तं त्यक्तुकामां ममतां भर्तुस्त्यागविशङ्किताम् ।
नामनिर्वाचनं तस्य श्लोकमेनं सुरा जगुः ॥३७॥

taá¹ tyaktu-kÄmÄá¹ mamatÄá¹
bhartus tyÄga-viÅ›aá¹…kitÄm
nÄma-nirvÄcanaá¹ tasya
Å›lokam enaá¹ surÄ jaguḥ

 tam - that newly born baby; tyaktu-kÄmÄm - who was trying to avoid; mamatÄm - unto MamatÄ; bhartuḥ tyÄga-viÅ›aá¹…kitÄm - very much afraid of being forsaken by her husband because of giving birth to an illegitimate son; nÄma-nirvÄcanam - a name-giving ceremony, or nÄma-karaṇa; tasya - to the child; Å›lokam - verse; enam - this; surÄḥ - the demigods; jaguḥ - enunciated.


Text

MamatÄ very much feared being forsaken by her husband for giving birth to an illegitimate son, and therefore she considered giving up the child. But then the demigods solved the problem by enunciating a name for the child.

Purport

According to Vedic scripture, whenever a child is born there are some ceremonies known as jÄta-karma and nÄma-karaṇa, in which learned brÄhmaṇas, immediately after the birth of the child, make a horoscope according to astrological calculations. But the child to which MamatÄ gave birth was begotten by Bá¹›haspati irreligiously, for although MamatÄ was the wife of Utathya, Bá¹›haspati made her pregnant by force. Therefore Bá¹›haspati became bhartÄ. According to Vedic culture, a wife is considered the property of her husband, and a son born by illicit sex is called dvÄja. The common word still current in Hindu society for such a son is doglÄ, which refers to a son not begotten by the husband of his mother. In such a situation, it is difficult to give the child a name according to proper regulative principles. MamatÄ, therefore, was perplexed, but the demigods gave the child the appropriate name BharadvÄja, which indicated that the child born illegitimately should be maintained by both MamatÄ and Bá¹›haspati.