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

MONTHS AND SEASONS. 161 sacrificers of the whole Aryan race and not merely of the Vedic people. Therefore, even though Manu, Atharvan, Aṅgiras be not the names of particular individuals, still there can be little doubt that they represented families of priests who conduct- ed, if not originated, the sacrifices in primeval times, that is, before the Aryan separation, and who, for this reason, seem to have attained almost divine character in the eyes of the poets of the Ṛig-Veda. They have all been described as more or less connected with Yama in X, 14, 3-6 ; but it does not follow there- from that they were all Yama's agents or beings without any human origin. For, as stated above, there are a number of passages in which they are described as being the first and the most ancient sacrificers of the race ; and if after their death they are said to have gone to Yama and become his friends and com- panions, that does not, in any way, detract from their human character. It is, therefore, very important in the history of the sacrificial literature to determine if any traditions are preserved in the Ṛig-Veda regarding the duration of the sacrifices perfomed by these ancient ancestors of the Vedic people (naḥ pûrve pitaraḥ, VI, 22, 2), in times before the separation of the Aryan people, and see if they lend any support to the theory of an early Circum- Polar home. Now so far as my researches go, I have not been able to find any Vedic evidence regarding the duration of the sacri- fices performed by Manu, Atharvan, Bhṛigu or any other ancient sacrificers, except the Aṅgirases. There is an annual sattra described in the Shrauta Sûtras, which is called the Aṅgirasâm-ayanam, and is said to be a modification of the Gavâm-ayanam, the type of all yearly sattras. But we do not find therein any mention of the duration of the satra of the Aṅgirases. The duration of the Gavâm-ayanam is, however, given in the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ, and will be discussed in