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ArchivesRe: meaning of Shreyan
in reply to a message by Manish
The name is unfamiliar, and the exact form is unknown to me in Sanskrit.
However, there is a set of words shrI, shrA, shrai, which seems to have originally meant something like to mix, boil, cook etc. I do not know the exact relation between this cluster of meanings, but one of them shrI soon picked up the additional meaning of `to diffuse light' and thence to light,lustre, glory, beauty and thence to prosperity, high rank etc. It was, for example, used as the name of the goddess of wealth, and is still used as the honorific (equivalent of Mr. or Sir in English), with a connotation of someone who is good and holy.
There is a word shreYas which, in form, is the comparative from shrI, and is usually parsed as beautiful, propicious, blissful, fortunate, happy, etc. A possible etymological reflex of this word in Greek, κρείων, means lord or master. This word could mean most blessed or favorable, and the feminine form, shreYA is used as a name.
Shreyan is not a form of this word that I recognize. However, it is completely possible that this is used in some modern Indian language, and is considered a form of the Sanskrit shreyas.
However, there is a set of words shrI, shrA, shrai, which seems to have originally meant something like to mix, boil, cook etc. I do not know the exact relation between this cluster of meanings, but one of them shrI soon picked up the additional meaning of `to diffuse light' and thence to light,lustre, glory, beauty and thence to prosperity, high rank etc. It was, for example, used as the name of the goddess of wealth, and is still used as the honorific (equivalent of Mr. or Sir in English), with a connotation of someone who is good and holy.
There is a word shreYas which, in form, is the comparative from shrI, and is usually parsed as beautiful, propicious, blissful, fortunate, happy, etc. A possible etymological reflex of this word in Greek, κρείων, means lord or master. This word could mean most blessed or favorable, and the feminine form, shreYA is used as a name.
Shreyan is not a form of this word that I recognize. However, it is completely possible that this is used in some modern Indian language, and is considered a form of the Sanskrit shreyas.
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Replies
Hi , I am blessed with a baby boy & I want to keep his name as "Shreyan" . but i am not quite clear about it's meaning . I found it's meaning on the net as "the most blessed" or "superior". kindly let me know if its really true.
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Thanks a lot for your comments. While searching on the web, I discovered that this name/word occurs in the Gita and is translated as superior, i believe. I am not very familiar with sanskrit, but would you know if shreyan and shreyas are different forms of the same word?
thanks!
-Manish
“Shreyan svadharma vigun parartha swanishtat
Svadharma nidhan shrey paramdharma bhayabhav”
Superior is the law of one’s own nature, through lacking in merits, to that of another even though well observed. Death in working out the law of one’s own nature is superior, but an alien law is fraught with risk
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Yes.
Note that the -a- in this shreyan is long and open like in English car. (I was thinking of a short a as in English about when I wrote that shreyan is not a form in Sanskrit: my fault.) This comparative adjective `better' is unlikely as a name, but possible.
Incidentally, I am a bit puzzled by the Sanskrit that you used. In a shloka, the meter used in this, each of the four feet should have eight syllables (fifth light, sixth heavy, seventh alternating starting with heavy). In the bhagavadgItA, the form is sometimes violated in detail, but not so much. I would transcribe 3.35 as
shreYAnsvadharmo viguNaH paradharmAtsvanuSThitAt
svadharme nidhanaM shreyaH paradharmo bhaYAvahaH
in a slightly different transliteration scheme. The meaning you give is roughly correct (cultural terms like `law of one's own nature' is difficult to meaningfully translate): the ending `fraught with risk' I would translate as `brings fear'.
Note that the -a- in this shreyan is long and open like in English car. (I was thinking of a short a as in English about when I wrote that shreyan is not a form in Sanskrit: my fault.) This comparative adjective `better' is unlikely as a name, but possible.
Incidentally, I am a bit puzzled by the Sanskrit that you used. In a shloka, the meter used in this, each of the four feet should have eight syllables (fifth light, sixth heavy, seventh alternating starting with heavy). In the bhagavadgItA, the form is sometimes violated in detail, but not so much. I would transcribe 3.35 as
shreYAnsvadharmo viguNaH paradharmAtsvanuSThitAt
svadharme nidhanaM shreyaH paradharmo bhaYAvahaH
in a slightly different transliteration scheme. The meaning you give is roughly correct (cultural terms like `law of one's own nature' is difficult to meaningfully translate): the ending `fraught with risk' I would translate as `brings fear'.
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