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

192 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. idea of the sun dropping from heaven is very common in the sacrificial literature. Thus in the Aitareya Brâhmaṇa (IV, 18) we read, "The gods, being afraid of his (sun's) falling beyond them being turned upside down, supported him by placing above him the highest worlds";* and the same idea is met with in the Tâṇḍya Brâhmaṇa (IV, 5, 9-11). The words "falling beyond" (parâchas atipâtât) are very important, inasmuch as they show that the sun dropped into regions that were on the yonder side. One of the Ashvin's protege is also called Chyavâna, which word Prof. Max Muller derives from chyu to drop. The Ashvins are said to have restored him to youth, which, being divested of its legendary form, means the rehabilitation of the sun that had dropped into the nether world. The Pravargya ceremony, which preserves the seed of the sacrifice, is, therefore, only one phase of the story of the dropping sun in the sacrificial literature, and the verses employed in this ceremony, if interpreted in the spirit of that ceremony, appear, as stated above, to indicate an older year of five seasons and ten months. But the Mantras used in the Pravargya ceremony are not so explicit as one might expect such kind of evidence to be. Therefore, instead of attempting to give more evidence of the same kind,—and there are many such facts in the Vedic sacri- ficial literature,—I proceed to give the direct statements about the duration of the annual Sattras from the well-known Vedic works. These statements have nothing of the legendary cha- racter about them, and are, therefore, absolutely certain and reliable. It has been stated before that the institution of sacrifice is an old one, and found amongst both the Asia- tic and the European branches of the Aryan-race. It was, in fact, the main ritual of the religion of these people, and naturally enough every detail concerning the sacrifices was

• Ait. Brâh. VI, 18—तस्य पराचोऽतिपाताद्विभ्यतस्तं परजैः स्वर्गैर्लोकैः परस्तात्प्रत्यस्तम्भ्नुवन् । Also cf. Tâṇḍya Brâh, IV, 5, 9-11.