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

MONTHS AND SEASONS. 161
sacrificers of the whole Aryan race and not merely of the
Vedic people. Therefore, even though Manu, Atharvan, Aṅgiras
be not the names of particular individuals, still there can be
little doubt that they represented families of priests who conduct-
ed, if not originated, the sacrifices in primeval times, that is,
before the Aryan separation, and who, for this reason, seem to
have attained almost divine character in the eyes of the poets of
the Ṛig-Veda. They have all been described as more or less
connected with Yama in X, 14, 3-6 ; but it does not follow there-
from that they were all Yama's agents or beings without any
human origin. For, as stated above, there are a number of
passages in which they are described as being the first and the
most ancient sacrificers of the race ; and if after their death they
are said to have gone to Yama and become his friends and com-
panions, that does not, in any way, detract from their human
character. It is, therefore, very important in the history of the
sacrificial literature to determine if any traditions are preserved
in the Ṛig-Veda regarding the duration of the sacrifices perfomed
by these ancient ancestors of the Vedic people (naḥ pûrve pitaraḥ,
VI, 22, 2), in times before the separation of the Aryan people,
and see if they lend any support to the theory of an early Circum-
Polar home.
Now so far as my researches go, I have not been able to
find any Vedic evidence regarding the duration of the sacri-
fices performed by Manu, Atharvan, Bhṛigu or any other
ancient sacrificers, except the Aṅgirases. There is an annual
sattra described in the Shrauta Sûtras, which is called the
Aṅgirasâm-ayanam, and is said to be a modification of the
Gavâm-ayanam, the type of all yearly sattras. But we do not
find therein any mention of the duration of the satra of the
Aṅgirases. The duration of the Gavâm-ayanam is, however,
given in the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ, and will be discussed in