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

CHAPTER VI. LONG DAY AND LONG NIGHT. Independent evidence about the long night—Vritra living in long darkness—Expressions denoting long darkness or long night— Anxiety to reach the end of darkness—Prayers to reach safely the other end of night—A night, the other boundary of which was not known according to the Atharva Veda—The Taittirîya Samhitâ explains that these prayers were due to fears entertained by the ancient priests that the night would not dawn—Not caused by long winter nights as supposed by Sâyana— Description of days and nights in the Ṛig-Veda— Divided into two typical pairs—One described as bright, dark and virûpe—Virûpe means ‘of varying lengths’ and not ‘of various colours’ —Second pair, ‘Ahanî, different from the first—Dura- tions of days and nights on the globe examined—Ahanî can only be a couple of the long Arctic day and night—Described as forming the right and left, or opposite, sides of the Year in the Taittirîya A'raṇyaka—The sun is described in the Rig- Veda as unyoking his car in the midst of the sky—And there- by retaliating Dâsa’s mischief—Represents the long day and the long night—Summary of evidence regarding long day and long night—Ushas and Sûrya as Dakshiṇâ and Dakshiṇâ’s son —Probably imply the southerly course of both. WHEN a long continuous dawn of thirty days, or a closely-gathered band of thirty dawns, is shown to have been expressly referred to in the Vedic literature, the long night preceding such a dawn follows as a matter of course; and where a long night prevails, it must have a long day to match it during the year. The remaining portion of the year, after deducting the period of the long night, the long day and the long morning and evening twilights, would also be characterised by a succession of ordinary days and nights, a day and night together never exceeding twenty-four hours, though, within that limit, the