Etymology and Other Names
The Mahabharata refers to Arjuna by ten different names. The names and their meanings are as follows.
- Arjuna - one of taintless fame and glow like silver (Argentum)
- Phalguna - one born on the star of Phalguna
- Jishnu - conqueror of enemies
- Kiriti - one who wears the celestial diadem, Kiriti, presented by Indra
- Swetavahana - one with white horses mounted to his chariot
- Bibhatsu - one who always fights wars in a fair manner
- Vijaya - victorious warrior
- Partha - Son of Pritha or Kunti
- Savyasachi - Skillful in using both arms, ambidextrous
- Dhananjaya - one who conquers riches
- Gudakesa - Conqueror of sleep
Read more about this topic: Arjuna
Famous quotes containing the words etymology and/or names:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“All nationalisms are at heart deeply concerned with names: with the most immaterial and original human invention. Those who dismiss names as a detail have never been displaced; but the peoples on the peripheries are always being displaced. That is why they insist upon their continuity—their links with their dead and the unborn.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)