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

CONTENTS xiii
PAGE
and evening twilights—Dawn lasting from 45 to 60 days—The
Polar year—The darkness of the Polar night reduced only to two,
or two and a half, months—Dr. Warren's description of the Polar
dawn with its revolving splendours—Characteristics of regions to
the South of the North Pole—Stars moving obliquely and a few
rising and setting as in the tropical zone—The southerly direction
of the Sun—A long day and a long night, but of less than six
months' duration—Supplemented by the alterations of ordinary
days and nights for some time during the year—Long dawn, but
of shorter duration than at the Pole—Comparison with the features
of the year in the tropics—Summary of Polar and Circum-polar
characteristics. . . . . . 39
CHAPTER IV.
The Night of the Gods.
Vedic sacrifices, regulated by the luni-solar calendar—A year of six
seasons and twelve months, with an intercalary month in the Tait-
tirîya Saṁhitâ—The same in the Ṛig-Veda—Present result of
the Vedic mythology—All presuppose a home in the temperate or
the tropical zone—But further research still necessary—The spe-
cial character of the Ṛig-Veda explained—Polar tests found in
the Ṛig-Veda—Indra supporting the heavens with a pole, and
moving them like a wheel—A day and a night of six months, in
the form of the half-yearly day and night of the Gods—Found in
the Sûrya Siddhânta and older astronomical Saṁhitâs—Bhâskarâ-
chârya's error explained—Gods' day and night mentioned by
Manu and referred to by Yâska—The description of Meru or the
North Pole in the Mahâbhârata—In the Taittirîya Âraṇyaka
—The passage in the Taittirîya Brâhmaṇa about the year-long day
of the Gods—Improbability of explaining it except as founded
on the observation of nature—Parallel passage in the Vendîdâd—
Its Polar character clearly established by the context—The Vara
of Yima in the Airyana Vaejô—The sun rising and setting there
only once a year—The Devayâna and the Pitṛiyâna in the Ṛig-
Veda—Probably represent the oldest division of the year, like
the day and the night of the Gods—The path of Mazda in the
Parsi scriptures—Death during Pitṛiyâna regarded inauspicious
—Bâdarâyaṇa's view—Probable explanation suggested—Death
during winter or Pitṛiyâna in the Parsi scriptures—Probably in-