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

APP. TO CHAP. V—THE THIRTY DAWNS. 117 two wings of the sacrifice, has become the four-fold Stoma (Chatu-shṭoma). Using Gâyatrî, Trishṭup, Jagatî, Anushṭup the great song, they brought this light. 5. The creator did it with the Five, that he created five-and-five sisters to them (each). Their five courses (kratavaḥ), assuming various forms, move on in combination (prayaveṇa). 6. The Thirty Sisters, bearing the same banner, move on to the appointed place (nish-kṛitam). They, the wise, create the seasons. Refulgent, knowing (their way), they go round (pari yanti) amidst songs (madye-chchandasaḥ). Acting as Ṛishis...four-fold Stoma: The group of four Dawns appears to be here compared to the Chatu-shṭoma or the four-fold song. (For a description of the four-fold Stoma see Ait. Br. III, 42, Haug’s Trans. p. 237). Gâyatrî &c. are the metres used. The light brought on by the Dawns is the reward of this Stoma. Sâyaṇa inter- prets suvas to mean ‘heaven,’ but compare Ṛig. III, 61, 4, where the adjective, svar janantî, ‘creating light,’ is applied to the Dawn. 5. Did it with the Five: after the number of Dawns was in- creased to five, the creation proceeded by fives; compare verse 11 below. Their five courses: I construe tâsâṁ pañcha kratavaḥ prayaveṇa yanti. Sâyaṇa understands kratavaḥ to mean sacrificial rites perform- ed on the appearance of the dawn; but compare Ṛig. I, 123, 8, which says “The blameless Dawns (plu.) go round thirty yojanas, each her own kratu (destined course),” (supra p. 103). Kratavaḥ in the pre- sent verse must be similarly interpreted. In combination: We have thirty Dawns divided into five groups of six each; compare Taitt. Br. II, 5, 6, 5, quoted above (p. 100), which says tâ devyaḥ kurvate pañcha rûpâ, “the Goddesses (Dawns) make five forms.” Five groups of thirty Dawns, each group having its own destined course, are here described; but as each group is made of six Dawns, the five courses are again said to assume different forms, meaning that the members of each group have again their own courses within the larger course chalked out for the group. 6. Thirty Sisters: Sâyaṇa, in his commentary on the preceding verse says पञ्चसंख्याका ज्येष्ठा उषसः तासां स्वसारः पञ्चविंशतिसंख्याका इत्ये- कस्मिन् मासि प्रतिपदादिरूपास्त्रिंशदुषसः संपद्यन्ते, meaning that the thirty Dawns mentioned are the thirty dawns of a month. But Sâyaṇa does not ex- plain why one month out of twelve, or only 30 out of 360 dawns should be thus selected. The explanation is again unsuited to the context,.

118 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. 7. Through the sky, the illumined Goddess of Night accepts the ordinances of the sun. The cattle, of various forms, (begin to) look up as they rise on the lap of the mother. 8. The Ekâshṭakâ, glowing with holy fervour (tapas), gave birth to a child, the great Indra. Through him the (See supra p. 101, and T. S. V, 3, 4, 7, quoted below.) The Dawns are called sisters also in the Ṛig-veda, (Cf. I, 124, 8 and 9). Appointed place: nish-kṛitam, (Nir. XII, 7), used in reference to the course of the Dawns also in Ṛig. I, 123, 9. It is appropriate only if the Dawns returned to the same point in their daily rounds, (See supra p. 106). Go round amidst-songs: pari yanti, 'go round' is also the phrase used in Ṛig. I, 123, 8. Madye-chchandasaḥ is interpreted by Sâyaṇa to mean "about the sun, which is always surrounded by songs." But we need not go so far, for madye-chchandasaḥ may be more simply taken to mean 'amidst-songs,' that are usually sung at the dawn, (Ṛig. VII, 80, 1). 7. Through the sky: I take nabhas as an accusative of space. Sâyaṇa appears to take it as an adjective equivalent to nabhasthasya and qualifying sûryasya. In either case the meaning is the same, viz., that the night was gradually changing into day-light. The cattle: morning rays or splendours usually spoken of as cows. In Ṛig. I, 92, 12, the Dawn is described as spreading cattle (pashûn) before her; and in I, 124, 5, we are told that she fills the lap of both parents, heaven and earth. I construe, with Sâyaṇa, nânâ-rûpa pashavaḥ vi pashyanti, taking vi pashyanti intransitively, and nânâ- rûpa as an adjective. The same phrase is found used in reference to a woman's children in the Atharva-Veda, XIV, 2, 25. For the intran- sitive use of vi pashyanti, See Ṛig. X, 125, 4. 8. The Ekâshṭakâ: The birth of Indra is evidently the birth of the sun after the expiry of thirty dawns. Sâyaṇa, quoting Âpastamba Gṛihya Sûtra (VIII, 21, 10), interprets Ekâshṭakâ to mean the 8th day of the dark half of the month of Mâgha (January-February); and in the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ, VII, 4, 8, quoted and explained by me in Chap- ter III of Orion, it seems to have same meaning, (See Orion p. 44 ff; Ekâshṭakâ was the first day, or the consort, of the Year, when the sun turned towards the north from the winter solstice; and the commencement of all annual sattras is, therefore, directed to be made on the Ekâshṭakâ day. This meaning was, however, settled when the vernal equinox had receded from the asterism of Mṛiga (Orion) to that of the Kṛittikâs (Pleiades). But in earlier days Ekâshṭakâ seems to have meant the last of the dawns which preceded the rise of the sun after the long darkness, and

APP. TO CHAP. V—THE THIRTY DAWNS. 119 Gods have subdued their enemies; by his powers (he) has become the slayer of the Asuras. 9. You have made a companion (lit. the after-born) for me, who was (before) without a companion. Truth-teller (as thou art), I desire this, that I may have his good will, just as you do not transgress each the other. 10. The All-knowing has my good will, has got-a hold (on it), has secured a place (therein). May I have his good will just as you do not transgress each the other. 11. Five milkings answer to the five dawns; the five seasons to the five-named cow. The five sky-regions, made by thus commenced the year, which began with the period of sunshine. he word eka in Ekâshṭakâ perhaps denotes the first month, the lastdawn probably falling on the 8th day of the first lunar month of the year. A companion for me : that is, Indra or the sun, whose birth is mentioned in the previous verse ; and the poet now prays that his new friend, the after-born follower or companion, should be favourable to him. It should be noted that the birth of the sun is described after the lapse of thirty dawns, during which the poet had no companion. Truth-teller: Sâyaṇa seems to take satyam vadanti as a vocative plural; but it is not in strict accordance with grammar. In the pada text, it is evidently a feminine form of nom. sing., and I have translated accord- ingly, though not without some difficulty. In Ṛig. III, 61, 2, the dawn is called sûnṛitâ îrayantî which expresses the same idea. Just as you do not trangress each the other: compare the Ṛig-Veda VII, 76, 5, where we are told that the Dawns, though collected in the same place, do not strive against or quarrel with each other. 10. The All-knowing : Sâyaṇa takes vishva-vedâh to mean the Dawn; but it obviously refers to the companion (anujâm) mentioned in the preceding verse. The worshipper asks for a reciprocity of good will. The All-knowing (Indra) has his good will; let him, he prays, have now the All-knowing's good will. The adjective vishva-vedâh is applied in the Ṛig-Veda to Indra or Agni several times, Cf. Ṛig. VI, 47, 12; I, 147, 3. 11. Five milkings: Sâyaṇa refers to Taitt. Brâh. II, 2, 9, 6-9, where darkness, light, the two twilights, and day are said to be the five milkings (dohâh) of Prajâpati. The idea seems to be that all the five- fold groups in the creation proceeded from the five-fold dawn-groups. Five-named Cow: the earth, according to Sâyaṇa, who says that the earth has, five different names in the five seasons, e. g. pushpa-vatî

120 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. the fifteen, have a common head, directed to one world. 12. The first dawn (is) the child of Ṛita, one upholds the greatness of Waters, one moves in the regions of Sûrya, one (in those) of Gharma (fire), and Savitṛi rules one. 13. That, which dawned first, has become a cow in Yama's realm. Rich in milk, may she milk for us each succeeding year. 14. The chief of the bright, the omniform, the brindled, the fire-bannered has come, with light, in the sky. Working well towards a common goal, bearing (signs of) old age, (yet) O unwasting! O Dawn! thou hast come. 15. The wife of the seasons, this first has come, the leader of days, the mother of children. Though one, O Dawn! thou shinest manifoldly; though unwasting, thou causest all the rest to grow old (decay). (blossomy) in Vasanta ( spring ), tâpa-vatî (heated) in Grîṣhma (Summer), vṛiṣhṭi-vatî (showery) in Varṣhâ (Rains), jala-prasâda-vatî ( clear- watered) in Sharad (Autumn), and shaitya-vatî (cold) in Hemanta-Shishira (Winter). The seasons are taken as five by combining Hemanta and Shishira into one. The fifteen: The fifteen-fold Stoma, called pañcha-dasha, ( See Haug's Trans. Ait. Br. p. 238). 13. Each succeeding year: This shows that the dawn here de- scribed is the first dawn of the year. In Ṛig. I, 33, 10, light (cows) is said to be milked from darkness. 14. Working well towards a common goal: compare Ṛig. III, 61, 3, where, the Dawn "wending to one and the same goal" is asked to "turn on like a wheel." Bearing (signs of) old age: I construe jarâm bibhratî and yet ajare. Sâyaṇa takes svapasya-mânâ (working well) as an independent adjective; and connects bibhratî with artham, and jarâm with agâḥ. The meaning would then be "Working well, having a common end, O unwasting Dawn! thou hast reached old age." But it does not make any appreciable change in the general sense of the verse. 15. Though one...shinest manyfoldly shows that only one con- tinuous dawn, though made up of many parts, is described in this hymn. Leader of days, mother of children—the epithets ahnâm netrî and gavâm mâtâ are also found used in the Ṛig-Veda, VII, 77, 2.

APP. TO CHAP. V—THE THIRTY DAWNS. 121 Taitt. Saṁhitâ V, 3, 4, 7. It was un-distinguished,* neither day nor night. The Gods perceived these dawn-bricks (for the laying of which the 15 verses given above are to be used). They laid them. Then it . shone forth†. Therefore for whom these are laid, it shines forth to him, destroys (his) darkness. REMARKS. It has been previously mentioned that the fifteen verses, quoted above, are used or recited as Mantras at the time of laying down, certain emblematical bricks, called Vyushṭi-ishṭakâs, or dawn-bricks, on the sacrificial altar. But as the Mantras, or verses, used for sacrificial purposes are often taken from different Vedic hymns, these verses are likely to be regarded as unconnec- ted with each other. The account of the thirty dawns, contained therein, however, shews that these verses must have originally formed an entire or one homogeneous hymn. Again if the Mantras had been selected from different hymns, one for each dawn- brick, there would naturally be 16 verses in all, as 16 dawn- bricks are to be laid on the altar. The very fact, that the Anuvâka contains only 15 verses (leaving the sacrificer to select the 16th from elsewhere), therefore, further supports the same view. It is true that some of these verses are found in the Atharva-Veda, either detached or in connection with other subjects. But that does not prevent us from treating the passage in the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ, * It was undistinguished : This paragraph, which is found later on in the Saṁhitâ, explains how the dawn-bricks came to be laid with the fifteen verses given above. The portions of the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ, which contain such explanations are called Brâhmaṇa. † Then it shone forth : This shews that all the thirty Dawns were understood to have preceded the rise of the sun. I have already quoted (supra p. 100) a passage from Taitt. Brâh. (II, 5, 6, 5), which says . that these dawns were continuous and unseparated.

122 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. as containing a connected account of thirty dawns divided into five groups of six each. The question is not, however, very material, inasmuch as verses 5 and 6, whether they formed part of an entire hymn or not, are by themselves sufficient to prove the point at issue, viz., that the Vedic Goddess of Dawn constituted a group of thirty sisters. The Ṛig-Veda speaks of "thirty steps" traversed by the Dawn, (VI, 59, 6), or of Dawns going round "thirty yojanas" (I, 123, 8); but both these state- ments have, as yet, remained totally unexplained, or have been but imperfectly explained by Indian and Western scholars alike. But now that we know that the Vedic Dawns were thirty in number, both the aforesaid statements become at once easily comprehensible. The only other point necessary to be decided, so far as the subject in hand is concerned, is whether these thirty dawns were the dawns of thirty consecutive days, or whether they formed a 'closely-gathered band' of thirty continuous dawns; and on reading the two aforesaid passages from the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ, the one from the Taittirîya Brâhmaṇa, II. 5, 6, 5, and other authorities cited in the foregoing chapter, I do not think, there can be any doubt that the Goddess of Dawn, worshipped by the Vedic bards, was originally a group of thirty continuous dawns. It is not contended that the ancestors of the Vedic bards were unacquainted with ordinary dawns, for, even in the circumpolar regions there are, during certain parts of the year, successions of ordinary days and nights and with them of ordinary dawns. But so far as the Vedic Goddess of morning is concerned, there is enough evidence to shew that it was no other than the continuous and revolving Dawn at the end of the long night in those regions, the Dawn that lasted for thirty periods of 24 hours each, which is possible only within a few degrees round-about the North Pole.

CHAPTER VI. LONG DAY AND LONG NIGHT. Independent evidence about the long night—Vritra living in long darkness—Expressions denoting long darkness or long night— Anxiety to reach the end of darkness—Prayers to reach safely the other end of night—A night, the other boundary of which was not known according to the Atharva Veda—The Taittirîya Samhitâ explains that these prayers were due to fears entertained by the ancient priests that the night would not dawn—Not caused by long winter nights as supposed by Sâyana— Description of days and nights in the Ṛig-Veda— Divided into two typical pairs—One described as bright, dark and virûpe—Virûpe means ‘of varying lengths’ and not ‘of various colours’ —Second pair, ‘Ahanî, different from the first—Dura- tions of days and nights on the globe examined—Ahanî can only be a couple of the long Arctic day and night—Described as forming the right and left, or opposite, sides of the Year in the Taittirîya A'raṇyaka—The sun is described in the Rig- Veda as unyoking his car in the midst of the sky—And there- by retaliating Dâsa’s mischief—Represents the long day and the long night—Summary of evidence regarding long day and long night—Ushas and Sûrya as Dakshiṇâ and Dakshiṇâ’s son —Probably imply the southerly course of both. WHEN a long continuous dawn of thirty days, or a closely-gathered band of thirty dawns, is shown to have been expressly referred to in the Vedic literature, the long night preceding such a dawn follows as a matter of course; and where a long night prevails, it must have a long day to match it during the year. The remaining portion of the year, after deducting the period of the long night, the long day and the long morning and evening twilights, would also be characterised by a succession of ordinary days and nights, a day and night together never exceeding twenty-four hours, though, within that limit, the

124 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. day may gradually gain over the night at one time and the night over the day at another, producing a variety of ordinary days and nights of different lengths. All these phenomena are so connected astronomically that if one of them is established, the others follow as a matter of scientific inference. Therefore, if the long duration of the Vedic dawn is once demonstrated, it is, astrono- mically speaking, unnecessary to search for further evidence regarding the existence of long days and nights in the Ṛig-Veda. But as we are dealing with a state of things which existed several thousand years ago, and with evidence, which, though tra- ditionally handed down, has not yet been interpreted in the way we have done, it is safer to treat, in practice, the aforesaid astronomical phenomena as disconnected facts, and separately collect evidence bearing on each, keeping the astronomical connection in reserve till we come to consider the cumulative effect of the whole evidence in support of the several facts mentioned above. I do not mean to imply that there is any uncertainty in the relation of sequence between the above astronomical facts. On the contrary, nothing can be more certain than such a sequence. But in collecting and examining the evidence bearing on facts like those under consideration, it is always advisable in practice to collect as much evidence and from as many different points of view as possible. In this and the following two chapters, we, therefore, propose to ex- amine separately the evidence that can be found in the Vedic literature about the long day, the long night, the number of months of sunshine and of darkness, and the character of the year, and see if it discloses characteristics found only at, or around, the North Pole. And first regarding the long night,—a night of several days' duration, such as makes the northern latitudes too cold or uncomfortable for human habitation at present,

LONG DAY AND LONG NIGHT. 125 but which, in inter-glacial times, appeared to have caused no further inconvenience than what might result from darkness, long and continuous darkness for a number of days, though, by itself, it was not a desirable state of things, and the end of which must have been eagerly looked for by men who had to undergo such ex- perience. There are many passages in the Ṛig-Veda that speak of long and ghastly darkness, in one form or another, which sheltered the enemies of Indra, and to destory which Indra had to fight with the demons or the Dâsas, whose strongholds are all said to be concealed in this darkness. Thus in I, 32, 10, Vṛitra, the traditional enemy of Indra, is said to be engulfed in long darkness (dîrgham tamaḥ âshayad Indra-shatruḥ), and in V, 32, 5, Indra is described as having placed Shuṣhṇa, who was anxious to fight, in ‘the darkness of the pit’ (tamasi harmye), while the next verse speaks of asûrye tamasi (lit. sunless darkness), which Max Muller renders by ‘ghastly darkness.’* In spite of these passages the fight between Vṛitra and Indra is considered to be a daily and not a yearly struggle, a theory the validity of which will be examined when we come to the discussion of Vedic myths. For the present it is sufficient to note that the above expressions lose all their propriety, if the darkness, in which the various enemies of Indra are said to have flourished, be taken to be the ordinary darkness of twelve, or, at best, of twenty-four hours’ duration. It was, in reality, a long and a ghastly or sunless dark- ness, which taxed all the powers of Indra and his associate Gods to overcome. But apart from this legendary struggle, there are other verses in the Ṛig-Veda which plainly indicate the existence of a night longer than the longest cis-Arctic night. In the first place the Vedic bards are seen frequently invoking

• See S. B. E. series, Vol. XXXII, p. 218.

126 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. their deities to release them from darkness. Thus in II, 27, 14, the poet says "Aditi, Mitra and also Varuṇa, forgive if we have committed any sin against you! May I obtain the wide fearless- light, O Indra! May not the long darkness come over us." The ex- pression in the original for 'long darkness' is dīrghāḥ tamisrāḥ, and means rather an 'uninterrupted succession of dark nights (tamisrāḥ)' than simply 'long darkness.' But even adopting Max Müller's rendering given above,* the anxiety here manifested for the disappearance of the long darkness is unmeaning, if the darkness never lasted for more than twenty-four hours. In I, 46, 6, the Ashvins are asked "to vouchsafe such strength to the worshipper as may carry him through darkness"; and in VII, 67, 2 the poet exclaims:—"The fire has commenced to burn, the ends of darkness have been seen, and the banner of the Dawn has appeared in the east!"† The expression 'ends of darkness' (tamasaḥ antāḥ) is very peculiar, and it would be a violation of idiom to take this and other expressions indicating 'long darkness' to mean nothing more than long winter nights, as we have them in the temperate or the tropical zone. As stated previously the longest winter night in these zones must be, at best, a little short of twenty-four hours, and even then these long nights prevail only for a fortnight or so. It is, therefore, very un- likely that Vedic bards perpetuated the memory of these long nights by making it a grievance of such importance as to require the aid of their deities to relieve them from

• Hibbert Lectures, p. 231. The verse is:— अदिते मित्र वरुणोत मृळ यह्वो वयं चकृमा कच्चिदागः । उर्वश्यामभयं ज्योतिरिंद्र मा नो दीर्घा अभि नशन्तमिस्त्राः ॥ † Ṛig. I, 46, 6,—या नः पीपरदश्विना ज्योतिष्मती तमस्तिरः । तामस्मे रासाथामिषम् ॥ Ṛig. VII, 67, 2,—अशोच्यग्निः समिधानो अस्मे उपो अद- श्रन्तमसश्चिदन्ताः ।

LONG DAY AND LONG NIGHT. 127 it. There are other passages where the . same longing for the. end of darkness or for the appearance of light is expressed, and these cannot be accounted for on the theory that to the old Vedic bards night was as death, since they had no means, which a civilised person in the twentieth century possesses, of dispel- ling the darkness of night by artificial illumination. Even the modern savages are not reported to be in the habit of exhibiting. such impatience for the morning light as we find in the utter- ances of the Vedic bards ; and yet the latter were so much ad- vanced in civilisation as to know the use of metals and carriages. Again not only men, but Gods, are said to have lived in long darkness. Thus, in X, 124, 1, Agni is told that he has stayed “too long in the long darkness,” the phrase used being jyog eva dîrgham tama âshayishṭâḥ. This double phrase jyog (long) and dîrgham is still more inappropriate, if the duration of darkness never exceeded that of the longest winter-night. In II, 2, 2, the same deity, Agni, is said to shinè during “continuous nights,” which, according to Max Muller, is the meaning of the word kshapạḥ in the original.* The translation is no doubt correct, but Prof. Max Muller does not explain to us what he means by the phrase “continuous nights.” Does it signify a succession of nights uninterrupted by sunlight? or, is it only an elegant render- ing, meaning nothing more than a number of nights ? The learn- ed translator seems to have narrowly missed the true import of the phrase employed by him. But we need not depend on stray passages like the above to prove that the long night was known in early days. In the tenth Maṇḍala of the Ṛig-Veda we have a hymn (127) addressed to the Goddess of night, and in the 6th verse of this hymn Night is invoked to “ become

• See S. B, E. Series, Vol. XLVI, p. 195.

128 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. easily fordable " to the worshipper (nah sutarâ bhava). In the Parishishṭa, which follows this hymn in the Ṛig-Veda, and which is known as Rātri-sûkta or Durgā-stava, the worshipper asks the Night to be favourable to him, exclaiming “May we reach the other side in safety ! May we reach the other side in safety !"* In the Atharva-Veda, XIX, 47, which is a reproduction, with some variations, of the above Parishishṭa, the second verse runs thus : “Each moving thing finds rest in her (Night), whose yonder boundary is not seen, nor that which keeps her separate. O spacious, darksome Night ! May we,uninjured, reach the end of thee, reach, O thou blessed one, thine end !" And in the third verse of the 50th hymn of the same book the worshippers ask that they may pass uninjured in their body, “through each succeeding night, (rātrim rātrim)." Now a question is naturally raised why should every one be so anxious about safely reaching the other end of the night ? And why should the poet exclaim that “its yonder boundary is not seen, nor what keeps it separate ?” Was it because it was an ordinary winter night, or, was it because it was the long Arctic night ? Fortunately, the Taittirīya Saṁhitâ preserves for us the oldest traditional reply to these questions, and we need not, therefore, depend upon the speculations of modern commentators. In the Taittirīya Saṁhitâ I, 5, 5, 4,† we

• The 4th verse in the Râtri-Sûkta is:—प्रपद्येऽहं शिवां रात्रीं भद्रे पारमशीमहि भद्रे पारमशीमहि। The Atharva-Veda, XIX, 47, 2, — न यस्याः पारं ददृशे न योयुवद्विश्वमत्वां नि विशते यदेजति। अरिष्टांसस्त उर्वि तम- स्वति रात्रि पारमशीमहि भद्रे पारमशीमहि॥ Ibid, XIX, 50,3,— रात्रिं रात्रिम- रिष्यन्तस्तरेम तन्वा वयम् । † Taitt Sam. 1, 5, 5, 4,— चित्रावसो स्वस्त ते पारमशीव ॥ Taitt, Sam. 1,5,7,5,— चित्रावसो स्वस्ति ते पारमशीयेत्त्वाह । रात्रिर्वै चित्रावसुर्- व्युष्ट्यै वा एतस्यै पुरा ब्राह्मणा अभैषुः ॥ Sâyaṇa thus explains the passage हेमन्तर्तौ रात्रेर्दीर्घत्वेन प्रभातं न भविष्यत्येवेति कदाचिद् ब्राह्मणा भीता अतः पारमशीवेति प्रार्थनया प्रभातं लभते ।

LONG DAY AND LONG NIGHT. 129 have a similar Mantra or prayer addressed to Night in these words:—"O Chitrâvasu! let me safely reach thy end." A little further, (I, 5, 7, 5,) the Saṁhitâ itself explains this Mantra, or prayer thus:—"Chitrâvasu is (means) the night; in old times (purâ), the Brâhmans (priests) were afraid that it (night) would not dawn." Here we have an express Vedic statement, that, in old times, the priests or the people, felt apprehensions regard- ing the time when the night would end. What does it signify? If the night was not unusually long, where was the necessity for entertaining any misgivings about the coming dawn? Sâyaṇa, in commenting on the above passage, has again put forward his usual explanation, that nights in the winter were long and they made the priest apprehensive in regard to the coming dawn. But here we can quote Sâyaṇa against himself, and show that he has dealt with this important passage in an off-hand manner. It is well known that the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ often explains the Mantras, and this portion of the Saṁhitâ is called Brâhmaṇa, the whole of the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ being made up in this way of Mantras and the Brâhmaṇa, or prayers and their explanations or commentary mixed up together. The statement regarding the apprehensions of the priests about the coming dawn, therefore, falls under the Brâhmaṇa portion of the Saṁhitâ. Now the contents of the Brâhmaṇas are usually classified by Indian divines under the ten following heads*:—(1) Hetu or reason; (2) Nirvachana, or etymological explanation; (3) Nindâ, or censure; (4) Prashamsâ, or praise; (5) Saṁshaya, or doubt; (6) Vidhi, or the rule; (7) Parakriyâ, or others' doings; (8) Purâ-kalpa, or ancient rite or tradition; (9) Vyavadhâraṇa-kalpanâ or determining the

• These are enumerated in the following verses:— हेतुर्निर्वचनं निंदा प्रशंसा संशयोविधिः । परक्रिया पुराकल्पो व्यवधारणकल्पना ॥ उपमानं दशैवैते विधयो ब्राह्मणस्य तु । एतद्वै सर्ववेदेषु नियतं विधिलक्षणम् ॥

130 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.

limitations; (10) Upamâna, an apt comparison or simile. Sâyaṇa in his introduction to the commentary on the Ṛig-Veda men- tions the first nine of these, and as an illustration of the eighth, Purâ-kalpa, quotes the explanatory passage from the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ, I, 5, 7, 5, referred to above. According to Sâyaṇa the statement, "In former times the priests were afraid that it would not dawn," therefore, comes under Purâ-kalpa, or ancient traditional history found in the Brâhmaṇas. It is no Arthavâda, that is, speculation or explanation put forth by the Brâhmaṇa itself. This is evident from the word purâ which occurs in the Saṁhitâ text, and which shows that some piece of ancient traditional information is here recorded. Now if this view is correct, a question naturally arises why should ordinary long winter nights have caused such apprehensions in the minds of the priests only 'in former times,' and why should the long darkness cease to inspire the same fears in the minds of the present generation. The long winter nights in the tropical and the temperate zone are as long to-day as they were thousands of years ago, and yet none of us, not even the most ignorant, feels any misgiving about the dawn which puts an end to the darkness of these long nights. It may, perhaps, be urged that in ancient times the bards had not acquired the knowledge necessary to predict the certain appearance of the dawn after a lapse of some hours in such cases. But the lameness of this excuse becomes at once evident when we see that the Vedic calendar was, at this time, so much advanced that even the question of the equation of the solar and the lunar year was solved with sufficient accuracy. Sâyaṇa's explanation of winter nights causing misgivings about the coming dawn must, there- fore, be rejected as unsatisfactory. It was not the long winter- night that the Vedic bards were afraid of in former ages. It

LONG DAY AND LONG NIGHT. 131 was something else, something very long, so long that, though you knew it would not last permanently, yet, by its very length, it tired your patience and made you long for, eagerly long for, the coming dawn. In short, it was the long night of the Arctic region, and the word purâ shows that it was a story of former ages, which the Vedic bards knew by tradition. I have shown elsewhere that the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ must be assigned to the Kṛittikâ period. We may, therefore, safely conclude that at about 2500 B. C., there was a tradition current amongst the Ve- dic people to the effect that in former times, or rather in the former age, the priests grew so impatient of the length of the night, the yonder boundary of which was not known, that they fervently prayed to their deities to guide them safely to the other end of that tiresome darkness. This description of the night is inappropriate unless we take it to refer to the long and continuous Arctic night. Let us now see if the Ṛig-Veda contains any direct reference to the long day, the long night, or to the Circum-polar calendar, besides the expressions about long darkness or the difficulty of reaching the other boundary of the endless night noticed above. We have seen before that the Ṛig-Vedic calendar is a calendar of 360 days, with an intercalary month, which can neither be Polar nor Circum-polar. But side by side with it the Ṛig-Veda preserves the descriptions of days and nights, which are not applicable to the cis-Arctic days, unless we put an artificial con- struction upon the passages containing these descriptions. Day and Night is spoken of as a couple in the Vedic literature, and is denoted by a compound word in the dual number. Thus we have Ushâsâ-naktâ (I, 122, 2), Dawn and Night; Naktoshâsâ (I, 142, 7), Night and Dawn; or simply Ushâsau (I, 188, 6), the two Dawns; all meaning a couple of Day and Night. The word Aho-râtre also

132 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. means Day and Night ; but it does not occur in the Ṛig-Veda, though Aitareya Brâhmaṇa ( II, 4 ) treats it as synonymous with Uṣhâsâ-naktâ. Sometimes this pair of Day and Night is spoken of as two sisters or twins ; but whatever the form in which they are addressed, the reference is usually unambiguous. Now one of the verses which describes this couple of Day and Night is III, 55, 11.* The deity of the verse is Aho-râtre, and it is admitted on all hands that it contains a description of Day and Night. It runs thus :— Nânâ chakrâte yamyâ vapûṁṣhi tayor anyad rochate kṛiṣhṇam anyat । Shyâvî cha yad aruṣhî cha svasârau mahad devânâm asuratvam ekam ॥ The first three quarters or feet of this verse contain the principal statements, while the fourth is the refrain of the song or the hymn. Literally translated it means:—"The twin pair (females) make many forms ; of the two one shines, the other (is) dark : two sisters (are) they, the dark (shyâvî), and the bright (aruṣhî). The great divinity of the Gods is one (unique)." The verse looks simple enough at the first sight, and simple it is, so far as the words are concerned. But it has been misunderstood in two important points. We shall take the first half of the verse first. It says " the twin pair make many forms ; of the two one shines and the other is dark." The twin pair are Day and Night, and one of them is bright and the other dark. So far, there- fore, there is no difficulty. But the phrase 'make many forms' does not seem to have been properly examined or interpreted. The words used in the original verse are nânâ chakrâte vapûṁṣhi,

• Ṛig. III, 55, 11,—नाना चक्राते यम्या वपूंषि तयोरन्यद्रोचते कृष्ण- मन्यत् । श्यावी च यादरुषी च स्वसारौ महद्देवानामसुरत्वमेकम् ॥

LONG DAY AND LONG NIGHT. 133 and they literally mean ‘make many bodies or forms.’ We have thus a two-fold description of the couple ; it is called the shining and the dark, and also described as possessed of many forms. In I, 123, 7, the couple of Day and Night is said to be vishurûpe; while in other places the adjective virûpe is used in the same sense. It is evident, therefore, that the ‘bodies’ or ‘forms’ intended to be denoted by these words must be different from the two-fold character of the couple as shining and dark; and if so, the phrases vishurûpe, virûpe or nânâ vapûmṣhi used in connection with the couple of Day and Night must be taken to mean something different from ‘bright and dark’, if these expressions are not to be considered as superfluous or tautological. Sâyaṇa. interprets these phrases as referring to different colours (rûpa), like black, white, &c., and some of the Western scholars seem to have adopted this interpreta- tion. But I cannot see the propriety of assigning different colours to Day and Night. Are we to suppose that we may have sometimes green, violet, yellow or blue days and nights ? Again though the word rûpa lends itself to this construction, yet vapûmṣhi cannot ordinarily be so understood. The question does not, however, seem to have attracted the serious atten- tion of the commentators; so that even Griffith translates vishurûpe by ‘unlike in hue’ in I, 123, 7. The Naktoshâsâ are described as virûpe also in I, 113, 3, but there too Sâyaṇa gives the same explanation. It does not appear to have occurred to any one that the point requires any further thought. Happily, in the case of Ṛig. I, 113, 3, we have, however, the advantage of consulting a commentator older than Sâyaṇa. The verse occurs in the Uttarârchika of Sâma-Veda (19, 4, 2, 3), and Mâdhava in his Vivaraṇa, a commentary on the Sâma-Veda, explains virûpe thus:— “In the Dakshiṇâyana during the year there is the increase of

134 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. night, and in the Uttarâyaṇa of day.'"* Mâdhava's Vivaraṇa is a scarce book, and I take the above quotation from an extract from his commentary given in a footnote to the Calcutta edition of the Sâma-Veda Saṁhitâ, with Sâyaṇa's commentary, published by Satya-vrata Sâmashramî, a learned Vedic scholar of Calcutta. It is not known who this Mâdhava is, but Pandit Satyavrata states that he is referred to by Durga, the commentator of Yâska. We may, therefore, take Mâdhava to be an old commentator, and it is satis- factory to find that he indicates to us the way out of the difficulty of interpreting the phrases vishurûpe and virûpe, occuring so many times in the Ṛig-Veda, in connection with the couple of Day and Night. The word 'form' (rûpa) or body (vapus) can be used to denote the extent, duration, or length of days and nights, and virûpe would naturally denote the varying lengths of days and nights, in addition to their colour, which can be only two-fold, dark or bright. Taking our cue from Mâdhava, we may, therefore, interpret the first half of the verse as meaning "The twin pair assume various (nânâ) lengths (vapûṁshi); of the two one shines and the other is dark." But though the first half may be thus interpreted, another diffi- culty arises, as soon as we take up the third quarter of the verse. It says, "Two sisters are they, the dark (shyâvi) and the bright (arûshî)." Now the question is whether the two sisters (svasârau) here mentioned are the same as, or different from, the twin pair (yamyâ) mentioned in the first half of the verse. If we take them as

• See Sâma-Veda, Cal. Ed., Utta. 19, 4, 2, 3. The verse in the Veda is,—समानो अध्वा स्वस्रोरनंतस्तमन्यान्या चरतो देवशिष्टे । न मेथेते न तस्थतुः सुमेके नक्तोषासा समनसा विरूपे ॥ Mâdhava's Vivaraṇa says, सुमेके—संवत्सरे, दक्षिणायने रात्रेर्वृद्धिः, उत्तरायणे त्वह्नः, नक्तं रात्रिः— उषाकालप्रभृत्यहः।”

LONG DAY AND LONG NIGHT. 135 identical, the third pâda or quarter of the verse becomes at once superfluous. If we take them as different, we must explain how and where the two pairs differ. The commentators have not been able to solve the difficulty, and they have, therefore, adopted the course of regarding the twins (yamyâ) and the sisters (svasârau) as identical, even at the risk of tautology. It will surely be admitted that this is not a satisfactory course, and that we ought to find a better explanation, if we can. This is not again the only place where two distinct couples of Day and Night are mentioned. There is another word in the Ṛig- Veda which denotes a pair of Day and Night. It is Ahanî, which does not mean 'two days' but Day and Night, for, in VI, 9, 1, we are expressly told that "there is a dark ahaḥ (day) and a bright ahaḥ (day)." Ahanî, therefore, means a couple of Day and Night, and we have seen that Ushâsâ-naktâ also means a couple of Day and Night. Are the two couples same or different ? If Ahanî be regarded as synonymous with Ushâsâ- naktâ or Aho-râtre, then the two couples would be identical; other- wise different. Fortunately, Ṛig. IV, 55, 3, furnishes us with the- means of solving this difficulty. There Ushâsâ-naktâ and Ahanî are separately invoked to grant protection to the worshipper, and the separate invocation clearly proves that the two couples are two separate dual deities, though each of them represents a couple of Day and Night.* Prof. Max Muller has noticed this difference between Ushâsâ-naktâ and Ahanî or the two Ahans; but he does not seem to have pushed it to its logical conclusion. If all the 360 days and nights of the year were of the same class as with us, there was no necessity of dividing them into two representative couples as Ushâsâ-naktâ

• Ṛig. IV, 55, 3;—उभे यथा नो अहनी निपात उषासानक्ता करतामद- ब्धे । See Max Muller's Lectures on the Science of Language, Vol. II, p. 534.

136 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS and Ahani. The general description “dark, bright and of various lengths” would have been quite sufficient to denote all the days and nights of the year. Therefore, if the distinction between Ushāsā-naktā and Ahanī, made in IV, 55, 3, is not to be ignored, we must find out an explanation of this distinction; and looking to the character of days and nights at different places on the surface of the earth from the Pole to the Equator, the only possible explanation that can be suggested is that the year spoken of in these passages was a circum-Polar year, made up of one long day and one long night, forming one pair, and a number of ordinary days and nights of various lengths, which, taking a single day and night as the type, can be described as the second couple, “bright, dark and of varying lengths.” There is no other place on the surface of the earth where the description holds good. At the Equator, we have only equal days and nights throughout the year, and they can be represented by a single couple “dark and bright, but always of the same length.” In fact, instead of virūpe the pair would be sarūpe. Between the Equator and the Arctic Circle, a day and night together never exceed twenty-four hours, though there may be a day of 23 hours, and a night of one hour and vice versa, as we approach the Arctic Circle. In this case, the days of the year will have to be represented by a typical couple, “dark and bright, but of various lengths, virūpe.” But as soon as we cross the Arctic Circle and go into “The Land of the Long Night,” the above description requires to be amended by adding to the first couple, another couple of the long day and the long night, the lengths of which would vary according to latitude. This second couple of the long day and the long night, which match each other, will have also to be designated as virūpe, with this difference, how- ever, that while the length of days and nights in the temperate