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

248 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
distant (parâvat) region to kill Vṛitra or Namuchi, (I, 53,
7; VIII, 12, 17; VIII, 45, 25). If we combine all these
statements regarding the scene of the struggle between Indra
and Vṛitra, we are led to the conclusion that the fight took
place in a dark, distant and watery region. In VIII, 32, 26,
Indra is said to have killed Arbuda with ice (hima); and in
X, 62, 2, the Aṅgirases, who were the assistants of Indra in
his conquest of the cows, are said to have struck Vala at the
end of the year (parivatsare). There is another statement in
the Ṛig-Veda, which gives us the date of Indra's fight with
Shambara, but we shall discuss it later on. It is stated above
that the number of Vṛitra's forts destroyed by Indra is given
as ninety-nine; but in other passages it is said to be ninety or
one hundred (I, 130, 7; IV, 30, 20). These fortresses or cities
(puraḥ) are described as made of stone or iron (IV, 30, 20; IV,
27, 1), and in some places they are said to be autumnal (shâ-
radiḥ, I, 130, 7; 131, 4; VI, 20, 10). The importance of these
facts, in the interpretation of the legend, will be discussed
later on.
We have seen that the release of cows and the bringing
up of the dawn and the sun are the simultaneous effects of
Indra's conquest of Vṛitra. The following extract from
Macdonell's Vedic Mythology (p. 61) give the necessary au-
thorities on the point:—
"With the liberation of waters is connected the winning
of light, sun and dawn. Indra won light and the divine
waters (III, 34, 8), The god is invoked to slay Vṛitra and
win the light, (VIII, 89, 4). When Indra had slain the dra-
gon Vṛitra with his metallic bolt releasing the waters for man,
he placed the sun visibly in the heavens (I, 51, 4; 52, 8). In-
dra, the dragon-slayer, set in motion the flood of waters of the
sea, generated the sun, and found the cows (II, 19, 3). He
gained the sun and the waters after slaying the demon (III,
34, 8-9). When Indra slew the chief of the dragons and