Editing Varuna (section)

== Etymology ==
In Hindu tradition, the theonym ''Váruṇa'' ([[Devanagari]]: [[wikt:वरुण#Sanskrit|वरुण]]) is described as a derivation from the verbal root ''vṛ'' ("to surround, to cover" or "to restrain, bind") by means of a suffixal ''-uṇa-'', for an interpretation of the name as  "he who covers or binds", in reference to the cosmological [[Oceanus|ocean or river]] encircling the world, but also in reference to the "binding" by universal law or ''[[Ṛta]]''.<ref name="Snodgrass1992p121" />

[[Georges Dumézil]] (1934) made a cautious case for the identity of Varuna and the Greek god ''[[Uranus (mythology)|Ouranos]]'' at the earliest [[Indo-European mythology|Indo-European]] cultural level.<ref>Dumézil, ''Ouranós-Váruna: Étude de mythologie comparée indo-européenne'' (Paris:Maisonneuve 1932).</ref><ref name="Dumézil">Georges Dumézil, ''Ouranos-Varuna – Essai de mythologie comparée indo-européenne'' (Paris: G.-P. Maisonneuve, 1934).</ref>
The etymological identification of the name ''Ouranos'' with the Sanskrit ''Varuṇa'' is based in the derivation of both names from the [[PIE root]] ''*ŭer'' with a sense of "binding" – the Indic king-god ''Varuṇa'' binds the wicked, the Greek king-god ''Ouranos'' binds the Cyclopes. This derivation of the Greek name is now widely rejected in favour of derivation from the root  *''wers-'' "to moisten, drip" (Sanskrit vṛṣ "to rain, pour").<ref>[[Manfred Mayrhofer]], ''Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen'', vol. 2, s.v. "Vsáruṇa" (Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1996), 515–6.
[[Edgar Charles Polomé|Edgar C. Polomé]], "Binder-god", in ''[[Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture]]'' (London–Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997), 65.</ref>