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

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 291
seven rays or horses of the sun (I, 164, 3), seven hotṛis (VIII,
60, 16), seven regions (dishaḥ) and seven Âdityas (IX, 114, 3), seven
dhîtis or devotions (IX, 8, 4), seven sisters or maryâdâḥ,
(X, 5, 5-6), and possibly seven and seven gods (X, 55, 3),
in the Ṛig-Veda; while in the later Sanskrit literature we
have the seven heavens, seven earths, seven mountains, seven
oceans and seven nether worlds. This seven-fold division is
also found in other Aryan mythologies, as, for instance, in the
Avesta, where the earth is said to be divided into seven Kar-
shavares (Yt. X, 16 and 64), and in the Greek mythology, which
speaks of the seven layers of heaven over one another. It
follows, therefore, that the seven-fold division must be traced
back almost to the Indo-European period; and if so, we cannot
maintain that the seven-fold division of waters, which is only
a particular case of the general principle, was suggested by the
rivers of the Panjaub, for, in that case, we shall have to
make the Panjaub the home of the Aryans before they separ-
ated. But if the rivers set free to flow up by Indra are not
terrestrial, and if the expression sapta sindhavaḥ was not ori-
ginally suggested by the rivers of the Panjaub, it may be asked
how we account for the number of rivers and the origin of the
phrase Hapta-hindu occurring in the Avesta. The true key to
the solution of the question will be found in the simultaneous
release of waters and light effected by Indra after conquering
Vṛitra. In II, 12, 12, Indra, who caused the seven rivers to
flow, is described as sapta-rashmiḥ, or seven-rayed, suggesting
that seven rays and seven rivers must have, in some way, been
connected. We have also seen that the waters and the sun
are said to move at the same time in the Parsi scriptures. If
so, what can be more natural than to suppose that the seven
suns required seven horses or seven aerial rivers to carry them
over the sky, much in the same way as Dîrghatamas is said to
have been borne upon waters in I, 158, 6? Again according
to the legend of Aditi, there were seven suns or month-gods