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

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