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

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 283
at the same conclusion. The legend of Aditi and the date of
the commencement of Indra's fight with Shambara, as given
in II, 12, 11, thus corroborate each other in a remarkable way;
and as the current interpretation of the passage does not yield
any intelligible sense, there is no course left for us but to accept
the only other possible interpretation.
According to this interpretation Sharad becomes the last
season of sunshine, and it may be here remarked that the ety-
mological meaning of the word further supports the same view..
For Sharad is derived from shṛî, to wither or waste away,
(Uṇâdi 127), and the word thus primarily signifies the 'season of
decay or withering'; and the decay here referred to is evidently
the decay of the power of the sun, and not the withering of
grass, as suggested by Sâyaṇa in his commentary on III, 32, 9.
Thus we find in the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ, II, 1, 2, 5, that "There
are three lustres or powers of the sun ; one in Vasanta, that is,
in the morning ; one in Grîshma or the mid-day ; and one in
Sharad or the evening."* We cannot suppose that the words,
morning, mid-day and evening, are here used in their primary
sense. The three stages of the day represented by them are
predicated of the yearly sun, and Sharad is said to be
the evening, i.e., the time of decline in his yearly course.
It follows, therefore, that after Sharad there was no period of
sunshine in ancient times; and a Vedic passage, † quoted by
Shabara in his commentary on Jaimini Suttras VI, 7, 40, says,
"The sun is all the seasons; when it is morning (uditi), it is
Vasanta; when the milking time (saṅgava), it is Grîshma;.
*Taitt. Saṁ. II, 1, 2, 5,--त्रीणि वा आदित्यस्य तेजांसि वसंतः प्रातः
ग्रीष्मे मध्यंदिने शरद्यपराह्ने । यावंत्येव तेजांसि तान्येवावरुंधे । Also compare
Taitt. Saṁ. II 1, 4, 2.
† Shabara or Jaimini VI, 7, 40, quotes, आदित्यो वा सर्व ऋतवः
स यदैवोदित्यथ वसंतो यदा संगवोऽथ ग्रीष्मो यदा मध्यंदिनोऽथ वर्षा यदाऽपरा-
ह्नोऽथ शरद् यदास्तमेत्यथ हेंमंतशिशिरौ । I have not been able to trace
the passage; but it clearly states that the last two seasons formed the-
night of the yearly sun.