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

454 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. suitable for new settlements. The vernal equinox was then in the constellation of Punarvasû, and as Aditi is the presiding deity of Punarvasû, according to the termino- logy adopted by me in Orion, this may, therefore, be call- ed the Aditi or the Pre-Orion Period. 5000-3000 B. C.—The Orion Period, when the vernal equi- nox was in Orion. Many Vedic hymns can be traced to the early part of this period and the bards of the race seem to have not yet forgotten the real import or signi- ficance of the traditions of the Arctic home inherited by them. It was at this time that first attempts to reform the calendar and the sacrificial system appear to have been systematically made. 3000-1400 B. C.—The Kṛittikâ Period, when the vernal equinox was in Pleiades. The Taittirîya Saṁhitâ and the Brâhmaṇas, which begin the series of nakshatras with the Kṛittikâs, are evidently the productions of this period. The compilation of the hymns into Saṁhitâ's also appears to be a work of the early part of this period. The tradi- tions about the original Arctic home had grown dim by this time and very often misunderstood, making the Vedic hymns more and more unintelligible. The sacrificial system and the numerous details thereof found in the Brâhmaṇas seem to have been developed during this time. It was at the end of this Period that the Vedâṅga-jyotisha was originally composed, or at any rate the position of the equinoxes mentioned therein observed and ascertained. 1400-500 B. C.—The Pre-Buddhistic Period, when the Sûtras and the Philosophical systems made their ap- pearance. These periods differ slightly from those mentioned by me in Orion; but the change is needed in consequence of the theory of the Arctic home which carries back the beginning of