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

102 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
again conflict with the last verse in the Anuvâka, with the
Brâhmaṇa or the explanation given in the Saṁhitâ itself, and
with the passage from the Taittirîya Brâhmaṇa quoted above.
But Sâyaṇa was writing under a firm belief that the Vedic
dawn was the same as he and other Vedic scholars like Yâska
perceived it in the tropical zone; and the wonder is, not that he
has given us so many contradictory explanations, but that he
has been able to suggest so many apparently plausible explana-
tions as the exigencies of the different Mantras required. In the
light of advancing knowledge about the nature of the dawn at
the North Pole, and the existence of man on earth before the
last Glacial epoch, we should, therefore, have no hesitation in
accepting more intelligible and rationalistic view of the different
passages descriptive of the dawns in the Vedic literature. We
are sure Sâyaṇa himself would have welcomed a theory more
comprehensive and reasonable than any advanced by him, if the
same could have been suggested to him in his own day. Jyotish
or astronomy has always been considered to be the ‘eye of the
Veda,’ * and as with the aid of the telescope this eye now com-
mands a wider range than previously it will be our own fault if
we fail to utilise the knowledge so gained to elucidate those
portions of our sacred books which are still unintelligible.
But to proceed with the subject, it may be urged that
it is only the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ that gives us the number
of the dawns, and that it would not be proper to mix up
these statements with the statements contained in the
hymns of the Ṛig-Veda, and draw a conclusion from both
taken together. The Taittirîya Saṁhitâ treats of sacrificial

• Cf. Shikshâ, 41-42,—छंदः पादौ तु वेदस्य हस्तौ कल्पोऽथ पठ्यते ।
  ज्योतिषामयनं चक्षुर्निंरुक्तं श्रोत्रमुच्यते ॥ शिक्षा घ्राणं तु वेदस्य मुखं व्याकरणं
  स्मृतम् । तस्मात् सांगमधीत्यैव ब्रह्मलोके महीयते ॥