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

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 263
earth) was conceived as divided into two halves (I, 164, 12).
A few verses later on (I, 164, 17), the cow with her calf (the
dawn with the sun) is described as having appeared below the
upper and above the lower realm, i. e., between heaven and
earth, and a question is then asked "To what half (ardham)
has she departed?" which again shows that the (ardham)
here referred to is quite distinct from heaven and earth. In
the Atharva Veda, X, 8, 7 and 13, the 'two halves' are refer-
red to, and the poet asks, "Prajâpati with one half (ardham)
engendered all creation; what sign is there to tell us of the
other half?" Here the other half cannot mean the earth; and
Griffith accordingly explains it as referring to the sun at
night. Another expression used to denote the upper and
the lower world is samudrau, or the two oceans, (X, 136, 5).
These two oceans are said to be one on this side (avara) and
one on the other (para) side in VII, 6, 7; and a yonder ocean
(parâvati samudre) is mentioned in VIII, 12, 17. I have al-
ready quoted above the passages which speak of the bright
arṇaḥ or ocean (V, 45, 10), and of arṇava or an ocean pervaded
with darkness (II, 23, 18). The two words parastât and
avastât are also employed to convey the same idea. They de-
note a region on the nearer side and a region on the farther
side. Thus in VIII, 8, 14, parâvat region is contrasted with
ambara or the heaven above, and in III, 55, 6, the sun is des-
cribed as sleeping in the parâvat region. We have seen above
that Savitṛi is said to come up from the parâvat region,
and that he moves through the dark region before ascending
the sky. The two words parâvat and arvâvat thus separately
denote the same regions that are jointly denoted by the dual
words rajasî, ardhau or samudrau; and when both the upper
and the lower hemispheres were intended the word ubhayataḥ
was employed. Thus in III, 53, 5, we read, "O Maghavan!
O brother Indra! go beyond (parâ) and come hither (â), you
are wanted in both places, (ubhayatra)." The passages where