Names of people in ancient times were never random or whimsical, but were based on their qualities and activities
“Then Lord Krishna blew His conchshell named Pancajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of herculean tasks, blew his terrific conchshell named Paundraka.”
Vakodara, or Bhimasena, is advertised as a voracious eater. But he can perform Herculean task also. Just like the elephant, who eats voraciously but gives service also. If we simply eat voraciously but do not give any service, that is not good. We must eat sumptuously and give service also. In Bengali it is said that if one is given sufficient food in the belly, he can carry more burden on the back. So bhima-karma means his activities were herculean; he would perform very difficult tasks.
So everyone is named here with his task. Krishna is known as Hrikesa because He is the master of the senses. Govinda is another name of Krishna , which means “one who gives pleasure to the senses.” Krishna has got thousands of names out of which the name Krishna is the chief (mukhya). That is described in Vedic literature.
People say God has no name. That is right because He has no particular fixed name. But His names are there according to His different activities. For example, one of His names is Devakinandana because He accepted Devaki as His mother. Similarly, He is called Nanda-nandana, Yasodanandana, Vrajendra-nandana – in relationship with Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda, His foster father and mother. Similarly, He is sometimes named Partha-sarathi because He acted as the chariot driver of Arjuna, or Partha, who is the son of Patha (Kunti). From his father’s name, Pandu, Arjuna derived his name Pandava.
In Vedic civilization, after the birth of a child, there was namegiving ceremony. People’s name tallied with their activities. This is nomenclature.
In the fifteenth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna says that He gives direction to everyone (sarvasya caham hadi sannivisdau). Realization of the Absolute Truth happens in three features: Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan.
These three realizations are like realizing the sun, the sun globe, and the sunshine. They are one, but realization of the sunshine is not equal to realization of the sun globe. Or realization of the sun globe is not realization of the sun god, Vivasvan, who is within the sun globe. (The name of the present predominating Deity in the sun planet is Vivasvan. And his son Manu is called Vaivasvata Manu. This is the age of Vaivasvata Manu.) This is called acintyabhedabheda- tattva, inconceivably one and different simultaneously.
Thus Brahman realization is also God realization, but it is partial. The Supreme Lord is sac-cidananda- vigrahau [Brahma-samhita 5.1]. He is a person, but not like us. Vigraha means person. He is the supreme person, or Bhagavan. Brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate.So Brahman realization is imperfect. Further advanced realization is Paramatma realization. And the ultimate realization is realizing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna . These are the three stages.
So when He is Hrisikesa, it is His Paramatma feature. As is stated in the Bhagavad-gita (18.61),
Among the Pandavas, Bhima (second from left) was known for performing herculean tasks
The atheist, or the demon, wants to forget Krishna . So Krishna gives him such intelligence that he can speak of atheism in so many volumes. Krishna gives everyone the chance to choose: “Whatever you want to do, you do. I will give you the required intelligence. So if you want to become an atheist, then I will give you intelligence how to become first-class atheist, like Hiranyakasipu, Ravana, or Kamsa. And if you want to become My devotee, I will give you intelligence also in that way.”Dadami buddhiyogam tam yena mam upayanti te [Gita 10.10]. Not everyone likes to serve Krishna ; everyone wants to become God. Imitation Gods. Therefore they say, “Why Krishna shall be alone God? I am God.” You are God. That’s all right. But you are not the Supreme God. Why do you forget that? You may be a God at home of your wife, but when you go to your office, you are not god; your master is god. He directs you to do something; you have to do it.
So we may claim,”Every one of us is God,” but nobody can claim “I am the Supreme God.” That is not possible. Only Krishna can make that claim. Mattau parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya:”My dear Dhananjaya, there is no more superior personality than Me.” And He proved it. So God cannot be manufactured. God is God. When Krishna was three months old, lying on the lap of His mother, still He was God. He could kill Pütana the witch. So God cannot be manufactured by so-called meditation and mystic power. You may get some of the insignificant powers of God, but you do not know how much powerful God is. Therefore when a person gets little power, he thinks that he has become God. He does not know how much powerful God is.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna .