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

354 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. destroying the Arctic home—Special importance of the Aves- tic evidence pointed out—Fully corroborated by scientific evi- dence—Migration from Airyana Vaejo rendered necessary by glaciation—Sixteen lands in the first Fargard therefore repre- sent successive stages of migration to Central Asia—Establi- shes the historical character of the first Fargard—The legend of deluge in the Shatapatha Brâhmaṇa—Probably refers to the same event as the Avestic legends—Other Vedic passages indicating the northern origin of Indian Aryas—Conclusion to be drawn from the Vedic and Avestic evidence combined. IN dealing with the Vedic evidence, both direct and cir- cumstantial, we have by way of comparison quoted or referred to some Avestic legends or myths in the foregoing chapters. But the Avesta contains some important passages directly bearing upon the question of the original Aryan home in the far north, and migrations therefrom to the regions watered by the Oxus, the Jaxartes or the Indus; and it is necessary to discuss these passages in a separate chapter, because they not only confirm and supplement the conclusions we have previ- ously arrived at by the examination of the Vedic evidence, but constitute, what may be called, independent evidence pointing out to the same result. As regards the antiquity of the Aves- ta, it is superfluous to adduce any proofs in this place; for it is admitted by scholars that the Vedas and the Avesta are but two branches of the same parent stream, though the latter may not be as well preserved as the former. To use a Vêdic phrase, the sacred books of the Brâhmans and the Parsis are the twin books of the Aryan race; and they can, therefore, be safely taken to supplement each other whenever it is necessary and possible to do so. This character of the two books is well exhibited with regard to the subject in hand. We have seen that while there are a number of passages in the Vedic litera- ture, which speak of long dawns, continuous darkness, or a sacrificial session of ten months, we have no text or legend which directly refers to the home in the far north or to the