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

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 301
onwards to liberate the flood of milk; while in VIII, 26, 17,
we read that they abide in the sea of heaven (divo arṇave).
Taking all these facts together, we can easily see that the
Ashvins were the helpers of Indra in his struggle for waters
and light; and we now know what that struggle means. It is
the struggle between the powers of light and darkness, and
the Ashvins, in their character as divine physicians, were
naturally the first to help the gods in this distress or afflic-
tion. It is true that Indra was the principal actor or hero in
this fight; but the Ashvins appear to have stood by him,
rendering help whenever necessary, and leading the van in the
march of the matutinal deities after the conquest. This cha-
racter of the Ashvins is hardly explained by the Vernal theory;
nor can it be accounted for on the theory of a daily
struggle between light and darkness, for we have seen that the
dawn, during which the Âshvina-shastra is recited, is not the
evanescent dawn of the tropics. The Arctic theory alone can
satisfactorily interpret the facts stated above; and when they
are interpreted in this way, it is easy to perceive how the
Ashvins are described as having rejuvenated, cured, or rescued
a number of decrepit, blind, lame or distressed proteges of theirs
in the various legends ascribed to them.
The important achievements of the Ashvins have been
summed up by Macdonell in his Vedic Mythology (§ 21) as
follows:—
“The sage Chyavâna, grown old and deserted, they re-
leased from his decrepit body; they prolonged his life, restored
him to youth, rendered him desirable to his wife and made
him the husband of maidens (I, 116, 10 &c). They also re-
newed the youth of the aged Kali, and befriended him when
he had taken a wife (X, 39, 8; I, 112, 15). They brought, on a
car, to the youthful Vimada wives or a wife named Kamadyû
(X, 65, 12), who seems to have been the beautiful spouse of
Purumitra (I, 117, 20). They restored Vishṇâpû, like a lost