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

438 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. The fact that the Vedic deities like Uṣhas, the Âdityas, the Ashvins or the Vṛitrahán are found invested with Polar cha- racteristics, further goes to confirm the conclusion based on linguistic grounds, or common etymological equations for sky, morning, fire, light or other natural powers. In short, what- ever be the stand-point from which we view the subject in question, we are led to the conclusion that the shining sky (Dyaus pitâ), the sun (Sûrya), the fire (Agni), the Dawn (Uṣhas), the storm or thunder (Tânyatu) had already attained to the dig- nity of divine beings or gods in the primeval period ; and etymo- logical equations like Sanskrit yaj, Zend yaz and Greek azomai, show that these gods were worshipped and sacrifices offered to them to secure their favour even in primeval times. Whether this worship originated, or, in other words, whether the powers of nature were invested with divine honours only in inter-glacial times, or in times anterior to it, cannot, as stated above, be ascertained from the materials in our hands at present. But this much is beyond question that the worship of these elements, as manifestations of divine power, had already become established amongst the undivided Aryans in the Arctic home, and the post-diluvian Aryan religions were developed from this ancient system of worship and sacrifices. We have seen that the Ṛig-Veda mentions the ancient sacrificers of the race like Manu, Aṅgirases, Bhṛigus and others, and the fact that they completed their sacrificial sessions in seven, nine or ten months proves that they were the sacrificers of the undivided Aryans in their Arctic home. It was these sacrificers who performed the sacrifices of the people during a summer of seven or ten months and worshipped the matutinal deities with offerings in primeval times. But when the sun went down below the horizon, these sacrificers naturally closed their sessions and made their offer- ings only to Vṛitrahan, the chief hero in the struggle with the demons of darkness, in order that he may, invigorated by