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

THE VEDIC DAWNS. 109
as described in II, 28, 9, many dawns appeared one after another
before they ripened into sunrise.
(2) The Dawn was addressed in the plural number not
honorifically, nor as representing the consecutive dawns of the
year, but because it was made up of thirty parts (I, 123, 8;
VI, 59, 6; T. S, IV, 3, 11, 6).
(3) Many dawns lived in the same place, acted harmoniously
and never quarrelled with each other, (IV, 51, 7-9; VII, 76, 5;
A. V. VII, 22, 2).
(4) The thirty parts of the dawn were continuous and insepar-
able, forming 'a closely gathered band,' or 'a group of dawns,'
(I, 152, 4; T. Br. II, 5, 6, 5; A. V. VII, 22, 2).
(5) These thirty dawns, or thirty parts of one dawn
revolved round and round like a wheel, reaching the same goal
every day, each dawn or part following its own destined course,
(I, 123, 8, 9; III, 61, 3; T. S. IV, 3, 11, 6).
These characteristics it is needless to say are possessed only
by the dawn at or near the Pole. The last or the fifth especially
is to be found only in lands very near the North Pole and not
everywhere in the Arctic regions. We may, therefore, safely
conclude that the Vedic Goddess of Dawn is Polar in origin. But
it may be urged that while the Polar dawn lasts from 45 to 60
days, the Vedic dawn is described only as made up of thirty day-
long parts, and that the discrepancy must be accounted for before
we accept the conclusion that the Vedic dawn is Polar in
character. The discrepancy is not, however, a serious one. We
have seen that the duration of the dawn depends upon the powers
of refraction and reflection of the atmosphere; and that these
again vary according to the temperature of the place, or other me-
teorological conditions. It is, therefore, not unlikely that the
duration of the dawn at the Pole, when the climate