ॐ दिवं च रोह पृथिवीं च रोह राष्ट्रं च रोह द्रविणं च रोह।
प्रजां च रोहामृतं च रोह रोहितेन तन्वं सं स्पृशस्व ॥
dívaṃ ca róha pr̥tʰivī́ṃ ca roha rāṣṭráṃ ca róha dráviṇaṃ ca roha /
prajā́ṃ ca róhāmŕ̥taṃ ca roha róhitena tanvà1ṃ sáṃ spr̥śasva //
Raise the standards of all the aspects of your life, raise the level of your knowledge, and work hard to raise the honor of your country. Raise the standards of the wealth that you aim for and raise the level of your family and everyone around you. Rise to life immortal, by uniting yourself with the universal consciousness.
Atharva Veda Samhita 13.1.34
The above pada may not be familiar to most, except if you have been following me for a while. If you have, you would recognize the significance of this pada in my life.
It contains रोहामृत – Rohāmṛta – the name of my son, and also रोहित – Rohit, which is me.
What are the odds of finding a name that has not been used till now, and your own name, in the same line? Well, the odds increase, albeit very little, if you spend enough time scouting for an actual name, rather than googling and landing on babynames.com.
Rohāmrta will most likely have a generous sprinkling of Anayas and Shanaayaas and Aryamaans in his class, all of which mean moon or wonderful glow or whatever meaning one chooses to ascribe on a particular day of the week.
All in the false assumption that it means something in Sanskrit.
And it will be saddening that he will mostly not have any of the real Sanskrit-names for company…how many parents here name their kids Gayatri or Savitri or Vaidehi? Or Suresh for that matter:) It’s too old-sounding, they counter.
Maybe Karan Johar has to name his heroines a bit more differently so that such ‘old’ names catch on. After all, every second kid was named Krish after the eponymous character sprung (literally) to life in the movie of the same name!
By the way, contrary to all those baby sites out there, Shanaya does not mean ‘first ray of the sun’ lol. ‘Shana’ means quiet or calm, and ‘aaya’ means income. Slow income, here I come!
On that note, calling it a day. See you tomorrow:)