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

116 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. 2. Possessed of songs, decorating ( themselves ), and mov- ing together in a common abode, the Two Dawns, the ( two ) wives of the sun, unwasting, rich in seed, move about displaying their banner and knowing well (their way). 3. The Three Maidens have come along the path of Ṛita ; the three fires ( Gharmas ) with light, have followed. One (of these Maidens) protects the progeny, one the vigour, and one the ordinance of the pious. 4. That, which (was) the Fourth, acting as Ṛiṣhis, the 2. Posseessed of songs : Sâyaṇa thus interprets chchandas-vati ; but the Pet. Lex. translates the word by ' lovely.' I have followed Sâyaṇa because the A. V. reading chchandas-pakshe, 'having chchandas for the two wings,' supports Sâyaṇa's meaning. That the morning atmosphere resounded with the recitation of hymns and songs may be seen, amongst others, from Ṛig. III, 61, 1 and 6. The phrase madye- chchandasaḥ, in verse 6 below, denotes the same idea. But the word chchandas may perhaps be understood to mean ' shine ' in all these places ; Cf. Ṛig. VIII, 7, 36, where the phrase, chchando na sûro archishâ is translated by Max Muller to mean " like the shine by the splendour of the sun," (See S. B. E. Series, Vol. XXXII, pp. 393, 399.) Decorating, moving together in the same place, wives of the sun, un-wasting &c : These and others are the usual epithets of the Dawn found in the Ṛig-Veda, Cf. Ṛig I, 92, 4 ; VII, 76, 5 ; IV, 5, 13 ; I, 113, 13. The Two Dawns : Ushasâ does not here mean Ushâsâ-naktâ or ' Day and Night,' as supposed by Mr. Griffith, but denotes two dawns as such, the third, the fourth &c. being mentioned in the following verses. Sâyaṇa says द्वे उषसौ, एका सृष्टिकालीना ' प्रथमा' इतिपूर्वमंत्रोक्ता, अपरा प्रतिदिनसंचारिणी, meaning that the first dawn is the dawn which appeared at the beginning of the creation and the second the diurnal one, as we see it. But Sâyaṇa had to abandon this explanation later on. The couple of Dawns obviously includes the first Dawn mentioned in the first verse, which, with its successor, now forms a couple. Since groups of two, three, five or thirty dawns are mentioned as moving together, they cannot be the dawns of consecutive days, that is, separated by sunlight, as with us in the tropical or the temperate zone. 3. The Three Maidens : the number of Dawns is now increased to three ; but Sâyaṇa gives no explanation of the number. 4. The Fourth : Sâyaṇa now says यद्यप्येकैव उषा तथापि जगद्रक्षणाय यौगैश्वर्यादनेकशरीरस्वीकारे सति बहव उषसो भवन्ति, meaning that the single Deity of Dawn appears as many different dawns through yogic powers !