वेदों की प्राचीनता एवं काल-निर्णय / ओरायन (लोकमान्य बाल गंगाधर तिलक - खगोलीय वैदिक शोध)

74 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. these clearly indicate that the road of the Devayâna commenced at the rise of the Dawn, or after the end of darkness ; and that it was the road by which Agni, Ashvins, Uṣhas, Sûrya and other matutinal deities travelled during their heavenly course. The path of the Pitṛis, or the Pitṛiyâna, is, on the other hand, described in X, 18, 1, as the "reverse of Devayâna, or the path of Death." In the Ṛig-Veda, X, 88, 15, the poet says that he has "heard" only of "two roads, one of the Devas and the other of the Pitṛis." If the Devayâna, therefore, commenced with the Dawn, we must suppose that the Pitṛiyâna commenced with the advent of dark- ness. Sâyaṇa is, therefore, correct in interpreting V, 77, 2, as stating that "the evening is not for the Gods (devayâḥ)." Now if the Devayâna and the Pitṛiyâna were only synonymous with ordinary day and night, there was obviously no propriety in stating that these were the only two paths or roads known to the ancient Ṛishis, and they could not have been described as consisting of three seasons each, beginning with the spring, (Shat. Brâ. II, 1, 3, 1-3).* It seems, therefore, very probable that the Devayâna and the Pitṛiyâna originally represented a two-fold division of the year, one of continuous light and the other of continuous darkness as at the North Pole ; and that though it was not suited to the later home of the Vedic people it was retained, because it was an established and recognised fact in the language, like the seven suns, or the seven horses of a single sun. The evidence in support of this view will be stated in subsequent chapters. It is sufficient to observe in this place, that if we interpret the twofold division of the Devayâna and the Pitṛi- yâna in this way, it fully corroborates the statement in the Taittirîya Brâhmaṇa that a year was but a day of the Gods. We may also note in this connection that the expression 'path

• For a full discussion of the subject see Orion, pp. 24-30.