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

COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGY. 411
in his discussion of the achievements of the Ashvins, has
failed to grasp the real meaning of the 'Ashvins' legends by
disregarding the statements which distinctly speak of the prote-
ges of the Ashvins as dwelling or labouring in darkness. Prof.
Rhys is more cautious in this respect, and is anxious to account
for all the incidents in the legends if they could possibly be
accounted for on any theory. The result is that he has been
gradually led, or we might even say forced, to adopt the theory
of the ancient Arctic home of the Aryan people inasmuch as all
the different incidents in the legends under consideration can be
accounted for only by this theory. In short, Prof. Rhys has
done for the Celtic and Teutonic myths what we have endea-
voured to do in this book in regard to the Vedic and Avestic tra-
ditions. This has considerably lightened our labour in regard to
the examination of Celtic and Teutonic myths from our point of
view, and our thanks are due to Prof. Rhys for the same. But
we feel sure that if the Vedic evidence and facts stated and
discussed in the fore-going chapters had been known to the
learned Professor before he wrote his work, he would have ex-
pressed himself still more confidently regarding the inference
to be drawn from the traces of Arctic origin discernible in Teu-
tonic myths ; but even as it is, the value of his testimony stands
very high in the decision of the question before us. It is the
testimony of an expert given after a critical and careful examina-
tion of all Celtic and Teutonic Myths, and after comparing them
with similar Greek traditions; and when this testimony falls in
so completely with the conclusions we have drawn from an
independent consideration of the Vedic and Avestic myths, our
results may, so to say, be regarded as doubly proved. It has
already been shown that the results of comparative philology
also support, or, at any rate, are not inconsistent with our
conclusions. The theory of the Asiatic home may be said to
have been now abandoned on linguistic or etymological grounds,