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

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 315 for ten months. After this period, the sun was lost, or went out of the womb into the land of desolation, there to be shut up as in a wooden case for two months. The sage Atri, therefore, rightly invokes the Ashvins for his deliverance from the box and also for the safe delivery of the child, i. e., himself, from the womb of his mother after ten months. In the Atharva Veda XI, 5, 1, the sun, as a Brahmachârin, is said to move between heaven and earth, and in the 12th verse of the same hymn we are told that "Shouting forth, thundering, red, white he carries a great penis (bṛihach-chhepas) along the earth." If the sun moving between heaven and earth is called bṛihach-chhepas he may well be called Vadhri (eunuch), when sunk into the land of Nir-ṛiti. But Prof. Max Muller asks us, why he should be called Sapta- vadhri or a seven-eunuch ? The explanation is simple enough. The heaven, the earth and the lower regions are all conceived as divided seven-fold in the Ṛig-Veda, and, when the ocean or the waters are described as seven-fold (sapta-budhnam arṇavam, VIII, 40, 5; sapta âpaḥ X, 104, 8), or when we have seven Dânus or demons, mentioned in X, 120, 6, or when Indra is called saptâ- han or the seven-slayer (X, 49, 8), or Vritra is said to have seven forts (I, 63, 7), or when the cowstead (vraja), which the two Ashvins are said to have opened in X, 40, 8, is described as saptâsya, the sun, who is bṛihach-chhepas and seven-rayed or seven-horsed (V, 45, 9) while moving between heaven and earth, may very well be described as Saptavadhri or seven-eunuch when sunk into the land of Nir-ṛiti or the nether world of bottomless darkness from which he is eventually released by the Ashvins. The last three verses of V, 78, can thus be logically connected with the story of Saptavadhri mentioned in the immediately preceding verses, if the period of ten months, during which the child moves in the mother's womb, is taken to represent the period of ten months' sunshine followed by the long night of two months; the existence

316 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. of which we have established by independent Vedic evidence. The point has long remained unexplained, and it is only by the Arctic theory that it can be now satisfactorily accounted for. In connection with this subject it is necessary to refer to a riddle or a paradox, which arises out of it. The sun was supposed to move in the womb of his mother for ten months and then to drop into the nether world. In other words, as soon as he came out of the womb, he was invisible; while in ordinary cases a child becomes visible as soon as it is brought into the world after ten months of gestation. Here was an idea, or rather an apparent contradiction between two ideas, which the Vedic poets were not slow to seize upon, and evolve a riddle out of it. Thus we have seen above (I, 164, 32) that the sun is described as being invisible to one who made him, evidently meaning his mother. In V, 2, 1, we again meet with the same riddle; for it says, "Young mother carries in secret the boy confined; she does not yield him to the father. People do not see before them his fading face, laid down with the Arâti."* In I, 72, 2, we further read, "All the clever immortals did not find the calf though sojourning round about us. The attentive (gods), wearying themselves, following his foot-steps, stood at the highest beautiful standing p'ace of Agni;" and the same idea is expressed in I, 95, 4, which says, "Who amongst you has understood this secret? The calf has by itself given birth to its mother. The germ of many, the great seer moving by his own strength comes forward from the lap of the active one (apasâm)." It is the story of the hidden Agni, who is described in X, 124, 1, as having long (jyok) resided in *See Oldenberg's Vedic Hymns, S. B. E. Series, Vol. XLVI, pp. 366-68. The first two verses of the hymn are:—कुमारं माता युवतिः समु- ब्धं गुहा बिभर्ति न ददाति पित्रे। अनीकमस्य न मिनज्जनासः पुरः पश्यंति नि- हितमरतौ ॥ १ ॥ कमेतं त्वं युवते कुमारं पेषी बिभर्षि महिषी जजान । पूर्वीर्हि गर्भः शरदो ववर्धापश्यं जातं यदसूत माता ॥ २ ॥

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 317 the long darkness (dîrgham tamaḥ), and who eventually comes- out as the child of waters (apâm napât, I, 143, 1). The epithet apâm napât as applied to Agni is usually explained as referring to the lightening produced from the clouds, but this explanation does not account for the fact of his long residence in darkness. The puzzle or the riddle is, however, satisfactorily solved by the Arctic theory, combined with the cosmic circulation of aerial waters. The sun, who moves in the interior of heaven and earth for ten months, as in the womb of his mother, naturally suggested to the Vedic poets the parallel idea of the period of ten months' gestation; but the wonder was that while a child is visible to all as soon as it is born, the sun became invisible just at the time when he came out of the womb. Where did he go? Was he locked up in a wooden chest or bound down with leather straps in the region of waters? Why did the mother not present him to the father after he was safely de- livered? Was he safely delivered? These questions natural- ly arise out of the story, and the Vedic poets appear to take delight in reverting again and again to the same paradox in different places. And what applies to Sûrya or the sun ap- plies to Agni as well; for there are many passages in the Ṛig- Veda where Agni is identified with the sun. Thus Agni is said to be the light of heaven in the bright sky, waking at dawn, the head of heaven (III, 2, 14), and he is described as having been born on the other side of the air in X, 187, 5. In the Aitareya Brâhmaṇa (VIII, 28), we are further told that the sun, when setting, enters into Agni and is reproduced from the latter; and the same identification appears to be alluded to in the passages from the Ṛig-Veda, where Agni is said to unite with the light of the sun or to shine in heaven (VIII, 44, 29). The story of concealing the child after ten months of gestation whether applied to Agni or to Sûrya is thus only a different version of the story of the disappearance of the sun from the upper hemisphere after ten months of sunshine.

318 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. But what became of the child (Kumâra) which disappeared in this way? Was he lost for ever or again restored to his parents? How did the father or even the mother obtain the child so lost? Some one must bring the child to them, and this task seems to have been entrusted to the Ṛibhus or the Ashvins in the Ṛig-Veda. Thus in I, 110, 8, the Ṛibhus are said to have united the mother with the calf, and in I, 116, 13, the Ashvins are described as giving to Vadhrimati a child called Hiraṇya-hasta. The story of restoring Vishṇâpu to Vishvaka (I, 117, 7) and of giving milk to Shayu's cow probably refer to the same phenomenon of bringing back the morning sun to the parents; and from this it is but a small step to the story of Kumâra (lit., a child), one of the names of Kârttikeya in the Purâṇas. It was this Kumâra, or the once hidden (guha), or dropped (skanda) Child, rising along with the seven rivers or mothers (VIII, 96, 1) in the morning, that led the army of gods or light and walked victoriously along the Devayâna path. He was the leader of days, or the army of gods; and as Maruts were the allies of Indra in his conflict with Vṛitra, Kumâra or the Child, meaning the morning sun, may, by a turn of the mythological kaleidoscope, be very well called a son of Rudra, the later representative of the Maruts; or said to be born of Agni, who dwelt in waters; or described as the son of seven or six Kṛittikâs. As the morning sun has to pierce his way up through the apertures of Albûrz, tempo- rarily closed by Vṛitra, this Kumâra can again be well termed Krauñcha-dâraṇa, or the piercer of the Krauñcha mountain, an epithet applied to him in the Purâṇas.* But we are not here concerned with the growth which Kumâra, or the child of the

1. For a further devlopment of the idea see Mr. Nârâyan Aiyan- gâr's Essays on Indo-Aryan Mythology, Part II, pp.57–80. In the light of the Arctic theory we may have to modify some of Mr. Aiyangâr's views. Thus out of the seven rivers or mothers, which bring on the light of the sun, one may be regarded as his real mother and the other six as stepmothers.

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 319 morning, attained in later mythology. We took up the legends of the Ashvins with a view to see if there were any incidents in them which became intelligible only on the Arctic theory, and the foregoing examination of the legends shows that we have not searched in vain. The expression dasha-mâsya in the leg- end of Sapta-vadhri and dashame yuge in that of Dîrgha- tamas directly indicate a period of ten months' sunshine, and we have seen that three, ten, or a hundred continuous nights are also referred to directly or metaphorically in some of these legends. We have again such expressions as "the sun sleep- ing in darkness or in the lap of Nir-ṛiti," which show that actual and not metaphorical darkness was intended. In short, the sun, sunk in the nether world of waters and darkness, and not merely a winter sun, is the burden of all these legends, and the achievements of the Ashvins refer to the rescue of the sun from the dark pit of the nether world or from the bottom- less ocean or darkness. The Vernal and Arctic theories are both solar in character, and in either case the legends are interpreted on the supposition that they represent some solar phenomenon. But the Arctic theory does not stop with the decay of the sun's power in winter, but goes a step further in making the long darkness of the circum-polar region, the natural basis of many important Vedic legends; and the fore- going discussion of the myths of the Ashvins clearly shows that a wider basis, like the one supplied by the Arctic theory, was not only desirable but necessary for a proper explanation of these legends—a fact, which, in its turn, further corro- borates and establishes the new theory.

The Sûrya's Wheel.

We have already discussed the legends of the seven Âdi- tyas with their still-born brother, and shewn that it represents seven months of sunshine in the ancient Aryan home. But this is not the only period of sunshine in the Arctic region,

320 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. where, according to latitude, the sun is above the horizon from 6 to 12 months. The sacrificial session of the Navagvas and the Dashagvas thus lasted for nine or ten months, and amongst the Ashvins' legends, that of Saptavadhri is just shown to have been based on the phenomenon of ten months' sunshine. Is there any legend of Sûrya in the Ṛig-Veda, which refers to this phenomenon?—is the question we have now to consider. The statement that ten horses are yoked to the carriage of the sun has been shewn to point out to a period of ten months' sunshine; but the legend of Indra's stealing the wheel of the sun is still more explicit. To understand it properly we must, however, first see in what relation Indra generally stands to Sûrya. It has been shown in the last chapter, that Indra is the chief hero in the fight between the powers of light and darkness. It is he, who causes the sun to rise with the dawn, or makes the sun to shine (VIII, 3, 6; VIII, 98, 2) and mount the sky (I, 7, 3). The sun, it is further stated, (III, 39, 5), was dwelling in darkness, where Indra, accompanied by the Dashagvas found him and brought him up for man. It is Indra again who makes a path for the sun (X, III, 3), and fights with the demons of darkness in order to gain back the light of the morning. In short, Indra is everywhere described as a friend and helper of Sûrya, and yet the Ṛig-Veda men- tions a legend in which Indra is said to have taken away or stolen the wheel of Sûrya and thus vanquished him (I, 175, 4; IV, 30, 4; V, 31, 11; X, 43, 5). It has been supposed that the legend may refer either to the obscuration of the sun by a storm-cloud, or to his diurnal setting; but the former is too un- certain an event to be made the basis of a legend like the pre- sent, nor can a cloud be said to be brought on by Indra, while we have no authority to assume, as presupposed in the latter case, that the legend refers to the daily setting of the sun. We must, therefore, examine the legend a little more closely, and see if we can explain it in a more intelligible way. Now

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 321 Sûrya's chariot is described in the Ṛig-Veda as having but one wheel (I, 164, 2), though the wheel is said to be seven-fold ; and in the later mythology it is distinctly stated that the chariot of the sun is eka-chakra or a monocycle. If this wheel is taken away, the progress of the sun must cease, bringing everything to a dead lock. It seems, however, that the wheel of the sun means the sun himself in the present legend. Thus in I, 175, 4, and IV, 30, 4, the phrase used is sûryam chakram, evidently meaning that the solar orb itself is conceived as a wheel. When this wheel is said to be stolen, we must, there- fore, suppose that the sun himself was taken away, and not that one of the two wheels of his carriage was stolen, leaving the carriage to run on one wheel as best as it could. What did Indra do with this solar wheel, or the sun himslf, which he stole in this way ? We are told that he used solar rays as his weapon to kill or burn the demons (VIII, 12, 9). It is, there- fore, clear that the stealing of the solar wheel and the conquest over the demons are contemporaneous events. Indra's fight with the demons is mainly for the purpose of regaining light, and it may be asked how Indra can be described to have used the solar orb as a weapon of attack for the purpose of regaining Sûrya that was lost in darkness ? For it amounts to saying that the solar orb was used as a weapon in recovering the sun himself, which was believed to be lost in darkness. But the difficulty is only apparent and is due to the modern notions of light or darkness. Sûrya and darkness, according to the modern notions, cannot be supposed to exist in the same place ; but the Ṛig-Veda distinctly speaks of " the sun dwelling in darkness " in two places at least (III, 39, 5 ; I, 117, 5) ; and this can be explained only on the supposition that the Vedic bards believed that the sun was deprived of his lustre when he sank below the horizon, or that his lustre was temporarily obscured during his struggle with the demons of darkness. It is impossible to explain the expression tamasi kshiyantam 21

322 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. (dwelling in darkness) on any other theory; and if this explanation is accepted, it is not difficult to understand how the solar orb could be said to be utilized by Indra in vanquishing the demons and regaining the morning light. In other words, Indra helps the sun in destroying the obs- truction which marred or clouded his lustre, and when this obstruction is removed the sun regains his light and rises up from the nether ocean. Indra is, therefore, correctly described in IV, 17, 14, as having stopped the wheel öf the sun, and, turning it round, flung it into the concealing darkness at the bottom of rajas or in the nether world of darkness. But the passage important for our purpose is VI, 31, 3. It reads as follows:— Tvam Kutsena abhi Shuṣhṇam Indra Ashuṣhaṁ yudhya Kuyavam gaviṣhṭau । Daśha prapitve adha Sūryasya mushāyas chakram avive rapāṁsi ॥ The first half of the verse presents no difficulty. It means "O Indra! in the striving for the cows, do you, with Kutsa, fight against Shuṣhṇa, the Ashuṣha and the Kuyava."* Here Ashuṣha and Kuyava are used as adjectives to Shuṣhṇa and mean 'the voracious Shuṣhṇa, the bane of the crops." The second hemistich, however, is not so simple. The last phrase avive-rapāṁsi is split in the Pada text as aviveḥ and rapāṁsi, which means "destroy calamities or mischiefs (rapāṁsi)." But Prof. Oldenberg proposes to divide the phrase as aviveḥ and apāṁsi, in confirmity with IV, 19, 10, and translates, "Thou hast manifested thy manly works (apāṁsi)."† It is not, however, necessary for our present purpose to examine the re- lative merits of these two interpretations; and we may, there- fore, adopt the older of the two, which translates the phrase as meaning, "Thou hast destroyed calamities or mischiefs,

• See Ṛig. VI, 31, 3,—त्वं कुत्सेनाभि शुष्णमिंद्राशुषं युध्य कुयवं गविष्टौ । दश प्रपित्वे अध सूर्यस्य मुषायश्चक्रमविवेरपांसि ॥ † See Oldenberg's Vedic Hymns, S.B.E. Series, Vol. XLVI, p. 69.

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 323 (Arapāṁsi)." Omitting the first two words, viz., dasha and pra- pitve, the second hemistich may, therefore, be rendered, "Thou hast stolen the wheel of Sûrya and hast destroyed calamities." We have now to ascertain the meaning of dasha prapitve. Sâyaṇa takes dasha as equivalent to adashaḥ (lit., bittest, from daṁsh, to bite), and prapitve to mean "in the battle" —and translates, "Thou bittest him in the battle." But this is evidently a forced meaning, and one that does not harmonise with other passages, where the same legend is describ- ed. Thus in IV, 16, 12, we are told that Shuṣhṇa was killed at ahnaḥ prapitve, and the last phrase evidently denotes the time when Shuṣhṇa was defeated; while in V, 31, 7, Indra is described as having checked the wiles of Shuṣhṇa by reaching prapitvam. By the side of the expression dasha prapitve, we thus have two more passages in the Ṛig-Veda, referring to the same legend, and in one of which Shuṣhṇa is said to be killed at the prapitva of the day (ahnaḥ prapitve), while in the other, the wiles of the demon are said to be checked by Indra on reaching prapitvam. The three expressions, dasha prapitve, ahnaḥ prapitve, and Prapitvam yan, must, therefore, be taken to be synonymous; and whatever meaning we assign to prapitve, it must be applicable to all the three cases. The word prapitve is used several times in the Ṛig-Veda, but scholars are not agreed as to its mean- ing. Thus Grassmann gives two meanings of prapitva. The first denoting "advance," and the second "the beginning of the day." According to him ahnaḥ prapitve means "in the morning" (IV, 16, 12). But he would render prapitvam yan simply by "advancing." In VI, 31, 3, he would also take prapitve as meaning "in the morning." The word prapitve also occurs in I, 189, 7, and there Prof. Olden- berg translates it by "at the time of the advancing day," and quotes Geldner in support thereof. Sâyaṇa in VIII, 4, 3, translates âpitve by 'friendship' and prapitve by 'having ac- quired,' (cf. Nir. III, 20). Under these circumstances it is, I

324 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. think, safer to ascertain the meaning of prapitve direct from those Vedic passages where it occurs in contrast with other words. Thus in VII, 41, 4, (Vâj. Sam, XXXIV, 37) and VIII, 1, 29, we find prapitve very distinctly contrasted with madhye (the middle) and uditâ (the beginning) of the day; and in both these places prapitve can mean nothing but 'the decline or the end of the day.'* Mahîdhara, on Vâj. Sam. XXXIV, 37, explains prapitve as equivalent to prapatane or astamaye, meaning "the decline, fall, or end of the day." Adopting this meaning, the phrase ahnaḥ prapitve ni barhîḥ, in IV, 16, 12, would then mean that Shuṣhṇa was killed 'when the day had declined.' Now if Shuṣhṇa was killed when the day had de- clined the phrase dasha prapitve ought to be, by analogy, inter- preted in the same way. But it is difficult to do so, so long as dasha is separated from prapitve, as is done in the Pada text. I propose, therefore, that dasha-prapitve be taken as one word, and interpreted to mean "at the decline of the ten," meaning that Shuṣhṇa was killed at the end or completion of ten (months). In I, 141, 2, the phrase dasha-pramatim is taken as a compound word in the Pada text, but Oldenberg, following the Petersberg Lexicon, splits it into dasha and pra- matim. I propose to deal exactly in the reverse way with the phrase dasha prapitve in the passage under consideration, and translate the verse thus:—"O Indra! in the striving for cows do thou, with Kutsa, fight against Shuṣhṇa, the Ashuṣha and Kuyava. On the decline (or the completion) of the ten (scil. months), thou stolest the wheel of Sûrya and didst destroy cala- mities (or, according to Oldenberg, manifest manly works)." The passage thus becomes intelligible, and we are not required

• Ṛig. VII, 41, 4,—उतेदानीं भगवंतः स्यामोत प्रपित्व उत मध्ये अह्नां । उतोदिता मघवन्सूर्यस्य वयं देवानां सुमतौ स्याम ॥ Ṛig. VIII, 1, 29—मम त्वा सूर उदिते मम मध्यंदिने दिवः। मम प्रपित्वे अपिशर्वरे वसवा स्तोमासो अवृत्सत ॥ These two passages clearly prove that prapitve, used with reference to the day, denotes decline or the termination thereof.

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 325 to invent a new meaning for dasha and make Indra bite his enemy on the battle-field. If we compare the phrase dasha- prapitve with ahnaḥ prapitve occurring in IV, 16, 12, and bear in mind the fact that both are used in connection with the legendary fight with Shuṣhṇa, we are naturally led to suppose that dasha-prapitve denotes, in all probability, the time of the contest, as ahnaḥ prapitve does in the other passage, and that dasha prapitve must be taken as equivalent to dashânâm prapitve and translated to mean “On the completion of the ten,” which can be done only by taking dasha-prapitve as a compound word. The grammatical construction being thus determined, the only question that remains is to decide whether dasha (ten) means ten days or ten months. A comparison with ahnaḥ prapitve may suggest “days,” but the fight with Shuṣhṇa cannot be regarded to have been fought every ten days. It is either annual or daily; and we are thus led to interpret dasha in the compound dasha- prapitve (or dashânâm when the compound is dissolved) as equivalent to ten months in the same way as the numeral dvâdashasya is interpreted to mean “of the twelfth month,” or dvâdashasya mâsasya in VII, 103, 9. The passage thus denotes the exact time when the wheel of the sun, or the solar orb, was stolen by Indra and utilized as a weapon of attack to demolish the demons of darkness. This was done at the end of ten months, or at the end of the old Roman year, or at the close of the sacrificial session of the Dashagvas who with Indra are said to have found the sun dwelling in darkness. The construction of the passage proposed above is not only natural and simple, but the sense it gives is in harmony with the mean- ing of similar other passages relating to the fight of Shuṣhṇa, and is far more rational than the current meaning which makes Indra bite his enemy in a rustic and unpre- cedented manner. It is the Pada text that is responsible for the present unnatural meaning; for if it had not split

326 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. up the phrase into dasha and prapitve, its correct meaning might not have become so obscure as at present. But the Pada text is not infallible; and even Yâska and Sâyaṇa have adopted amendments in certain cases (cf. I, 105, 18; X, 29, 1; and Nir. V, 21; VI, 28), and the same thing has been done rather more freely by Western scholars. We are not, therefore, following an untrodden path in giving up the Pada text, especially when the verse is more naturally and intelligently interpreted by taking dasha-prapitve as one compound word. When the verse is so interpreted we get a complete account of the annual course of the sun in the home of the Aryans in an- cient days. It was Indra, who caused the sun to rise after his long fight with Vṛitra; and when the sun had shone for ten months, Indra stole the solar orb and took the sun with him into darkness to fight with the demons. That is the meaning of the whole legend; and when it can be so naturally explained only by the Arctic theory, the necessity of the latter becomes at once established. Vishnu's three strides. There are a few more Vedic legends which indicate or suggest the Arctic conditions of climate or calendar, and I propose to briefly examine them in this chapter. One of these legends relates to Viṣhṇu and his three long strides, which are distinctly mentioned in several places in the Ṛig-Veda (I, 22, 17-18; I, 154, 2). Yâska (Nir. XII, 19) quotes the opinion of two older writers regarding the character of these three steps. One of these, viz., Shâkapûṇi, holds that the three steps must be placed on the earth, in the atmosphere, and in the sky; while Aurṇavâbha thinks that the three steps must be located, one on the hill where the sun rises (samârohaṇa), another on the meridian sky (Viṣhṇu-pada), and the third on the hill of setting (gaya-shiras.) Prof. Max Muller thinks that this three-fold stepping of Viṣhṇu is emblematic of the rising, the

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 327 culminating and the setting of the sun; and Muir quotes a passage from the Râmâyaṇa (IV, 40, 64), which mentions udaya-parvata, or the mountain of sun-rise, and says that on the top of it is the peak Saumanasa, the place where Viṣhṇu's first step was planted. We are then told that his second step was placed on the summit of Meru ; and that " when the sun had circled round Jambudvîpa by the north, he is mostly visible on that lofty peak." It seems, therefore, that according to the Râmâyaṇa the third step of Viṣhṇu was round Jambudvîpa, and was planted after sunset, whatever that may mean. In the Purâṇic literature, Viṣhṇu's three steps appear as the three steps of Vâmana, the fifth incarnation of Viṣhṇu. Bali, the powerful enemy of the gods, was celebrating a sacrifice, when, assuming the form of a dwarf, Viṣhṇu approached him, and begged for three paces of ground. No sooner the request was granted than Viṣhṇu assumed a miraculous form and occupied the whole earth by the first step and the atmosphere and everything above it with the second. Bali, who was the lord of the universe before, was surprised at the metamorphosis of the dwarf; but had to make good his own word by offering his head for the third step of Vâmana. The offer was accepted and Bali was pressed down under the third step into the nether world, and the empire of the earth and heavens above was again restored to Indra from whom it had been snatched away by Bali. Amongst these various interpretations one thing stands out very clear, viz., that Viṣhṇu represents the sun in one form or another. But Vedic scholars are not agreed as to whether Viṣhṇu's strides represent the daily or the yearly course of the sun. We must, therefore, carefully examine the Vedic passages relating to Viṣhṇu, and see if any indication is found therein to decide which of these two views is more probable or correct. Now in I, 155, 6, Viṣhṇu is described as setting in motion, like a revol- ving wheel, ‘his ninety steeds with their four names, evidently

328 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. referring to 360 days, divided into four groups or seasons of 90 days each. This is good evidence to hold that the yearly course of the sun must be taken as the basis of the exploits of Viṣhṇu. The Ṛig-Veda further tells us that Viṣhṇu was the intimate friend of Indra (yujyaḥ sakhâ, I, 22, 19), and that he assisted Indra in his fight with Vṛitra. Thus in IV, 18, 11, we are told that " Indra about to kill Vṛitra said ' O friend Viṣhṇu ! stride vastly,' (also cf. VIII, 12, 27)"; and . in I, 156, 4, Viṣhṇu is said to have opened the cows' stable with the assistance of his friend, while both Indra and Viṣhṇu are described as having together vanquished Shambara, conquered the host of Varchins and produced the sun, dawn and the fire in VII, 99, 4 and 5. It is evident from these passages that Viṣhṇu was the associate of Indra in his fight with Vṛitra (cf. VIII, 100, 12); and if so, one of the three steps must be placed in regions where this fight was fought, that is, in the nether world. We can now understand why, in I, 155, 5, it is said that two of the three steps of Viṣhṇu are visible to man, but the third is beyond the reach of birds or mortals (also cf. VII, 99, 1). When the third step of Viṣhṇu is located in the nether world, it can well be said to be invisible, or beyond the reach of mortals. We have seen that the abode of Vṛitra is said to be hidden and filled with darkness and waters. If Viṣhṇu helped Indra in his fight with Vṛitra, his third step must be taken to correspond with the home of Vṛitra ; in other words, Viṣhṇu's strides represent the annual course of the sun divided into three parts. Dur- ing two of these the sun was above the horizon, and hence two of Viṣhṇu's three strides were said to be visible. But when in the third or the last part of the year the sun went below the horizon producing continuous darkness, Vi- ṣhṇu's third step was said to be invisible. It was then that he helped Indra to demolish Vṛitra and bring back the dawn, the sun and the sacrifice. It has been shown in the last

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 329 chapter that Indra's fight with Shambara commenced on the fortieth day of Sharad or in the eighth month after the begin- ning of the year with Vasanta. These eight months of sunshine and four of darkness may very well be represented by two visible and one invisible step of Viṣhṇu, and the Purâṇic story of Viṣhṇu's sleeping for four months in the year further supports the same view. It may also be noticed that Viṣhṇu is said to sleep, on his serpent bed in the midst of the ocean ; and the ocean and the serpent here alluded to are evidently the waters (âpaḥ) and Ahi or Vṛitra mentioned in the Vṛitra legend. It is said that the sleep of Viṣhṇu represents the rainy season of four months ; but this is a later misrepresenta- tion of the kind we have noticed in the last chapter in regard to waters. When the exploits of Indra were transferred from the last season of the year, viz., Hemanta, to Varshâ or the rainy season, the period, during which Viṣhṇu lay dormant, must have been naturally misunderstood in the same way and identified with the rainy season. But originally Viṣhṇu's sleep and his third step must have been identical ; and as the third step is said to be invisible, we cannot suppose that it was planted in the rainy season, which is visible enough. The long darkness of the winter night in the Arctic region can alone adequately represent the third step of Viṣhṇu or the period of his sleep; and the legend about the Phrygian god, who, accord- ing to Plutarch, was believed to sleep during winter and resume his activity during summer, has been interpreted by Prof. Rhys in the same way. The Irish couvade of the Ultonian heroes also points out to the same conclusion.* But apart from the sleep of Viṣhṇu which is Purâṇic, we have a Vedic legend which has the same meaning. In the Ṛig-Veda (VII, 100, 6), Viṣhṇu is represented as having a bad name, viz., shipivishṭa. Thus the poet says, "O Viṣhṇu!

• See Rhys' Hibbert Lectures, p. 632. The passage is quoted in full in Chap. XII, infra.

330 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. what was there to be blamed in thee when thou declaredest ' I am shipivishṭa ' ?" Yâska records (Nir. V, 7-9) an old tradi- tion that according to Âupamanyava, Vishṇu has two names Shipivishṭa and Vishṇu, of which the former has a bad sense (kutsitârthîyam); and then quotes the aforesaid verse which he explains in two ways. The first of these two interpreta- tions accords with that of Aupamanyava; and shipivishṭa is there explained by Yâska to mean shepaḥ iva nirveshṭitaḥ, or "enveloped like the private parts," or "with rays obscured " (apratipanna-rashmiḥ). Yâska, however, suggests an alter- native interpretation and observes that shipivishṭa may be taken as a laudatory appellation, meaning "one whose rays (shipayaḥ) are displayed (âvishṭâḥ)." It is inferred by some scholars from this passage that the meaning of the word shi- pivishṭa had already become uncertain in the days of Yâska; but I do not think it probable, for even in later literature shi- pivishṭa is an opprobrious appellation meaning either "one whose hair has fallen off," or "one who is afflicted with an incurable skin disease." The exact nature of the affliction may be uncertain; but there can be no doubt that shipivishta has a bad meaning even in later Sanskrit literature. But in days when the origin of this phrase, as applied to Vishṇu, was for- gotten, theologians and scholars naturally tried to divest the phrase of its opprobrious import by proposing alternative mean- ings; and Yâska was probably the first Nairukta to formulate a good meaning for shipivishta by suggesting that shipi may be taken to mean "rays." That is why the passage from the Mahâbhârata (Shânti-Parvan, Chap. 342, vv. 69-71), quoted by Muir, tells us that Yâska was the first to apply the epithet to Vishṇu; and it is unreasonable to infer from it, as Muir has done, that the writer of the Mahâbhârata "was not a par- ticularly good Vedic scholar." In the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ, we are told that Vishṇu was worshipped as Shipivishṭa (II, 2, 12, 4 and 5), and that shipi means cattle or pashavaḥ (II, 5, 5, 2;

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 331 Tān. Br. XVIII, 6, 26 ). Shipivishṭa is thus explained as a laudatory appellation by taking shipi equal to 'cattle,' 'sacrifice' or 'rays.' But these etymological devices have failed to invest the word with a good sense in Sanskrit literature; and this fact by itself is sufficient to show that the word shipivishṭa originally was, and has always been, a term of reproach indicating some bodily affliction, though the nature of it was not exactly known. The theological scholars, it is true, have tried to explain the word in a different sense; but this is due to their unwillingness to give opprobrious names to their gods, rather than to any uncertainty about the real meaning of the word. It was thus that the word shipivishṭa, which is originally a bad name (kutsitārthīyam) according to Aupamanyava, was converted into a mysterious (guhya) name for the deity. But this transition of meaning is confined only to the theological literature, and did not pass over into the non-theological works, for the obvious reason that in ordinary language the bad meaning of the word was sufficiently familiar to the people. There can, therefore, be little doubt that, in VII, 100, 5 and 6, shipivishṭa is used in a bad sense as stated by Aupamanyava. These verses have been translated by Muir as follows:—" I, a devoted worshipper, who know the sacred rites, today celebrate this thy name shipivishṭa; I, who am weak, laud thee who art strong and dwellest beyond this lower world (kshayantam asya rajasaḥ parāke). What, Vishṇu, hast thou to blame, that thou declaredest, 'I am Shipivishṭa'? Do not conceal from us this form (vārpas), since thou didst assume another shape in the battle." The phrase "dwelling in the lower world "(rajasah parāke), or "beyond this world," furnishes us with a clue to the real meaning of the passage. It was in the nether world that Vishṇu bore this bad name. And what was the bad name after all? Shipivishṭa, or "enveloped like shepa," meaning that his rays were obscured, or that he was temporarily concealed

332 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. in a dark cover. The poet, therefore, asks Viṣhṇu not to be ashamed of the epithet, because, says he, the form indicated by the bad name is only temporarily assumed, as a dark armour, for the purpose of fighting with the Asuras, and as it was no longer needed, Viṣhṇu is invoked to reveal his true form (varpas) to the worshipper. That is the real meaning of the verses quoted above, and in spite of the attempt of Yâska and other scholars to convert the bad name of Viṣhṇu into a good one by the help of etymological speculations, it is plain that shipiviṣhṭa was a bad name, and that it signified the dark outer appearance of Viṣhṇu in his fight with the demons in the nether world. If the sun is called bṛihach-chhepas when moving in regions above the horizon, he can be very well described as shipiviṣhṭa or "enveloped like shepa," when moving in the nether world; and there is hardly anything therein of which the deity or his worshippers should be ashamed. Later Purâṇic tradition represents Viṣhṇu as sleeping during this period; but whether we take it as sleep or disease it means one and the same thing. It is the story of Viṣhṇu going down to the nether world, dark or diseased, to plant his third step on the head of the Asuras, or in a dark armour to help Indra in his struggle for waters and light, a struggle, which, we have seen, lasted for a long time and resulted in the flowing of waters, the recovery of the dawn and the coming out of the sun in a bright armour after a long and con- tinuous darkness. A comparison with the abodes of other Vedic deities, who are said to traverse the whole universe like Viṣhṇu confirms the same view. One of these deities is Savitṛi, who in V, 81, 3, is described as measuring the world (rajâṁsi); and in I, 35, 6, we are told "There are three heavens (dyâvaḥ) of Savitṛi, two of them are near and the third, bearing the brave, is in the world of Yama." This means that two of Savitri's three abodes are in the upper heaven and one in the nether world or

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 333 the kingdom of Yama. The second deity that traverses or measures the universe is Agni (VI, 7, 7). He has three stations, one in samudra or ocean, one in heaven (divi) and one in the waters or apsu (I, 95, 3). His light is spoken of as three-fold (III, 26, 7), he has three heads (I, 146, 1) and three seats, powers or tongues (III, 20, 2; VIII, 39, 8). Now although these three stations do not seem to be always conceived alike, yet one of them at any rate can be clearly identified with the third step of Viṣhṇu; for in X, 1, 3, we are told that the third station of Agni is known only to Viṣhṇu, while in V, 3, 3, Agni, with the upama (last or highest) step of Viṣhṇu, is said to guard the sacred cows. This description agrees well with I, 154, 5 and 6, where swift moving cows and a spring of honey are said to exist in the place where the highest step of Viṣhṇu is planted. It has been shown above that Agni sometimes represents the sun in the Ṛig-Veda, and that his hiding in the waters and coming out of them as apāṁ napāt or the child of waters is only a different version of the sun sinking below the horizon for a long time and then emerg- ing out of the nether ocean at the end of the long Arctic night. Viṣhṇu is also the same sun under a different name, and the third step of Viṣhṇu and the third or the hidden abode of Agni can, therefore, be easily recognised as identical in character. The third deity that traverses the universe is the Ashvins to whom the epithet parijman or 'going round' is applied several times in the Ṛig-Veda (I, 46, 14; I, 117, 6). The Ashvins are said to have three stations (VIII, 8, 23), and their chariot, which is said to go over both the worlds alike (I, 30, 18), has three wheels one of which is represented as deposited in a cave or a secret place, like the third step of Viṣhṇu, which is beyond the ken of mortals (cf. X, 85, 14–16). This coin- cidence between the third stations of the three different world- traversing gods cannot be treated as accidental; and if so, the combined effect of all the passages stated above will be

334 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS. clearly seen to point out to the conclusion that the third or the hidden place, dwelling or abode in each case must be sought for in the nether world, the world of the Piṭris, of Yama, of waters and darkness.

Trita Âptya.

It has been stated above that the year divided into three parts of 4 months each represents the three steps of Vishṇu; and that the first two parts were said to be visible as contrasted with the third which was hidden, because in the ancient home of the Aryan people the sun was above the horizon only for about 8 months. If we personify these three parts of the year, we get a legend of three brothers, the first two of whom may be described as arranging to throw the third into a pit of darkness. This is exactly the story of Trita Âptya in the Ṛig-Veda or of Thrâetaona in the Avesta. Thus Sâyaṇa, in his commentary on I, 105, quotes a passage from the Taittirîya Brâhmaṇa (III, 2, 8, 10–11) and also a story of the Shâṭyâyanins giving the legend of three brothers called Ekata, Dvita and Trita, or the first, the second and the third, the former two of whom threw the last or Trita into a well from which he was taken out by Bṛihaspati. But in the Ṛig-Veda Ekata is not mentioned any- where; while Dvita, which grammatically means the second, is met with in two places (V, 18, 2; VIII, 47, 16). Dvita is the seer of the 18th hymn in the fifth Maṇḍala, and in the second verse of the hymn he is said to receive maimed offerings; while in VIII, 47, 16, the dawn is asked to bear away the evil dream to Dvita and Trita. Grammatical analogy points out that Trita must mean the third, and in VI, 44, 23, the word triteṣhu is used as a numeral adjective to rochaneshu meaning "in the third region." As a Vedic deity Trita is called Âptya, meaning "born of or re- siding in waters" (Sây. on VIII, 47, 15); and he is referred to in several places, being associated with the Maruts and Indra in