Question
Where does the etymology of the word ‘God’ come from? (krsna = kristos, etc.)
Answer
Here is the etymology of the word ‘God.’
- There is a tendency for a Sanskrit ‘h’ to change into a ‘g’ in European languages.
- Examples of this h → g:
a) aham, “I” becomes Greek ‘ego’
b) maha → Latin ‘magna’
c) vahana → German ‘wagen’, ‘vehicle’ - Similarly, Sanskrit ‘huta’, “one who is invoked/worshipped”, changes into German ‘gott’, then English ‘God.’
The Greek word ‘khristos’ means “the anointed” (Sanskrit abhishikta) and is a translation of the Hebrew ‘mashiah’ (messiah). ‘Khristos‘ is thus a verbal adjective from the Greek verb khriein “to rub, anoint” (Sanskrit abhsheka). Thus, it is not clear that the word ‘Khristos’ or ‘Christ’ comes from the word Krishna.
