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

VEDIC MYTHS--THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 335 slaying the demon or the powers of darkness like Vṛitra. Thus in X, 8, 8, Trita, urged by Indra, is said to have fought against and slain the three-headed (tri-shiras) son of Tvaṣhṭṛi and released the cows ; while in X, 99, 6, we read that Indra subdued the loud-roaring six-eyed demon, and Trita, strengthened by the same draught, slew the boar (varâha) with his iron-pointed bolt. But the most important incident in the story of Trita is mention- ed in I, 105. . In this hymn Trita is described as having fallen into a kûpa or well, which is also called vavra or a pit in X, 8, 7. Trita then invoked the gods for help and Bṛihaspati hearing his prayers released him from his distress (I, 105, 17). Some of the verses in the hymn are very suggestive ; for instance in verse 9, Trita tells us about his "kinship with the seven rays in the heaven. Trita Âptya knows it and he speaks for kinship." The ruddy Vṛika, or the wolf of darkness, is again described in verse 18 as having perceived Trita going by the way. These references show that Trita was related to the powers of light, but had the misfortune of being thrown into darkness. In IX, 102, 2, Trita's abode is said to be hidden or secret, a description similar to that of the third step of Viṣhṇu. The same story is found in the Avesta. There Thrâetaona, who bears the patronomic epithet Âthwya (Sans. Âptya), is described as slaying the fiendish serpent Azi Dahâka, who is said to be three-mouthed and six- eyed (Yt. XIX, 36-37; V, 33-34). But what is still more remarkable in the Avestic legend is that Thrâetaona in his expedition against the demon is said to have been accompanied by his two brothers who sought to slay him on the way.* The Avestic legend thus fully corroborates the story of the Shâṭyâyanins quoted by Sâyaṇa, and when the two accounts agree so well we cannot lightly set aside the story in the Brâhmaṇa,

• See Spiegel, Die Arische Periode, p. 271, quoted by Macdonell in his Vedic Mythology, § 23. Also compare S. B. E. Series, Vol. XXXIII p. 222 note 2.