| Bayu | |
| Pronunciation: | vɑːju/ in Indonesian baˈyu/ in Malay baˈju/ in Sanskrit ʋaːjʊ/ |
| Gender: | Male |
| Meaning: | Wind, Air, Breath |
| Region: | India |
| Origin: | Sanskrit |
Bayu is a male given name. It is the Malay form of the originally Sanskrit: [[wikt:वायु|वायु]] . The word vāyu is sometimes used generically in the sense of the physical air or wind.
Bayu's popularity has varied. In Indonesia, the name is included in the top 101 most commonly used names, ranking 42nd,[1] and also is included in the Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language.[2] It is also popular in Ethiopia and quite familiar in India, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.[3]
Vayu (in Sanskrit pronounced as /ʋaːjʊ/, Sanskrit: [[wikt:वायु|वायु]],), also known as Vata and Pavana, is the Hindu god of the winds as well as the divine messenger of the gods. In the Vedic scriptures, Vayu is an important deity and is closely associated with Indra, the king of gods. He is mentioned to be born from the breath of Supreme Being Vishvapurusha and also the first one to drink Soma.[4]
The word for air (vāyu) or wind (pavana) is one of the classical elements in Hinduism. The Sanskrit word Vāta literally means 'blown'; Vāyu, 'blower' and Prāna, 'breathing' (viz. the breath of life, cf. the *an- in animate). Hence, the primary referent of the word is the 'deity of life', who is sometimes for clarity referred to as Mukhya-Vāyu (the chief Vayu) or Mukhya Prāna (the chief of life force or vital force).[5]
Sometimes the word vāyu, which is more generally used in the sense of the physical air or wind, is used as a synonym for prāna. Vāta, an additional name for the deity Vayu, is the root of vātāvaranam, the Sanskrit and Hindi term for 'atmosphere'.