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

CONTENTS. xxi PAGE An abstract of the first Fargard of the Vendidad—Sixteen lands created by Ahura Mazda with their modern equivalents &c.— Airyana Vaejo, the first created land represents the Paradise of the Iranians—Different views regarding its position—Darmesteter, Spiegel and others locate it in the east; Haug and Bunsen in the far north—Darmesteter’s argument examined—Airyana Vaejo can- not be determined from the position of Vanguhi—Identification of Rangha with the Caspian Sea or the westernmost river doubt- ful—Rangha is probably the same as Rasâ in the Ṛig-Veda, X, 75, 6—Unsoundness of Darmesteter’s reasoning—The position of the Airyana Vaejo must be determined from its special characteristics found in the Avesta—The passage where ten months’ winter is said to be such a characteristic cited—Ten months’ winter first in- troduced into the happy land by Angra Mainyu—Indicates that be- fore the fiend’s invasion there must have been ten months’ summer and two months winter in the land—Sudden change in the Polar climate fully confirmed by latest geological researches—Two months winter necessarily synchronous with long Arctic night —The tradition about seven months summer and five months win- ter also refers to the original climate in the Airyana Vaejo—Men- tioned in the Bundahish—Not inconsistent with the tradition of ten months summer recorded in the original passage—Both pos- sible in the Arctic regions—Similar statements in the Ṛig-Veda —Coincidence between seven months summer, the legend of Adi- ti, and the date of Indra’s fight with Shambara, pointed out —Summary of the second Fargard—Yima’s Vara in the Airyana Vaejo—Annual sunrise and a year long-day therein—Shows that the Airyana Vaejo must be located near the North Pole and not to the east of Iran—The account too graphic to be imaginary or my- thical—Represents the advent of the Glacial epoch in the land—It is the oldest human testimony to the advent of the Ice-age, de- stroying the Arctic home—Special importance of the Avestic evi- dence pointed out—Fully corroborated by scientific evidence—Mi- gration from Airyana Vaejo rendered necessary by glaciation —Sixteen lands in the first Fargard therefore represent successive stages of migration to Central Asia—Establishes the historical character of the first Fargard—The legend of deluge in the Shata- patha Brâhmaṇa—Probably refers to the same event as the Aves- tic legends—Other Vedic passages indicating the northern origin of Indian Aryas—Conclusion to be drawn from the Vedic and Avestic evidence combined. . . . . . 335