Rama - Etymology

Etymology

As a personal name it appears in RV 10.93.14:

10.93.14ab This to Duhsima Prthavana have I sung, to Vena, Rama, to the nobles, and the King.

The feminine form of the adjective, rāmīˊ is an epithet of the night (Ratri), as is kṛṣṇīˊ, the feminine of kṛṣṇa, viz. "the dark one; the black one". Two Ramas are mentioned in the Vedas, with the patronymics Mārgaveya and Aupatasvini; another Rama with the patronymic Jāmadagnya is the supposed author of a Rigvedic hymn. According to Monier Monier-Williams, three Ramas were celebrated in post-Vedic times,

1. Rāmachandra ("Rama-figuratively referred to as the full moon (bright light in the night sky) "), son of Dasharatha belongs to Raghuvamsa, believed to have descended from Raghu. (The Rama of this article).
2. Parashurama ("Rama of the battle axe"), the Sixth Avatara of Vishnu, sometimes also referred to as Jāmadagnya, or as Bhārgava Rāma (descended from Maharishi Bhrigu), a Chiranjivi or Immortal.
3. Balarama ("the strong Rama"), the elder brother and close companion of Krishna.

In the Vishnu sahasranama, Rama is the 394th name of Vishnu. In the interpretation of Adi Shankara's commentary, translated by Swami Tapasyananda of the Ramakrishna Mission, Rama has two meanings: the supreme Brahman who is the eternally blissful spiritual Self in whom yogis delight, or the One (i.e., Vishnu) who out of His own will assumed the enchanting form of Rama, the son of Dasaratha.