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

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 305
the blind refers to the restoration of the decayed powers of the
winter sun. The darkness referred to is obviously the real
darkness of the night ; and on the theory of the daily strug-
gle between light and darkness we shall have to suppose that
these wonders were achieved every day. But as a matter of
fact they are not said to be performed every day, and Vedic
scholars have, therefore, tried to explain the legends on the
theory of the yearly exile of the sun in winter. But we now
see that in the latter case references to blindness or darkness
remain unintelligible ; and as the darkness is often said to be
of several days' duration, we are obliged to infer that the legends
refer to the long yearly darkness, or, in other words, they have
for their physical basis the disappearance of the sun below the
horizon during the long night of the Arctic region.
The Vernal theory cannot again explain the different periods
of time during which the distress experienced by the Ashvins'
proteges is said to have lasted. Thus Rebha, who was overwhelm-
ed in waters, is said to have remained there for ten nights and
nine days (I, 116, 24); while Bhujyu, another worshipper of theirs,
is described as having been saved from being drowned in the
bottomless sea or darkness, where he lay for three days and
three nights (I, 116, 4). In VIII, 5, 8, the Ashvins are again
described as having been in the parāvat or distant region for three
days and three nights. Prof. Max Muller, agreeing with Benfey,
takes this period, whether of ten or three days, as representing
the time when the sun at the winter solstice seems bound and to
stand still (hence called solstice), till he jumps up and turns
back. But ten days is too long a period for the sun to stand still
at the winter solstice, and even Prof. Max Muller seems to have
felt the difficulty, for immediately after the above explanation
he remarks that "whether this time lasted for ten or twelve
nights would have been difficult to settle even for more experien-
ced astronomers than the Vedic Ṛiṣhis." But even supposing
20