What146;s in a name?

In a country where name changes are not uncommon, I find it amusing to see protests over one such naamkaran. When Narayana Prem Sai decided ...

In a country where name changes are not uncommon, I find it amusing to see protests over one such naamkaran. When Narayana Prem Sai decided to prefix his name with Bhagwan, a statistically-insignificant section of Vrindavan felt hurt enough to hold demonstrations. How true their assertions are, one can8217;t say, but they got their 15 seconds of fame on the idiot box, followed by a few column-centimetres in print.

Whatever the impulsion 8212; an inner voice calling for the name change or a more surface-led marketing gimmickry 8212; the right to change a name vests with the person. That he has chosen Krishna8217;s country as his venue is incidental. That in this country Radha is the top deity is besides the point. But even if it is, I just can8217;t figure out how the identity of Vrindavan is desecrated, as a recent news report quotes a swami saying, by this act.

Is Vrindavan, whose cultural ethos stands strong in almost every Hindu household, so weak that a name change can turn it profane? What about the millions of boys and girls, many of them in Vrindavan, who carry the name Krishna and Radha and are so unlike them? What about the scores of restaurants in Vrindavan that go with the prefix Gopal, Krishna, Radha? Are they too contributing to the degeneration of Vrindavan?

As for Bhagwan, dig deeper and those protesting the prefix would know that Hinduism is a religion that is arguably the most inclusive of all. When it can accept 3 crore gods through the vehicle of 3 crore men that lived in India then, what8217;s one more or less? That figure, I believe, needs to be refreshed to 1 billion if restricted to Indians and, a little over 6 billion if it is to include mankind.

Surely, a religion that can grant the strengths and failings of each individual and anoint godhood on him can tolerate a renaming, humble or hubris. Besides, each god in an occult sort of way, symbolises a part of our being, with salvation lying in a harmonious integration of all parts and planes of our being, in the seeking of a perfection that lies beyond physical, mental or even religious paradigms.

Let Narayana play his game or live his truth. Let us live ours 8212; and let name.