notes on names a reminder

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THE MOUNTAIN PATH

Vol 1 JANUARY 1964 No 1

 

 

 

NOTE ON NAMES

 

 

The names ‘Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi’ and ‘Arunachala’ will occur

frequently in this journal. We are therefore inserting a note on

their meaning and pronunciation for those readers who are not

familiar with them.

 

‘Sri’ pronounced ‘Shree’ is a Sanskrit honorific signifying ‘blessed’ or ‘auspicious’.

It has now lost much of its meaning and come to be used before names, much like ‘Mr.’ in English.

Before the name of a Swami or holy place, however, it still has its original

connotation.

 

‘Ramana’ is an abbreviation of the personal name Venkataramana. The

accent is on the first syllable.

 

‘Maharshi’ is a contraction of ‘MahaRishi’, meaning the ‘Great Rishi’ or ‘Great Sage’.

The accent is on the second syllable.

 

‘Bhagavan’ is the word commonly used for ‘God’. It is applied by

common consent to one who is recognized as a Divine lncarnation and

is the same as the appellation of the Buddha which is commonly

rendered in English as ‘The Blessed One’. It was usual to address the

Maharshi in the third person as ‘Bhagavan’.

He accepted this usage and sometimes referred to himself so. The

accent is on the first and last syllables, the second being slurred

over.

 

 

Various meanings are assigned to ‘Arunachala’, the name of the sacred

Hill. The third and last vowels are long, the accent being mainly on

the third.

 

A remark may also be in place on the form ‘Ramanasramam’, which may confuse some readers.

The word ‘ashram’ has found its way into English dictionaries and is therefore

the correct English form, whether a correct transliteration of the

Sanskrit or not, however, ‘asramam’ is the Tamil form, and this

ashram is registered under that name, which is therefore used for its

address.

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