife replied them. They asked for his name and she refused to utter the
> name saying 'Ask the Swamiji'. The officer replied: 'Madam, the Swamiji
> will be on tour somewhere and where can we find him to ask this?'
>  Thereupon the lady said: I shall give a puzzle and you can find out the
> reply there.
>
> If he jumps from top to bottom it is eight feet. From right to left it is
> six feet and from left to right eight feet.
>
> The officer could decipher the hidden message: Her husband's name is:
> Hanumantha Rao.
>
> The above was said there and shared here only in jest.
>
> regards
> subrahmanian.v
>