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

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 265 therefore, meet with such questions in the Ṛig-Veda (I, 35, 7) as "Where is Sûrya now (after sunset) and which celestial region his rays now illumine?" But there is enough explicit evidence to prove that the Vedic people knew of the existence of a region below the earth, and if some of their notions about this underworld were not very distinct, that does not, in the least, affect the value of this evidence. If we, therefore, dismiss from our mind the idea that the lower world was not known to the Vedic people,—an assumption, which is quite gratuitous, the movements and character of the celestial waters become at once plain and intelligible. The ancient Aryans, like the old Hebrews, believed that the subtle matter, which filled the whole space in the universe, was nothing but watery vapours; and secondly that the movements of the sun, the moon and other heavenly bodies were caused by these vapours which kept on constantly circulating from the nether to the upper and from the upper to the lower celestial hemi- sphere. That is the real key to the explanation of many a Vedic myth; and unless we grasp it thoroughly, we cannot rightly understand some of the utterances of the Vedic poets. These waters were sometimes conceived as rivers or streams, moving in the heaven, and eventually falling into the mouth of Varuṇa, or the nether ocean (VII, 49, 2; VIII, 69, 12). The nether world was, so to say, the seat or the home of these waters, called yahvatîḥ or the eternal (IX, 113, 8); and they formed the kingdom of Varuṇa and Yama, as well as the hidden (ninya) abode of Vṛitra. This movement of waters is very clearly expressed in the Parsi scriptures. In the Vendi- dad, XXI, 4-5 (15-23), the waters are described as follows,— "As the sea Vouru-Kasha is the gathering place of waters, rise up, go up the aerial way and go down on the earth; go down on the earth and go up the aerial way. Rise up and roll along! thou in whose rising and growing Ahura Mazda made the

266 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. aerial way. Up! rise up and roll along! thou swift-horsed sun, above Hara Berezaiti, and produce light for the world, and mayest thou rise up there, if thou art to abide in Garo-nmânem, along the path made by Mazda, along the way made by the gods, the watery way they opened." Here the aerial waters are said to start from their gathering place, the sea Vouru-Kasha, go up into heaven and come back again to the sea to be purified before starting on a second round. Prof. Darmesteter in a note on this passage observes that "waters and light are believed to flow from the same spring and in the same bed," and quotes Bundahish, XX, 4, which says, "just as the light comes in through Albûrz (Hara Berezaiti, the mountain by which the earth is surrounded) and goes out through Albûrz, the water also comes out through Albûrz and goes away through Albûrz." Now waters are described in the Ṛig-Veda as following the path of the gods (VII, 47, 3), much in the same way as the waters in the Avesta are said to follow the path made by Mazda or the way made by the gods. Like the Avestic waters, the waters in the Ṛig-Veda have also the sea for their goal, and going by the aerial way eventually fall into the mouth of Varuṇa. But the Avesta supplies us with the key which establishes the con- nection of waters and light in unambiguous terms, for, as remarked by Prof. Darmesteter, it states clearly that both of them have the same source, and, in the passage quoted above, the swift-horsed sun is accordingly asked to go along the watery way in the skies above. In the Aban Yasht (V, 3), the river Ardvi Sûra Anâhita is described as running powerfully from the height Hukairya down to the sea Vouru-Kasha, like the river Sarasvatî, which is described in the Ṛig-Veda as tearing the peaks of mountains, and is invoked to descend from the great mountain in the sky to the sacrifice (V, 43, 11). Both are aerial rivers, but by coming down upon the earth they are said to fill up all the terrestrial streams. The terrestrial waters,

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS 267 nay, all things of a liquid nature on the earth, e.g., the plant-sap, the blood, &c., were thus supposed to be produced from the aerial waters above by the agency of clouds and rain. The Parsi scriptures further tell us that between the earth and the region of infinite light ( the parame vyoman of the Ṛig-Veda), there are three intermediate regions, the star region, which has the seeds of waters and plants, the moon region, and the sun region, the last being the highest (Yt. XII, 29-32). When the Ṛig-Veda, therefore, speaks of the highest rajas as being the seat of waters, it is not to be understood, as supposed by Wallis, that there are no nether waters, for it is the nether waters that come up from the lower world and moving in the uppermost region of the heaven produce terrestrial waters by giving rise to rain and clouds. Thus Ardvi Sûra Anâhita is said to run through the starry region (cf. Yt. VIII, 47), and has to be worshipped with sacrifice in order that her waters may not all run up into the region of the sun, thereby producing a drought on the surface of the earth, (Yt. V, 85 and 90). In the Ṛig-Veda, the Sarasvatî is similarly described as filling the earthly region and the wide atmospheric space (VI, 61, 11), and is besought to come swelling with streams, and along with the waters. But the most striking resemblance between Ardvi Sûra Anâhita and Sarasvatî is that while the latter is described as Vṛitra-slayer or Vṛitra-ghnî in Ṛig. VI, 61, 7, Ardvi Sûra Anâhita is described in the Aban Yasht (V, 33 and 34) as granting to Thrâetaona, the heir of the valiant Âthwya clan (Vedic Trita Âptya), who offered up a sacrifice to her, a boon that he would be able to overcome Azi Dahâk, the three-mouthed, three-headed and six-eyed monster. This is virtually the same story which is found in the Ṛig-Veda X, 8, 8, where Trita Âptya, knowing his paternal weapons and urged by Indra, is said to have fought against and slew the three- headed son of Tvaṣhṭṛi and released the cows. This clearly establishes the connection between waters, as represented by

268 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. Ardvi Sûra Anâhita or Sarasvatî, and the slaughter of Vṛitra. Many Vedic scholars have tried to identify Sarasvatî with the river of that name in the Panjaub ; but as the latter is an insigni- ficant stream, the identification has not been generally accepted. The above comparison now shows that the mighty Sarasvatî, like Ardvi Sûra Anâhita, is an aerial stream, which rises up from the nether store-house of waters, travels over the sky and again falls back into the lower ocean. A portion of these waters is brought down upon the earth in the form of rain by the sacrifices offered to the river, and along with it come the seeds of all the plants growing upon the surface of the earth. Thus in the Vendidad, V, 19 (56), the tree of all the seeds is described as growing in the middle of the sea Vouru-Kasha, and the seeds are then said to be brought up by the aerial rivers and sent down by them to the earth by means of rain, an idea similar to that found in the Ṛig-Veda, I, 23, 20, where the sacrificer informs us that Soma has told him that all medicines (medicinal herbs) are contained in the waters. We have thus a complete account of the cosmic circulation of the aerial waters and the production of the terres- trial waters and plants therefrom. The nether world or the lower celestial hemisphere is the home of these waters, and it is expressly said to be bounded on all sides by a mountainous range like that of Hara Berezaiti. When the aerial waters are allowed to come up through this mountain, they travel over the upper hemisphere and again fall into the sea Vouru-Kasha, or the lower ocean, producing, during their course, rains which fertilise the earth and make the plants grow upon its surface. But instead of descending down in the form of rain, these aerial waters were, it was apprehended, apt to turn away into the region of the sun and deprive us of rain. It was, therefore, necessary to worship them with sacrifices and invoke their blessings.

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 269 It is impossible to grasp the real meaning of the Vṛitra legend, without first realising the true nature and importance of the movements of the aerial waters as conceived by the ances- tors of the Indo-Iranian people. As observed by Dramesteter, celestial waters and light were believed to flow from the same spring or source, and they both ran a parallel course. It was these aerial waters that made the heavenly bodies move in the sky, just as a boat or any other object is carried down by the current of a stream or river. If the waters, therefore, ceased to flow, the consequences were serious; for the sun, the moon, the stars, would then all cease to rise, and the world would be plunged in darkness. We can now fully understand the magni- tude of the mischief worked by Vṛitra by stopping the flow of these waters. In his hidden home, at the bottom of rajas, that is, in the lower hemisphere, he encompassed the waters in such a way as to stop their flow upwards through the mountain, and Indra’s victory over Vṛitra meant that he released these waters from the clutches of Vṛitra and made them flow up again. When the waters were thus released, they naturally brought with them, the dawn, the sun and the cows, i.e., either days or the rays of the morning; and the victory was thus naturally described as four-fold in character. Now we can also understand the part played by parvatas, or mountains, in the legend. It was the mountain Albûrz, or Hara Berezaiti; and as Vṛitra, by stretching his body across, closed all the apertures in his moun- tainous range, through which the sun and the waters came up, Indra had to uncover or open these passages by killing Vṛitra. Thus the Bundahish (V, 5) mentions 180 apertures in the east and 180 in the west through Albûrz; and the sun is said to come and go through them every day, and all the movements of the moon, the constellations and the planets are also said to be closely connected with these apertures. The same idea is also expressed in the later Sanskrit literature when the sun is

270 . THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. said to rise above the mountain in the east and set below the mountain in the west. The mountain on which Indra is said to have found Shambara (II, 12, 11), and the rock of Vala wherein the cows were said to have been imprisoned by the demon (IV, 3, 11 ; I, 71, 2) and which was burst open by Aṅgirases, also re- present the same mountainous range, which separated the upper from the lower celestial hemisphere, or the bright from the dark ocean. This explanation of the Vṛitra legend may sound strange to many scholars, but it should be borne in mind that the co-relation between the flow of water and the rising of the dawn and the sun, here described, is not speculative. If the Vedic works do not express it in unambiguous terms, the defi- ciency is fully made up by the Parsi scriptures. Thus in Khor- shed Yasht (VI, 2 and 3,) we are told that "When the sun rises up, then the earth becomes clean, the running waters become clean. ... ... ...Should the sun not rise up, then the Daevas would destroy all the things that are in the seven Karshvares." The passages in the Farvardîn Yasht are still more explicit. This Yasht is devoted to the praise of the Fravashis, which corres- pond to the Pitṛis of the Ṛig-Veda. These ancient fathers are often described, even in the Ṛig-Veda, as taking part, along with the gods, in the production of the cosmical phenomena. Thus the Pitṛis are said to have adorned the sky with stars, and placed darkness in the night and light in the day (X, 68, 11), or to have found the hidden light and generated the dawn (VII, 76, 4 ; X, 107, 1). The Fravashis in the Parsi scriptures are said to have achieved the same or similar exploits. They are described (Yt. XIII, 53 and 54) as having "shown the beautiful paths to the waters, which had stood before for a long time in the same place, without flowing"; and the waters are then said to have commenced to flow "along the path made by Mazda, along the way made by the gods, the watery way appointed to them." Immediately after (Yt. XIII, 57), the Fravashis are said to

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 271 have similarly showed " the paths to the stars, the moon, the sun and the endless lights, that had stood before, for a long time, in the same place, without moving forward, through the oppression of the Daevas and the assaults of the Daevas." Here we have the co-relation between the flowing of waters and the moving forward of the sun distinctly enunciated. It was the Fravashis, who caused to move onwards the waters and the sun, both of which " had stood still for a long time in the same place." Prof. Darmesteter adds a note saying that it was 'in winter' that this cessation of motion occurred, (Cf. Vend. V, 10-12; VIII, 4-10, cited and discussed infra). The Fravashis are further described (Yt. XIII, 78) as "destroying the malice of the fiend Angra Mainyu (the Avestic representative of Vṛitra), so that the waters did not stop flowing, nor did the plants stop growing." In Yasna LXV (Sp. LXIV), 6, the Fravashis, who had "borne the waters up stream from the nearest ones," are invoked to come to the worshipper; and a little further on the waters are asked to "rest still within their places while the Zaota (Sans. Hotâ) shall offer," evidently meaning that it is the sacrifice offered by the invoking priest that eventually secures the release or the flow of waters. There are other references to the flowing of waters (Yt. X, 61) in the Parsi scriptures, but those cited above are sufficient to prove our point. The main difficulty in the rational explanation of the Vṛitra legend was to connect the flow of waters with the rising of the dawn, and the passages from the Farvardin Yasht quoted above furnish us with a clue by which this connec- tion can be satisfactorily established. There are two passages in the Vendidad, which give us the period during which these aerial waters ceased to flow, and it is necessary to quote them here, inasmuch as they throw further light on the circulation of aerial waters. It has been stated above that according to Prof. Darmesteter these waters ceased to flow during winter; but the point is made perfectly

272 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. clear in Fargards V and VIII of the Vendidad, where Ahura Mazda declares how the corpse of a person dying during winter is to be dealt with, until it is finally disposed of according to the usual rites at the end of the season. Thus in Fargard V, 10 (34), Ahura Mazda is asked, "If the summer is passed and the winter has come, what shall the worshipper of Mazda do?" To which Ahura Mazda answers, "In every house, in every borough they shall raise three Katas for the dead, large enough not to strike the skull, or the feet or the hands of the man; ... and they shall let the lifeless body lie there for two nights, three nights or a month long, until the birds begin to fly, the plants to grow, the floods to flow, and the wind to dry up the waters from off the earth. And as soon as the birds begin to fly, and the plants to grow, and the floods to flow, and the wind to dry up the waters from off the earth, then the worshipper of Mazda shall lay down the dead (on the Dakhma), his eyes towards the sun." I have referred to this passage previously, but as the theory of the circu- lation of aerial waters was not then explained, the discussion of the passage had to be postponed. We now clearly see what is meant by the phrases like 'floods to flow' and 'plants to grow.' They are the same phrases, which are used in the Farvardin Yasht and are there connected with the moving forward of the sun and the moon, that had stood still, or without moving, in the same place for a long time. In other words, the waters, as well as the sun, ceased to move during winter; and the worshipper of Mazda is ordered not to dispose of the corpse until the floods began to flow and the sun to move, be it for two nights, three nights, or a month long. The Mazda-worshippers believed that the corpse was cleansed by its exposure to the sun, and dead bodies could not, therefore, be disposed of during night. The passage from the Vendidad, above referred to, therefore, clearly indicates that the season of winter was once marked by long darkness extending over two nights,

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 273 three nights, or a month; and that during the period, the floods ceased to flow and the plants to grow. It was during such a winter that the difficulty of disposing the corpse arose, and Ahura Mazda is asked what the faithful should do in such cases. The question has no meaning otherwise, for, if in the ancient home of the Mazdayasnians the sun shone every day during winter, as he does with us in the tropical regions, there would have been no difficulty in the disposal of the corpse by exposing it to the sun the next morning; and it would be absurd to ask the faithful to keep the uncleanly dead body in his house for two nights, three nights, or a month long, until the winter passed away. The passage from Fargard V quoted above makes no mention of darkness, though it can be easily inferred from the statement that the body is, at last, to be taken out and laid down on the Dakhma with its eyes towards the sun, evidently meaning that this ceremony was impossible to be performed during the time the dead body was kept up in the house. But Fargard VIII, 4 (11), where the same subject is again taken up, mentions darkness distinctly. Thus Ahura Mazda is asked "If in the house of the worshipper of Mazda a dog or a man happens to die, and it is raining, or snowing, or blowing, or the darkness is coming on, when the flocks and the men lose their way, what shall the worshipper of Mazda do?" To this Ahura Mazda gives the same reply as in Fargard V. The faithful is directed, VIII, 9, (21), to dig a grave in the house, and there "let the life- less body lie for two nights, three nights, or a month long, until the birds begin to fly, the plants to grow, the floods to flow, and the wind to dry up the waters from off the earth." Here in the question asked to Ahura Mazda darkness is distinctly mentioned along with snowing and blowing; and in the Far- vardin Yasht we have seen that the flowing of waters and the moving of the sun are described as taking place at the same time. The passage from Tir Yasht, where the appointed time 18

274 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. for the appearance of Tishtrya after conquering Apaosha in the watery regions is described as one night, two nights, fifty, or one hundred nights, has already been referred to in the last chapter. From all these passages taken together, it inevitably follows that it was during winter that the water ceased to flow, and the sun to move, and that the period of stagnation lasted from one night to a hundred nights. It was a period of long darkness, when the sun was not seen above the horizon ; and if a man died during the period, his corpse had to be kept in the house until the waters again commenced to flow, and the sun appeared on the horizon along with them. I have pointed out previously how the Hindu belief that it is inauspicious to die in the Dakshiṇâyana must be traced to this primeval practice of keeping the dead body undisposed of during the long Arctic night. The word Kata which is used for 'grave' in the Parsi scriptures occurs once in the Ṛig-Veda, I, 106, 6, where the sage Kutsa, lying in Kâṭa is described as invoking the Vṛitra-slaying Indra for his protection; and I think that we have here, at least, an indirect reference to the practice of keeping dead bodies in a Kâṭa, until Vṛitra was killed, and the waters and the sun made free to run their usual course. We are, however, concerned here only with the circulation of the celestial waters ; and from the Avestic passages quoted above, it is clear that the aerial waters ceased to flow during winter for several days or rather nights, and that, since light sprang from the same source as waters, the sun also ceased to move during the period and stood still in the watery regions, until the Fravashis, who helped the gods in their struggle for waters or in their conflict with powers of darkness, made the waters and the sun move onwards to take their usual course in the upper celestial hemisphere. We can now understand why Indra is described as moving by his might the stream upwards (udañcha) in II, 15, 6, and how the rivers are said to be set free to move on (sartave) by killing

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 275 Vṛitra (I, 32, 12), or how in I, 80, 5, Indra is said to have made the lights of heaven shine forth without obstruction and set the waters (apaḥ) free to flow (sarmaṇa). There are many other passages in the Ṛig-Veda, where the flowing of waters and the appearance of the sun or the dawn are spoken of as taking place simultaneously, as may be seen from the quotations from Macdonell's Vedic Mythology given above. All these passages become intelligible only when interpreted on the theory of the cosmic circulation of aerial waters through the upper and the lower celestial hemispheres. But as the theory was little understood or studied in this connection, the Vedic scholars, ancient and modern, have hitherto failed to interpret the Vṛitra legend in a rational and intelligible way, especially the four simultaneous effects of the conquest of Indra over Vṛitra mentioned therein. The cosmic circulation of aerial waters described above, is not peculiar to the Indo-Iranian mythology. Dr. Warren, in his Paradise Found, states that a similar circulation of aerial waters is mentioned in the works of Homer. Homer describes the sun as returning to the flowing of the ocean, or sinking into it, and again rising from it and mounting the sky. All rivers and every sea and all fountains and even deep wells are again said to arise from the deep flowing ocean, which was believed to encircle the earth.* Hêlios or the sun is further described as sailing from west to east in a golden boat or cup, evidently meaning that the underworld was supposed to be full of waters. But Homeric scholars seem to have raised unnecessary difficulties in the proper interpretation of these passages by assuming that Homer conceived the earth to be flat and that as the Hades was a region of complete darkness, the sun could not be said to go there even after his setting. Dr. Warren has, however, shown that the assumption is entirely groundless,

• See Dr. Warren's Paradise Found, 10th Edition (1893), Part V, Chap. V, pp. 250-260.

276 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. and that Homer's earth was really a sphere and that the underworld was full of aerial waters. We have seen above, how some Vedic scholars have raised similar difficulties in the inter- pretation of the Vṛitra myth by supposing that the lower celestial hemisphere was unknown to the Vedic bards. This is probably a reflection of the Homeric controversy, but as pointed out by Dr. Warren,* these baseless assumptions are due mainly to a prejudice with which many scholars approach the question of the interpretation of ancient myths. It is assumed that the early man could not possibly have known anything about the world, beyond what the rudest savages know at pre- sent; and plain and explicit statements are sometimes put aside, distorted, or ignored by scholars, who, had they not been blinded by prejudice, would certainly have interpreted them in a different way. It is impossible to do justice to the subject in this place, and I would refer the reader for further details to Dr. Warren's instructive work on the subject. Dr. Warren also states that Euripides, like Homer, held the view that there was one fountain of all the world's water, and that the same concep- tion is expressed by Hesiod in his Theogony, where all rivers as sons, and all fountains and brooks as daughters, are traced back to Okeanos. Then we have the constant descending movement of all waters until they reach the world-surrounding Ocean-river at the equator, beyond which is the underworld, similar to the movements of aerial waters described in the Avesta. Aristotle, in his Meteors, is said also to have mentioned "a river in the air constantly flowing betwixt the heaven and the earth and made by the ascending and the descending vapours."† It is again pointed by Grill that the ancient Germans had a similar world-river, and the descending Ukko's stream and the ascend- ing Amma's stream in the Finnish mythology are similar- ly believed to be the traces of a like cosmic water-circulation.

• Paradise Found, p. 333f. † Paradise Found, p. 51, and 256, notes.

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 277 We read of a golden boat also in the Lettish mythology; and Prof. Max Muller, referring to it, says, "What the golden boat is that sinks into the sea and is mourned for by the daughter of the sky, however, doubtful it may be elsewhere, is not to be mis- taken in the mythology of the Lets. It is the setting sun, which in the Veda has to be saved by the Ashvins; it is the golden boat in which Hêlios and Hêracles sail from west to east. Some- times it is the Sun-daughter herself that is drowned like Chyavâna in the Veda, and as Chyavâna and similar heroes had to be saved in the Veda by the Ashvins, the Lets also call upon the God-sons to row in a boat and save the Sun-daughter."* In connection with this, it may be here observed that the Ashvins are described in the Ṛig-Veda as saving their proteges in boats (I, 116, 3; I, 182, 6), and that though Ashvins' boats are not described as golden, their chariot is said to be hiraṇyayî or golden in VIII, 5, 29; while the boats of Pûṣhan, in which he crosses the aerial ocean (samudra), are actually said to be golden in VI, 58, 3. In I, 46, 7, the Ashvins are again spoken of as having both a chariot and a boat, as a sort of double equipment; and their chariot is said to be samâna yojana, or traversing, without dis- tinction, both the heaven and the watery regions in I, 30, 18. The word samâna is meaningless unless there is some difficulty in traversing over one part of the celestial sphere as distinguished from the other. The Vedic gods used these boats especially in crossing the lower world, the home and seat of aerial waters; and when they appeared above the horizon, they are described as traversing the upper sphere by means of their chariots. But sometimes the waters are said to carry them even across the sky above, just as the chariot is described as going over the lower world. For instance in the legend of Dîrghatamas, discussed previously, he is said to be borne on waters for ten

• See Max Muller's Contributions to the Science of Mythology, Vol. II, p. 433.

278 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. months and then growing old was about to die or reach the- ocean, to which the waters were speeding. In other words, this- means that the sun, who was borne on waters for ten months, was about to go into the lower watery regions as explained in the chapter VI. But to proceed with the subject in hand, the- idea of the cosmic circulation of aerial waters, is not confined to- the Indian, the Iranian or the Greek mythology. In the Egyp- tian mythology, Nu-t, the goddess of the sky, is sometimes "re- presented by a figure in which the band of stars is accompanied by a band of water"; and Sir Norman Lockyer tells us that "not only the Sun-gods, but the stars, were also supposed to travel in boats across the firmament from one horizon to the other." The- Jewish idea of the firmament in the midst of waters, the waters- above being afterwards separated from the waters below the- firmament, is already referred to above. There is, therefore, nothing strange or surprising if we find in the Vedas and in the- Avesta more or less clear references to the circulation of aerial waters through the upper and the lower celestial hemispheres of the universe. It is an idea which is found in the ancient mythology of every other nation, and nothing but false prejudice can deter- us from interpreting the simultaneous movements or the libera- tion of waters and light, described in the Vedic hymns, on the- theory of the cosmic circulation of aerial waters. But even after accepting the theory of the cosmic cir- culation of celestial waters and the simultaneous release of waters and dawn, it may be asked how the Arctic theory comes in, or is in any way required, to explain the Vṛitra- legend. We may admit that the waters imprisoned by Vṛitra, by shutting up the passages through the rocky walls that surround them, may be taken to mean the celestial waters in the world below the three earths; but still, the struggle between Indra and Vṛitra may, for aught we know, represent

• See Lockyer's Dawn of Astronomy, p. 35.

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 279 the daily fight between light and darkness, and it may be urged, that there is no necessity whatever, for bringing in the Arctic theory to explain the legend. A little reflection will, however, show that all the incidents in the legend cannot be explained on the theory of a daily struggle between light and darkness. In X, 62, 2, the Aṅgirases, who are the assistants of Indra in his conquest of cows, are said to have defeated Vala at the end of the year (parivatsare). This shows that the struggle was annual and did not take place every day. Then we have the passage (VIII, 32, 26), where Arbuda, the watery demon, is said to have been killed by Indra with ice (hima), and not with a thunderbolt as usual. In addition to the fact that the struggle was an yearly one, we must, therefore, hold that the conflict took place during winter, the season of ice and snow; and this is corrobo- rated by the statement in the Avesta, that it was during winter that the waters, and with them the sun, ceased to move on- wards. Vṛitra's forts are again described as autumnal or shâradîḥ, showing that the fight must have commenced at the end of Sharad (autumn) and continued during winter. We have further seen that there are a hundred night-sacrifices, and the duration of Tishtrya's fight with Apaosha is described as varying from one to a hundred nights in the Tîr Yasht. All these incidents can be explained only by the Arctic theory, or by the theory of the long autumnal night, and not on the hypothesis of a daily struggle between light and darkness. We have come to the conclusion that Indra's fight with Vṛitra must have commenced in Sharad, and lasted till the end of Shishira in the watery regions of the nether world. Fortunately for us this conclusion is remarkably borne out by an important passage preserved in the Ṛig-Veda, which gives us, what may be called, the very date of the commencement of Indra's conflict with Vṛitra, though the true bearing of the passage has yet remained unexplained owing to the absence

280 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. of the real key to its meaning. In II, 12, 11, we read, "Indra found Shambara dwelling on the mountains (in) chatvâriṅshyâm sharadi.'"* Now chatvâriṅshyâm is an ordinal numeral in the feminine gender and in the locative case, and similarly sharadi is the locative of sharad (autumn), which also is a word of feminine gender in Sanskrit. The phrase chatvâriṅshyâm sharadi is, therefore, capable of two interpretations or constructions, though the words are simple in themselves. Chatvâriṅshyâm literally means 'in the fortieth,' and sharadi 'in autumn.' If we now take chatvâriṅshyâm (in the fortieth) as an adjective qualify- ing sharadi (in autumn), the meaning of the phrase would be "in the fortieth autumn" ; while if the two words are taken separa- tely the meaning would be "on the fortieth, in autumn." Sâyaṇa and Western scholars have adopted the first construction, and understand the passage to mean, "Indra found Shambara dwelling on the mountains in the fortieth autumn, that is, in the fortieth year"; for the words indicating seasons, like Vasanta (spring), Sharad (autumn), or Hemanta (winter), are understood to denote a year, especially when used with a numeral adjective meaning more than one. This construction is grammatically correct, for chatvâriṅshyâm and sharadi being both in the feminine gender and in the locative case, the two words can be taken together, and understood to mean "in the fortieth autumn or year." But what are we to understand by the statement, that Shambara was found in the fortieth year by Indra? Are we to suppose that Indra was engaged in searching out the demon for 40 years, and it was only at the end of this long period that the enemy was, at last, found dwelling on the mountains? If so, Indra's conflict with Shambara cannot be daily or yearly, but must be supposed to have taken place only once in 40 years, an inference, which is

• Ṛig. II, 12, 11,— यः शंबरं पर्वतेषु क्षियंतं चत्वारिंश्यां शरदन्वविं- दत् । ओजायमानं यो अहिं जघान दानुं शयानं स जनास इंद्रः ॥

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 281 directly opposed to the statement (X, 62, 2) that "Vala was killed at the end of the year (parivatsare)." Some scholars try to get out of the difficulty by suggesting that the passage may be taken as referring to a famine or drought that occurred after 40 years, or that it may represent a forty years' war between the Aryans protected by Indra, and Shambara, the chief of the aboriginal races dwelling on the mountains! But both these explanations are too far-fetched and imaginary to deserve any serious attention or refutation. The story of Shambara is men- tioned in a number of places in the Ṛig-Veda, and everywhere it represents Indra's conflict with Vṛitra.* It is, therefore, prepos- terous to hold that a forty years' war with the aboriginies. is referred to in this single passage, especially when the passage is capable of being interpreted differently without straining the words used. It is the most ordinary Sanskrit idiom to use the locative case in mentioning the month, the day, the season or the year, when a particular incident is said to have taken place. Thus, even now, we say, "Kârttike, shukla-pakshe, trayodashyâm," meaning "in the month of Kârttika, in the bright half, on the thirteenth (tithi or day)." The feminine ordinal numerals, like chaturthî, ekâ- dashî, trayodashî, are always used, without any noun, to de- note the tithi or the day of the month, or the fortnight, as the case may be. Thus in the Taittirîya Brâhmaṇa (I, 1, 9, 10), we have the expression "yadi saṁvatsare na âdadhyât dvâ- dashyâm purastât âdadhyât," meaning that "if the sacrificial fire is not consecrated at the end of the year (saṁvatsare), it should be consecrated on the twelfth (dvâdashyâm) afterwards." Here dvâdashyâm is a feminine ordinal in the locative case used by itself, and means "on the twelfth tithi or day" after the end of the year mentioned in the preceding sentence.

• See the Nivids, quoted supra (p. 246). Shambara-hatya or the fight with Shambara, and go-ishṭi or the struggle for cows are declared to be the one and the same in these nivids

282 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. Chatvâriṁshyâm, in the Vedic passage under discussion, may be similarly taken to denote the fortieth tithi or day, and sharadi the season at the time, the two words being taken as independent locatives. The passage would then mean “In- dra found Shambara dwelling on the mountains on the for- tieth (scil. tithi or day) in autumn.” Now Sharad is the fourth season of the year, and the forti- eth day of Sharad would mean seven months and ten days, or 220 days, after the first day of Vasanta or the spring, which commenced the year in old times. In short, the passage means that Indra's fight with Shambara, or the annual conflict between light and darkness, commenced on the tenth day of the eighth month of the year, or on the 10th of October, if we take the year to have then commenced with March, the first month in the old Roman calendar. In I, 155, 6, Vishṇu, like a rounded wheel, is said to have set in swift motion his ninety racing steeds together with the four, and the reference is evidently to a year of four seasons of ninety days each. If we accept this division, each season would be of three months' duration, and Sharad being the third (cf. X, 90, 6), the fortieth day of Sha- rad would still mean the 10th day of the eighth month of the year. The passage thus gives the very date of Indra's annual fight with Vṛitra; and if it had been correctly understood, much useless speculation about the nature of Vṛitra's legend would have been avoided. We have seen previously that the seven Âdityas, or monthly Sun-gods, the sons of Aditi, were presented by her to the gods in a former yuga, and that she cast away the eighth, the Mârtâṇḍa, because he was born in an undeveloped state. In other words, the Sun-god of the eighth month is here said to have died soon after he was born, evidently meaning, that the Sun went below the horizon in the beginning of the eighth month; and by fixing the date of the commencement of Indra's fight with Vṛitra as the fortieth day in Sharad, or the 10th day of the eighth month, we arrive

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 283 at the same conclusion. The legend of Aditi and the date of the commencement of Indra's fight with Shambara, as given in II, 12, 11, thus corroborate each other in a remarkable way; and as the current interpretation of the passage does not yield any intelligible sense, there is no course left for us but to accept the only other possible interpretation. According to this interpretation Sharad becomes the last season of sunshine, and it may be here remarked that the ety- mological meaning of the word further supports the same view.. For Sharad is derived from shṛî, to wither or waste away, (Uṇâdi 127), and the word thus primarily signifies the 'season of decay or withering'; and the decay here referred to is evidently the decay of the power of the sun, and not the withering of grass, as suggested by Sâyaṇa in his commentary on III, 32, 9. Thus we find in the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ, II, 1, 2, 5, that "There are three lustres or powers of the sun ; one in Vasanta, that is, in the morning ; one in Grîshma or the mid-day ; and one in Sharad or the evening."* We cannot suppose that the words, morning, mid-day and evening, are here used in their primary sense. The three stages of the day represented by them are predicated of the yearly sun, and Sharad is said to be the evening, i.e., the time of decline in his yearly course. It follows, therefore, that after Sharad there was no period of sunshine in ancient times; and a Vedic passage, † quoted by Shabara in his commentary on Jaimini Suttras VI, 7, 40, says, "The sun is all the seasons; when it is morning (uditi), it is Vasanta; when the milking time (saṅgava), it is Grîshma;. *Taitt. Saṁ. II, 1, 2, 5,--त्रीणि वा आदित्यस्य तेजांसि वसंतः प्रातः ग्रीष्मे मध्यंदिने शरद्यपराह्ने । यावंत्येव तेजांसि तान्येवावरुंधे । Also compare Taitt. Saṁ. II 1, 4, 2. † Shabara or Jaimini VI, 7, 40, quotes, आदित्यो वा सर्व ऋतवः स यदैवोदित्यथ वसंतो यदा संगवोऽथ ग्रीष्मो यदा मध्यंदिनोऽथ वर्षा यदाऽपरा- ह्नोऽथ शरद् यदास्तमेत्यथ हेंमंतशिशिरौ । I have not been able to trace the passage; but it clearly states that the last two seasons formed the- night of the yearly sun.

284 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. when mid-day (madhyan-dina), it is Varsha; when evening (aparâhna), it is Sharad; when it sets (astam eti), it is the dual season of Hemanta and Shishira." If this passage has any meaning, it shows that the powers of the sun declined in Sharad, and the end of Sharad (autumn), therefore, represented his annual succumbing to the powers of darkness; or, in short, to dual season of Hemanta and Shishira represented the long night when the sun went below the horizon. It may also be mentioned that the word himyâ (lit. wintry) is used in the Ṛig-Veda for night (I, 34, 1), implying that the wintry season was the season of special darkness. But it may be urged that we have no authority for holding that, in ancient days, time was reckoned simply by seasons and days; and chatvâriṅshyâm sharadi cannot, therefore, be inter- preted to mean "On the 40th (day) in Sharad." The objec- tion is not, however, well-founded; for in ancient inscriptions we find many instances where dates of events are recorded only by reference to seasons. Thus in the book on the Inscriptions from the Cave-Temples of Western India, by Dr. Burgess and Pandit Bhagwânlâl Indrâji, published by the Government of Bombay in 1881, the date of inscription No. 14 is given as follows:—"Of king (raño) Vâsiṭhîputa, the illustrious lord (sâmi-siri) [Puḷumâyi] in the year seventh (7), of Grîshma the fifth (5) fortnight, and first (1) day." Upon this Dr. Burgess remarks that "the mention of the 5th fortnight of Grîshma shows that the year was not divided into six seasons (ṛitu) but into three, namely, Grîshma, Varshâ and Hemanta." But what is important for our purpose in this inscription is the method of giving the date by seasons, fortnights and days, without any reference to the month. This inscription is followed in the same book by others, one of which (No. 20) is thus dated:—"In the twenty-fourth year (24) of the king Vâsi- ṭhîputa, the illustrious Puḷimâvi, in the third (3) fort- night of the winter (hemanta) months, on the second (2)