[Y-Indology] vajra

[Guest guest]

>Is vajra an IE or IIr word?

 

It is clearly Indo_Iranian and thus Central-Asian:

 

Avestan vazra, Middle Persian varz, Modern Persian gurz 'club'.

 

Note Iranian loans into Finno-Ugric: Finnish vasara, Esthonian vasar

'axe', etc.

which indicate early Central Asian/S.Russian contacts

 

 

Indo-Eur. etymology is not so clear: see Mayrhofer, EWA II 492:

Greek (F)arg-nu-mi 'to break', Hittite wag 'to bite' ?

 

 

Cheers,MW

========================================================

Michael Witzel

Department of Sanskrit & Indian Studies, Harvard University

2 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138, USA

 

ph. 1- 617-496 2990 (also messages)

home page: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm

 

Elect. Journ. of Vedic Studies: http://nautilus.shore.net/~india/ejvs/

[Guest guest]

INDOLOGY, Michael Witzel <witzel@f...> wrote:

> >Is vajra an IE or IIr word?

>

> It is clearly Indo_Iranian and thus Central-Asian:

>

> Avestan vazra, Middle Persian varz, Modern Persian gurz 'club'.

>

> Note Iranian loans into Finno-Ugric: Finnish vasara, Esthonian

vasar

> 'axe', etc.

> which indicate early Central Asian/S.Russian contacts

>

>

> Indo-Eur. etymology is not so clear: see Mayrhofer, EWA II 492:

> Greek (F)arg-nu-mi 'to break', Hittite wag 'to bite' ?

>

>

> Cheers,MW

 

Because Vishnu, Lokesvara, Zeus, Helios, El-Yahu-Baal and other

supreme 'father' forms of God were depicted with a variety of astras,

including the lighting bolt, discus, club, dagger, axe etc., there

seems to have been some confounding of the names for some of these

instruments. Thus cakra (cycle, circle, discus) seems to have

interchanged with the vajra (lightning bolt or dagger)in some times

and places as the sky-father God's principle astra / weapon attribute.

 

Ancient Greek and Roman murtis of Chronus / Saturn (Iranian Lion-

Headed Zervan Time-Eternity) sometimes carry a vajra similar to those

commonly seen in Nepal and Tibet. The cakra, commonly understood as a

solar symbol, also is a cycle (time) symbol. Thus time-related forms

of the supreme father God often carry either-or-both the vajra and

cakra. Because of the confounding, it would be useful to trace out

cakra related words in this regard. respectfully, B.A. Goswami

 

========================================================

> Michael Witzel

> Department of Sanskrit & Indian Studies, Harvard University

> 2 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138, USA

>

> ph. 1- 617-496 2990 (also messages)

> home page: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm

>

> Elect. Journ. of Vedic Studies:

http://nautilus.shore.net/~india/ejvs/