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

THE VEDIC DAWNS. 109 as described in II, 28, 9, many dawns appeared one after another before they ripened into sunrise. (2) The Dawn was addressed in the plural number not honorifically, nor as representing the consecutive dawns of the year, but because it was made up of thirty parts (I, 123, 8; VI, 59, 6; T. S, IV, 3, 11, 6). (3) Many dawns lived in the same place, acted harmoniously and never quarrelled with each other, (IV, 51, 7-9; VII, 76, 5; A. V. VII, 22, 2). (4) The thirty parts of the dawn were continuous and insepar- able, forming 'a closely gathered band,' or 'a group of dawns,' (I, 152, 4; T. Br. II, 5, 6, 5; A. V. VII, 22, 2). (5) These thirty dawns, or thirty parts of one dawn revolved round and round like a wheel, reaching the same goal every day, each dawn or part following its own destined course, (I, 123, 8, 9; III, 61, 3; T. S. IV, 3, 11, 6). These characteristics it is needless to say are possessed only by the dawn at or near the Pole. The last or the fifth especially is to be found only in lands very near the North Pole and not everywhere in the Arctic regions. We may, therefore, safely conclude that the Vedic Goddess of Dawn is Polar in origin. But it may be urged that while the Polar dawn lasts from 45 to 60 days, the Vedic dawn is described only as made up of thirty day- long parts, and that the discrepancy must be accounted for before we accept the conclusion that the Vedic dawn is Polar in character. The discrepancy is not, however, a serious one. We have seen that the duration of the dawn depends upon the powers of refraction and reflection of the atmosphere; and that these again vary according to the temperature of the place, or other me- teorological conditions. It is, therefore, not unlikely that the duration of the dawn at the Pole, when the climate