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

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 237 in their true light or colours, giving in each case, my reasons- for doing the same. This has sometimes rendered it necessary to introduce certain topics not directly relevant to the question in hand; but on the whole, I think, it will be found that I have, as far as possible, tried to confine myself to the discussion of the direct evidence bearing on the points in issue, and have exami- ned it according to the strict method of historic or scientific investigation. I did not start with any preconceived notion in favour of the Arctic theory, nay, I regarded it as highly impro- bable at first; but the accumulating evidence in its support eventually forced me to accept it, and, in all probability, the evidence cited in the previous chapters, will, I think, produce the same impression on the reader's mind. But the evidence, which I am now going to cite in support of the Arctic theory, is of a different character. If the ances- tors of the Vedic bards ever lived near the North Pole, the cosmical or the meteorological conditions of the place could not have failed to influence the mythology of these people; and if our theory is true, a careful examination of the Vedic myths ought to disclose facts, which cannot be accounted for by any other theory. The probative value of such evidence will manifestly be inferior to that of the direct evidence pre- viously cited, for myths and legends are variously explained by different scholars. Thus Yâska mentions three or four dif- ferent schools of interpretation, each of which tries to ex- plain the nature and character of the Vedic deities in a different way. One of these schools would have us believe that many of the deities were real historical personages, who were subsequently apotheosized for their supernatural virtues or ex- ploits. Other theologians divide the deities into Karma-deva- tâs or those that have been raised to the divine rank by their own deeds, and Âjânadevatâs or those that were divine by birth; while the Nairuktas (or the etymologists) maintain that the