--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "A." <xthanex@...> wrote:
> My apologies for beating a dead horse.... but I have looked back
> through the archives and am still at a loss as to whether the
> infamous Ouranos - Varuna connection is viewed as valid.
Attempts to link Ouranos to Varun.a etymologically have been
generally abandoned. "The Greek Ouranos is the Sanskrit Varun.a"
is no longer as undisputed as it was in Dumézil's time -- compare
Frisk's Greek and Mayrhofer's Sanskrit etymological dictionaries.
From a PIE perspective, Greek Ouranos may well be related to the
roots *weh1-r- 'moisture, water' and *weh1-r-s- 'to moisten, let
water' (referring to the rain), but Sanskrit Varun.a probably isn't.
(As for Varuna, many Vedicists are now inclined to consider a PIE
root *werh1- 'to speak'. This etymology would make Varuna a god
of 'true-speech').
This IE etymology, which interprets Ouranos as a theonym originally
meaning 'rainmaker' (or, metaphorically, 'moistener, drencher,
fertilizer, impregnator'), and only later 'heaven, sky' (also
personified), is discussed in Beekes' Greek Etymological Dictionary
at
http://tinyurl.com/5m4sov
The etymology infers that Proto-Greek *worsanos ~ *(F)orsanos
(where /F/ = digamma) may derive from a noun *worso- ~ *(F)orso- =
Sanskrit vars.a- 'rain'. As an agent noun, ouranos may belong to a
primary verb *(w/F)ers- = Sanskrit vars.ati 'to rain'; it can also
be derived from the secondary verb oureo:- 'to make water'
(part. 'to urinate').
See also J. Puhvel, _Comparative Mythology_, Baltimore and London,
The John Hopkins University Press, 1987, p. 49.
Best wishes,
Francesco