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"Balaji" as a name

From the Bhakti List Archives

Nachu Anbil • April 20, 1998 


"BALAJI" as a name to be given to children

Sometime ago, Sri Sundararajan wrote as follows:
" Many thanks for this posting.   I had acquired a Tamil
booklet on the names to give Muslim children, and I have recently come
by one on the names for Christian children.  

I'd love to compile one of my own, though 'bAlAji' (supposedly
signifying tiru-vEnkaTam-uDaiyAn) would not be in my compilation.  
No body could succeed in establishing that tiru-vEnkaTam-uDaiyAn is 
NOT perumAL, but the puerile and unscholarly snipings continue, despite
the numerous evidences (inter alia of SilappadhikAram, the Tamil post-
sangham classic, from a non-vaishNava author) affirming the Lord only as
vishNu.  The next thing to do, when you are not succeeding, is to
obscure or confuse the issue.   'bAlAji' as a name is the very absurd
gimmick on this issue.  Not a single classical author has taken note of
this 'name' and it is evident that it is not worth researching on its
origin."
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Iagree with Sri Sundararajan. During my recent trip to India, a
gentleman 
was explaining how this name came into vogue. he said that Tiruvenkata 
mudaiyan was never known as Balaji, say for over half century ago. 
It wsa after the influx of North Indians to Tirupati, when they found
the
efficacy of offering to the Lord hairs by tonsure that they coined the
name 
Balaji by combining Baal+Laoji=Balaji,as if the Lord was demanding
bringing 
in hairs as an offering in return for favors granted !

This is only an observation (sans comments) for information of those who 
may be inclined to examine whether it is after all a mere guess!
Dasoham 
Anbil Ramaswamy
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