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

206 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. Maṇḍala of 114 hymns in the Ṛig-Veda is dedicated to the praise of Soma. A careful analysis of the Soma sacrifice may, therefore, be expected to disclose, at least partially, the nature of the oldest sacrificial system of the Aryan race; and we, therefore, proceed to examine the same. The chief characteristic of the Soma sacrifice, as distin- guished from other sacrifices, is, as the name indicates, the ex- traction of the Soma juice and the offering thereof to gods be- fore drinking it. There are three libations of Soma in a day, one in the morning, one at mid-day, and the last in the evening, and all these are accompanied by the chanting of hymns during the sacrifice. These Soma sacrifices, if classed according to their duration, fall under three heads; (1) those that are per- formed in a single day, called Ekâhas, (2) those that are per- formed in more than one and less than thirteen days, called Ahînas, and (3) those that take thirteen or more than 13 days and may last even for one thousand years, called Sattras. Under the first head we have the Agniṣhṭoma, fully described in the Aitareya Brâhmaṇa (III, 39-44), as the key or the type of all the sacrifices that fall under this class. There are six modifica- tions of Agniṣhṭoma, viz., Ati-agniṣhṭoma, Ukthya, Shoḍashî, Vâjapeya, Atirâtra and Aptoryâma, which together with Ag- niṣhṭoma, form the seven parts, kinds or modifications of the Jyotiṣhṭoma sacrifice, (Ashv. S. S. VI, 11, 1). The modification chiefly consists in the number of hymns to be recited at the libations, or the manner of recitation, or the number of the Grahas or Soma-cups used on the occasion. But with these we are not at present concerned. Of the second class of Soma sacri- fices, the Dvâdashâha or twelve days' sacrifice is celebrated both as Ahîna and Sattra and is considered to be very important. It is made up of three tryahas (or three days' performances, called respectively Jyotis, Go, and Ayus), the tenth day and the two Atirâtras (Ait. Br. IV, 23-4). The nine days' performance