Hi Joao,
--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Joao S. Lopes" <josimo70@...>
wrote:
>
> I'm looking for etymologies for:
>
> 1- APSARAS-
> < *h2ep- "water" + *ser- "women"?
>
> 2- YAKSHAS-
>
> air deities, akin to white elves
>
> 3- RAKSHAS
> underground deities, akin to dark elves/trolls, mixed to Giants
--------------------------
1) yakSa
The etymology of this term is most uncertain. It is made to derive
by various different roots, on which there is no consensus, and
which I will not mention here.
The Pali Text Society's _Pali-English Dictionary_ translates the
term yakkha, derived from Skt. yakSa, as `a quick ray of light', but
also `a ghost' (supposedly from the Skt. root yakS- `to move
quickly, be quick, speed on'). Perhaps the term originally
designated some swift supernatural creatures, changing their abode
quickly and at will. The customary (popular) etymolgy of Pali
commentators derives yakkha from the Skt. root yaj-, to sacrifice,
thus: `a being to whom a sacrifice (of expiation or propitiation) is
given'.
According to Alain Daniélou (_Hindu Polytheism_, New York 1964, p.
137), yakSa is derived by an unspecified Skt. term
meaning `mysterious' or `marvelous'.
2) rAkSasa (< rakSas)
In the Rgveda the term rakSas means `guarding, watching; anything to
be guarded against or warded off; harm, injury, damage' as much
as `an evil being or demon'. The Skt. root rakS- means `to guard
(against), ward off, keep away, beware of, watch, protect, avoid'.
3) apsaras
This term is derived from ap (`water' as also `air' as the
intermediate region) + sR- (`to go, run, move'); thus: `she who
moves in the waters or between the waters of the clouds'
Hope this helps,
Francesco