Hindu Compound Bow Name Contest
 

So, here's the deal.

I'm addicted to this online game, Carnage Blender (see link below). It’s a build a fighter, forge some weapons, learn some spells, kill some people type of game.

On of my characters is named “Sri Rama”, a Hindu prince who was the perfect warrior, and one of the 7 avatars for the god Vishnu. He uses a huge compound bow as one of his weapons. In this game, naming a weapon is a big deal – it gives you a damage advantage and an accuracy advantage. Once a weapon is named, you can’t change the name. I have the chance to name Sri Rama’s compound bow.

What should I name it? Any ideas? I’d love to find out what the Sanskrit for “Justice” is, or “Hand of God”.

The winner will get a kiss from Marichiko. With tongue.

-sm

Name it Quagmire.

Rama Rama Ding Ding.

That should give you an advantage as your foes fall over laughing.

Nu-clear. ;) Or if you want something badder "American Allies".

"Friendly Fire"

Name it Kali...

I beleive Aghora is 'hand of god' in sanskrit but it's been a looong time since I looked at that stuff.

Other things that come to mind are..
kundalini maa : roughly something like 'supreme spiritual energy'
There is a word that means roughly 'holy wrath' or so but I'm damned if I can remember it.

Kali and Shiva are meant to be identical, Kali came from inside Shiva but Kali is dominant but it all gets rather complicated and metaphysical.

I would name it "I'm Rick James, bitch!"

"Vibhav-bhavo" translates as "adverse feeling".

"Karuna" translates as "compassion/pity" (could be a nice name for something that puts your enemies out of their miseries)

Finally, Varuna is "a god of justice who wreaked vengeance upon evil-doers".

In your wildest wet dream, pal! :D

The Call of Yama

Yama for short.

Lord Yama is the God of death in Hindu belief, and it is common to refer to death as The Call of Yama.

I think Cyber Wolf's profile heading would be a good name.

Bringer of Peace. Needler. Serene Harp. [string thing]. Pointed Argument. Berkut. Nirvana [overused, but hey].

my dingalingstringthing thatmakesarrowsgozing

you can shorten that to just the first few syllables if you like.

Kali's Wrath

Yama's Bite

Vishnu's Venom

etc...

So, SM, what did you name it?

I ended up naming it Kodanda, which, coincidentaly, was the name of Rama's bow.

The name means "ibmued with the power of a ruler to use force in bringing justice to his people." Which I thought was appropriate.

-sm

There is a lot of meaning packed into those three tiny syllables.

Eastern languages are very mysterious and inscrutable, aren't they.

Not really. Inscrutable means they can't be understood, which would be fairly pointless for a language. It's just a conflation of two words "Ko" meaning with, or imbued with, and Danda, which was the name of a rod that rulers used to use to beat criminals within their domain.

The word Danda became more technical, and more idealized in it's use, and the conflation of the two came to be identified with a specific type of bow.

Our western languages have several examples of the same sort of thing. Compunction, Abjure, Sophistry.

-sm

Nice words, what western language are they from? :)

Mainly, they are derived from Latin. The Romans were a western civilization. Many words in our language ultimately have indo-european or sanskrit origins. The discussion thus becomes rather circular, doesn't it?

From, not derived from. ;)

ok, ok! I was just a lowly science major. Have mercy on me! ;)

No, “derived from” is appropriate. None of those words, with the possible exception of "Sophism", are directly imported from another language. Their roots stem from Latin, but they’ve been altered along the way.

Thus, the English version is the derivation of the Latin version.

Thank you, SM. You taking my side! Amazing! Can I have a ride in your limo sometime? :D

sure baby, hop on in. although I'm thinking of downgrading to a hummer. ya know, to be environmentally conscious and all.

-sm

Yeah, yeah, yeah, they are derived from latin, but what western language are they in now? :p

I'll remember that if, God forbid, I ever chance to visit L.A. Nothing against you, but from what I've heard about L.A. it just ain't my style and I think a hummer would be a very wise investment on your part in case you ever need to get the hell outta Dodge. :D

P.S. I just saw my first hummer limo a few weeks ago (we're a little backward here in Colorado). Maybe you should consider one of those!