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

132 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. means Day and Night ; but it does not occur in the Ṛig-Veda, though Aitareya Brâhmaṇa ( II, 4 ) treats it as synonymous with Uṣhâsâ-naktâ. Sometimes this pair of Day and Night is spoken of as two sisters or twins ; but whatever the form in which they are addressed, the reference is usually unambiguous. Now one of the verses which describes this couple of Day and Night is III, 55, 11.* The deity of the verse is Aho-râtre, and it is admitted on all hands that it contains a description of Day and Night. It runs thus :— Nânâ chakrâte yamyâ vapûṁṣhi tayor anyad rochate kṛiṣhṇam anyat । Shyâvî cha yad aruṣhî cha svasârau mahad devânâm asuratvam ekam ॥ The first three quarters or feet of this verse contain the principal statements, while the fourth is the refrain of the song or the hymn. Literally translated it means:—"The twin pair (females) make many forms ; of the two one shines, the other (is) dark : two sisters (are) they, the dark (shyâvî), and the bright (aruṣhî). The great divinity of the Gods is one (unique)." The verse looks simple enough at the first sight, and simple it is, so far as the words are concerned. But it has been misunderstood in two important points. We shall take the first half of the verse first. It says " the twin pair make many forms ; of the two one shines and the other is dark." The twin pair are Day and Night, and one of them is bright and the other dark. So far, there- fore, there is no difficulty. But the phrase 'make many forms' does not seem to have been properly examined or interpreted. The words used in the original verse are nânâ chakrâte vapûṁṣhi,

• Ṛig. III, 55, 11,—नाना चक्राते यम्या वपूंषि तयोरन्यद्रोचते कृष्ण- मन्यत् । श्यावी च यादरुषी च स्वसारौ महद्देवानामसुरत्वमेकम् ॥