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

454 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
suitable for new settlements. The vernal equinox was
then in the constellation of Punarvasû, and as Aditi is the
presiding deity of Punarvasû, according to the termino-
logy adopted by me in Orion, this may, therefore, be call-
ed the Aditi or the Pre-Orion Period.
5000-3000 B. C.—The Orion Period, when the vernal equi-
nox was in Orion. Many Vedic hymns can be traced to
the early part of this period and the bards of the race
seem to have not yet forgotten the real import or signi-
ficance of the traditions of the Arctic home inherited by
them. It was at this time that first attempts to reform
the calendar and the sacrificial system appear to have been
systematically made.
3000-1400 B. C.—The Kṛittikâ Period, when the vernal
equinox was in Pleiades. The Taittirîya Saṁhitâ and
the Brâhmaṇas, which begin the series of nakshatras with
the Kṛittikâs, are evidently the productions of this period.
The compilation of the hymns into Saṁhitâ's also appears
to be a work of the early part of this period. The tradi-
tions about the original Arctic home had grown dim by
this time and very often misunderstood, making the
Vedic hymns more and more unintelligible. The
sacrificial system and the numerous details thereof found
in the Brâhmaṇas seem to have been developed during
this time. It was at the end of this Period that the
Vedâṅga-jyotisha was originally composed, or at any rate
the position of the equinoxes mentioned therein observed
and ascertained.
1400-500 B. C.—The Pre-Buddhistic Period, when the
Sûtras and the Philosophical systems made their ap-
pearance.
These periods differ slightly from those mentioned by me
in Orion; but the change is needed in consequence of the
theory of the Arctic home which carries back the beginning of