SamnyAsin names

[Stephen Hodge]

Nanda Candran asked:

> I've a question on the kind of names given to monks in various
Indian
> traditions.

> Bauddha monastic names seem to incline towards "ghosa", "kirti" etc
> Ashvaghosa, Buddhaghosa, Dharmakirti, Chandrakirti.

Other popular second elements in Buddhist "dharma names" include:

-sena, -mitra, -gupta, -bhadra, -deva, -bodhi, -mati, -paala
and -rak.sita.

I believe that certain second elements were preferred by different
Buddhist schools in India. There may also have been the custom, still
extant in East Asia, of using a element of one's preceptor's/teacher's
name to make up one's name.   This was certainly the case when I was a
monk in Japan whence in got the name (converted into Skt)
"Vajra-vardhana-bhadra".

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge