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

142 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
the midst of the sky would, therefore, still remain unsolved.
The phrase divaḥ madhye naturally means ‘in the midst of the
sky,’ and cannot be interpreted to mean ‘towards the mid-heaven.’
Of course if the sun was below the horizon, we may describe him
as having loosened his horses for travel as in V, 62, 1; but even
there the meaning seems to be that the horses rested at the
place. In the present case the sun is already in the midst of
heaven, and we cannot take him below the horizon without a pal-
pable distortion of meaning. Nor can we properly explain the
action of retaliation (pratimānam), if we accept Sâyaṇa's inter-
pretation. We must, therefore, interpret the first half of the
verse to mean that “the sun unyoked his carriage in the midst of
heaven.” There is another passage in the Ṛig-Veda which speaks
of the sun halting in the midst of heaven. In VII, 87, 5, the king
Varuṇa is said to have made “the golden (sun) rock like a swing
in the heaven” (chakre divi preṅkhaṁ hiraṇmayam), clearly
meaning that the sun swayed backwards and forwards in the
heaven being visible all the time, (cf. also VII, 88, 3). The idea
expressed in the present verse is exactly the same, for even
within the Arctic regions the sun will appear as swinging only
during the long continuous day, when he does not go below the
horizon once every twenty-four hours. There is, therefore, nothing
strange or uncommon in the present verse which says that “ the
sun unyoked his carriage for some time in the midst of the sky ; '
and we need not be impatient to escape from the natural meaning
of the verse. A long halt of the sun in the midst of the heaven
is here clearly described, and we must take it to refer to
the long day in the Arctic region. The statement in the
second line further supports the same view. European scholars
appear to have been misled, in this instance, by the words
Ārya and Dâsa, which they are accustomed to interpret as

LONG DAY AND LONG NIGHT 143
meaning the Aryan and the non-Aryan race. But though the
words may be interpreted in this way in some passages, such is
not the case everywhere. The word Dâsa is applied to Indra's
enemies in a number of places. Thus Shambara is called a Dâsa
(IV, 30, 14,) and the same adjective is applied to Pipru in VIII,
32, 2, and to Namuchi in V, 30, 7. Indra is said to inspire fear
into the Dâsa in X, 120, 2, and in II, 11, 2, he is described as
having rent the Dâsa, who considered himself immortal. In the
verse under consideration Indra's victory over Pipru is celebrated,
and we know that Pipru is elsewhere called a Dâsa. It is,
therefore, quite natural to suppose that the words Arya and Dâsa
in the above verse, refer to Indra and Pipru, and not to the Aryan
and the non-Aryan race. The exploits described are all heavenly,
and it jars with the context to take a single sentence in the
whole hymn as referring to the victory of the Aryan over the
non-Aryan race. There is again the word pratimâna (lit. counter-
measure), which denotes that what has been done is by way of
retaliation, a sort of counter-poise or counter-blast, with a view
to avenge the mischief done by Dâsa. A battle between the
Aryans and the non-Aryans cannot be so described unless a
previous defeat of the Aryans is first alluded to. The plain mean-
ing of the verse, therefore, is that the sun was made to halt in
the midst of the sky, producing a long day, and Indra thus found
a counter-poise for Dâsa, his enemy. For we know that dark-
ness is brought on by the Dâsa, and it is he who brings on the
long night; but if the Dâsa made the night long, Indra retalia-
ted or counter-acted by making the day as long as the night
of the Dâsa. The long night of the Arctic regions is, we
have seen, matched by the long day in those regions, and
the present verse expresses the same idea of matching the
one by the other. There is no reference to the victory of

144 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
the Aryan race over the non-Aryans, or anything of that kind
as supposed by Western scholars. Sâyaṇa, who had no historic
theories to mislead him, has rightly interpreted Ârya and Dâsa
in this verse as referring to Indra and his enemy; but he, in his
turn, has misinterpreted, as shewn above, the first half of the verse
in regard to the sun's long halt in the midst of the sky. The
misinterpretation of the second hemistich comes from Western
scholars, like Muir, who interprets Ârya, as meaning the Aryans
and Dâsa, the non-Aryans. This shows how in the absence of
the true key to the meaning of a passage, we may be led away by
current theories, even where the words are plain and simple
in themselves.
We thus see that the Ṛig-Veda speaks of two different
couples of Day and Night, one alone of which represents the
ordinary days and nights in the year, and the second, the Ahanî,
is a distinct couple by itself, forming, according to the Taittirîya
Âraṇyaka, the right and the left hand side of the Year, indicat-
ing the long Arctic day and night. The Taittirîya Saṁhitâ
again gives us in clear terms a tradition that in the former age
the night was so long that men were afraid it would not dawn.
We have also a number of expressions in the Ṛig-Veda denoting
‘long nights’ or ‘long and ghastly darkness,’ and also the ‘long
journey’ of the sun. Prayers are also offered to Vedic deities to
enable the worshipper to reach safely the end of the night, the
‘other boundary of which is not known.’ Finally we have an
express text declaring that the sun halted in the midst of
the sky and thereby retaliated the mischief brought on by
Dâsa's causing the long night. Thus we have not only the
long day and the long night mentioned in the Ṛig-Veda,
but the idea that the two match each other is also found
therein, while the Taittirîya Âraṇyaka tells us, that they
form the opposite sides of the Year-God. Besides the passages

LONG DAY AND LONG NIGHT. 145
proving the long duration of the dawn, we have, therefore,
sufficient independent evidence to hold that the long night in the
Arctic regions and its counterpart the long day were both known to
the poets of the Ṛig-Veda, and the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ distinctly
informs us that it was a phenomenon of the former (purâ) age.
I shall close this chapter with a short discussion of another
Circum-Polar characteristic, I mean the southern course of the
sun. It is previously stated, that the sun can never appear over-
head at any station in the temperate or the frigid zone, and that
an observer stationed within these zones in the northern hemi-
sphere will see the sun to his right hand or towards the south,
while at the North Pole the sun will seem to rise from the south.
Now the word dakshiṇa in Vedic Sanskrit denotes both the
'right hand' and the 'south,' as it does in other Aryan languages ;
for, as observed by Prof. Sayce, these people had to face the
rising sun with their right hands to the south, in addressing their
gods, and hence "Sanskrit dakshiṇa, Welsh dehau and Old Irish
des all mean at once 'right hand' and 'south'."* With this
explanation before us, we can now understand how in a number
of passages in the Ṛig-Veda Western scholars translate dakshiṇa
by 'right side,' where Indian scholars take the word to
mean 'the southern direction.' There is a third meaning of
dakshiṇâ, viz., 'largess' or 'guerdon,' and in some places
the claims of rich largesses seem to have been pushed too far.
Thus when the suns are said to be only for dakshiṇâvats in
I, 125, 6, it looks very probable that originally the expression
had some reference to the southern direction rather than to
the gifts given at sacrifices. In III, 58, 1, Sûrya is called
the son of Dakshiṇâ, and even if Dakshiṇâ be here taken to
mean the Dawn, yet the question why the Dawn was called

• See Sayce's Introduction to the Science of Language, Vol.
  II, p. 130.

146 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
Dakshiṇá remains, and the only explanation at present suggested
is that Dakshiṇá means ‘skilful’ or ‘expert.’ A better way to
explain these phrases is to make them refer to the southerly
direction ; and after what has been said above such an explana-
tion will seem to be highly probable. It is, of course, necessary to
be critical in the interpretation of the Vedic hymns, but I think
that we shall be carrying our critical spirit too far, if we say that
in no passage in the Ṛig-Veda dakshiṇá or its derivatives are used
to denote the southerly direction (I, 95, 6 ; II, 42, 3). Herodotus
informs us (IV, 42) that certain Phœnician mariners were com-
manded by Pharoah Neco, king of Egypt, to sail round Lybia
(Africa) and return by the Pillars of Hercules (Straits of
Gibralter). The mariners accomplished the voyage and returned
in the third year. But Horodotus disbelieves them, because,
on their return they told such (to him incredible) stories, that
in rounding Lybia they saw the sun to their right. Herodotus
could not believe that the sun would ever appear in the
north ; but he little thought that what was incredible to
him would itself be regarded as indisputable evidence of the
authenticity of the account in later days. Let us take a
lesson from this story, and not interpret dakshiṇá, either by
‘right-hand side’ or by ‘largess,’ in every passage in the Ṛig-Veda.
There may not be distinct passages to show that the sun, or the
dawn, came from the south. But the very fact that Uṣhas is
called Dakshiṇá (I, 123, 1 ; X, 107, 1), and the sun, the son of
Dakshiṇá (III, 58, 1), is itself very suggestive, and possibly we
have here phrases which the Vedic bards employed because in
their days these were old and recognised expressions in the
language. Words, like fossils, very often preserve the oldest ideas or
facts in a language; and though Vedic poets may have forgotten the
original meaning of these phrases, that is no reason why we should
refuse to draw from the history of these words such conclusions

LONG DAY AND LONG NIGHT. 147
as may legitimately follow from it. The fact that the north is
designated by the word ut-tara, meaning 'upper,' and the south
by adha-ra, meaning 'lower,' also points to the same conclusion;
for the north cannot be over-head or 'upper' except to an obser-
ver at or near the North Pole. In later literature, we find a
tradition that the path of the sun lies through regions which are
lower (adhaḥ) than the abode of the Seven Ṛishis, or the con-
stellation of Ursa Major.* That ecliptic lies to the south of the con-
stellation is plain enough, but it cannot be said to be below the
constellation, unless the zenith of the observer is in the con-
stellation, or between it and the North Pole, a position, possible
only in the case of an observer in the Arctic region. I have
already quoted a passage from the Ṛig-Veda, which speaks of
the Seven Bears (Ṛikshâḥ), as being placed on high in the heavens
(uchchâḥ). But I have not been able to find out any Vedic
authority for the tradition that the sun's path lies below the
constellation of the Seven Bears. It has also been stated
previously that mere southerly direction of the sun, even if com-
pletely established, is not a sure indication of the observer being
within the circum-polar region, as the sun will appear to move
always to the south of the observer even in the temperate zone.
It is, therefore, not necessary to pursue this point further. It has
been shown that the Ṛig-Veda mentions the long night and the
long day, and we shall see in the next chapter that the months
and the seasons mentioned in this Old Book fully accord with
the theory we have formed from the evidence hitherto discussed.
* See Kâlidâsa's Kumârasambhava, VI, 7,—अधःप्रस्थापिताश्वेन समा-
वर्जितकेतुना । सहस्ररश्मिना साक्षात्सप्रणाममुदीक्षिताः । Also I, 16,—सप्त-
र्षिहस्तावचितावशेषानधो विवस्वान् परिवर्तमानः । See also Mallinâtha's
commentary on these verses.

CHAPTER VII.
MONTHS AND SEASONS.
Evidence of rejected calendar generally preserved in sacrificial
rites by conservative priests—Varying number of the months
of sunshine in the Arctic region—Its effect on sacrificial ses-
sions considered—Seven-fold character of the sun in the Ve-
das—The legend of Aditi—She presents her seven sons to
the gods and casts away the eighth—Various explanations of
the legend in the Brâhmaṇas and the Taittirîya Âraṇyaka
—Twelve suns understood to be the twelve month-gods in later
literature—By analogy seven suns must have once indicated
seven months of sunshine—Different suns were believed to be
necessary to produce different seasons—Aditi’s legend belongs
to the former age, or pûrvyam yugam—Evidence from sacrificial
literature—The families of sacrificers in primeval times—Called
‘our ancient fathers’ in the Ṛig-Veda—Atharvan and Angiras
traced to Indo-European period—Navagvas and Dashagvas,
the principal species of the Angirases—Helped Indra in his
fight with Vala—They finished their sacrificial session in ten
months—The sun dwelling in darkness—Ten months’ sacrifices
indicate only ten months of sunshine, followed by the long night
—Etymology of Navagva and Dashagva—According to Sâ-
yaṇa the words denote persons sacrificing for nine or ten
months—Prof. Lignana’s explanation improbable—The ad-
jective Virûpas applied to the Angirases—Indicates other
varieties of these sacrificers—Saptagu, or seven Hotris or
Vipras—Legend of Dîrghatamas—As narrated in the Mahâ-
bhârata—A protege of Ashvins in the Ṛig-Veda—Growing
old in the tenth yuga—Meaning of yuga discussed—Mânu-
shâ yugâ means ‘human ages,’ and not always ‘human tribes’
in the Ṛig-Veda—Two passages in proof thereof—Interpre-
tations of Western scholars examined and rejected—Mânushâ
yugâ denoted months after the long dawn and before the long
night—Dîrghatamas represents the sun setting in the tenth
month—Mânushâ yugâ and continuous nights—The five seasons
in ancient times—A Ṛig-Veda passage bearing on it discus-
sed—The year of five seasons described as residing in waters’

MONTHS AND SEASONS. 149
—Indicates darkness of the long night—Not made up by
combining any two consecutive seasons out of six—The ex-
planation in the Brâhmaṇas improbable—Summary.
Starting with the tradition about the half-yearly night
of the gods found everywhere in Sanskrit literature, and also in
the Avesta, we have found direct references in the Ṛig-Veda to
a long continuous dawn of thirty days, the long day and the long
night, when the sun remained above the horizon or went below
it for a number of 24 hours ; and we have also seen that the
Ṛig-Vedic texts describe these things as events of a bye-gone
age. The next question, therefore, is—Do we meet in the
Vedas with similar traces of the Arctic condition of seasons,
months or years? It is stated previously that the calendar
current at the time of the Vedic Saṁhitâs was different from
the Arctic calendar. But if the ancestors of the Vedic people
ever lived near the North Pole, “we may,” as observed by Sir
Norman Lockyer with reference to the older Egyptian calendar,
“always reckon upon the conservatism of the priests of the
temples retaining the tradition of the old rejected year in every
case.” Sir Norman Lockyer first points out how the ancient
Egyptian year of 360 days was afterwards replaced by a year
of 365 days; and then gives two instances of the traditional
practice by which the memory of the old year was preserved.
“Thus even at Philæ in later times,” says he, “in the temple of
Osiris, there were 360 bowls for sacrifice, which were filled
daily with milk by a specified rotation of priests. At Acanthus
there was a perforated cask into which one of the 360 priests
poured water from the Nile daily.”* And what took place in
Egypt, we may expect to have taken place in Vedic times. The
characteristics of an Arctic year are so unlike those of a year
in the temperate zone, that if the ancestors of the Vedic

• See Lockyer’s Dawn of Astronomy, p. 248.

150 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
people ever lived within the Arctic regions, and immigrated
southwards owing to glaciation, an adaptation of the calendar to
the altered geographical and astronomical conditions of the new
home was a necessity, and must have been effected at the time.
But in making this change, we may, as remarked by Sir
Norman Lockyer, certainly expect the conservative priests to
retain as much of the old calendar as possible, or at least
preserve the traditions of the older year in one form or another
especially in their sacrificial rites. Indo-European etymological
equations have established the fact that sacrifices, or rather the
system of making offerings to the gods for various purposes,
existed from the primeval period ;* and if so, the system must
have undergone great modifications as the Aryan races moved
from the Arctic to the temperate zone. I have shown elsewhere
that calendar and sacrifice, especially the annual sattras, are
closely connected, and that in the case of the annual sattras, or
the sacrificial sessions which lasted for one year, the priests had
in view, as observed by Dr. Haug,† the yearly course of the sun.
It was the duty of these priests to keep up the sacrificial fire, as
the Parsi priests now do, and to see that the yearly rounds of
sacrifices were performed at proper times (ṛitus). The sacrificial
calendar in the Arctic home must, however, have been different
from what it came to be afterwards ; and happily many traces of
this calendar are still discoverable in the sacrificial literature of
Vedic times, proving that the ancient worshippers or sacri-
ficers of our race must have lived in circum-polar regions.
But before discussing this evidence, it is necessary to briefly
describe the points wherein we might expect the ancient

• See Schrader's Prehistoric Antiquities of the Aryan Peoples,
  Part IV, Chap. XIII, translated by Jevons, p. 421. Cf. Sans. yaj ;
  Zend yaz ; Greek azomai, agios. See Orion, Chap. II.
  † See Dr. Haug's Aitareya Brâh. Vol. I, Introduction, p. 46.

MONTHS AND SEASONS. 151
or the oldest sacrificial system to differ from the one current in
Vedic times.
In the Saṁhitâs and Brâhmaṇas, the annual sattras, or
yearly sacrificial sessions, are said to extend over twelve months.
But this was impossible within the Arctic region, where the sun
goes below the horizon for a number of days or months during
the year, thereby producing the long night. The oldest duration
of the annual sattras, if such sattras were ever performed within
the Polar regions, would, therefore, be shorter than twelve months.
In other words, an annual sattra of less than twelve months would
be the chief distinguishing mark of the older sacrificial system,
as contrasted with the later annual sattra of twelve months. It
must also be borne in mind that the number of the months of
sunshine and darkness cannot be the same everywhere in the
Circum-Polar regions. At the Pole the sun is alternately above
and below the horizon for six months each. But as all people
cannot be expected to be stationed precisely at the Pole,
practically the months of sunshine will vary from seven to eleven
for the inhabitants of the Arctic region, those nearest to the North
Pole having seven month's sunshine, while those living farther
south from the Pole having the sun above their horizon for eight,
nine or ten months according to latitude. These periods of sun-
shine would be made up of the long Arctic day at the place and
a succession of ordinary days and nights closely following each
other ; and sacrificial sessions would be held, or principal business
transacted, and important religious and social ceremonies
performed only during this period. It would, so to say, be
a period of action, as contrasted with the long night, by
which it was followed. The long dawn following the long
night, would mark the beginning of this period of activity ;
and the Arctic sacrificial year would, practically, be made up,
only of these months of sunshine. Therefore, the varying

152 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
number of the months of sunshine would be the chief peculiarity
of the Arctic sacrificial calendar, and we must bear it in mind
in examining the traces of the oldest calendar in the Ṛig-Veda,
or other Saṁhitâs.
A dawn of thirty days, as we measure days, implies a
position so near the North Pole, that the period of sunshine at
the place could not have been longer than about seven months,
comprising, of course, a long day of four or five months, and a
succession of regular days and nights during the remaining period;
and we find that the Ṛig-Veda does preserve for us the memory
of such months of sunshine. We refer first to the legend of Aditi,
or the seven Âdityas (suns), which is obviously based on some
natural phenomenon. This legend expressly tells us that the
oldest number of Âdityas or suns was seven, and the same idea
is independently found in many other places in the Ṛig-Veda.
Thus in IX, 114, 3, seven Âdityas and seven priests are men-
tioned together, though the names of the different suns are not
given therein. In II, 27, 1, Mitra, Aryaman, Bhaga, Varuṇa,
Dakṣha and Aṁsha are mentioned by name as so many dif-
ferent Âdityas, but the seventh 'is not named. This omission
does not, however, mean much, as the septenary character of
the sun is quite patent from the fact that he is called saptâ-
shva (seven-horsed) in V, 45, 9, and his 'seven-wheeled' chariot
is said to be drawn by 'seven bay steeds' (I, 50, 8), or by a
single horse 'with seven names' in I, 164, 2. The Atharva
Veda also speaks of "the seven bright rays of the sun"
(VII, 107, 1); and the epithet Âditya, as applied to the sun
in the Ṛig-Veda, is rendered more clearly by Aditeḥ putraḥ
(Aditi's son) in A. V. XIII, 2, 9. Sâyaṇa, following Yâska,
derives this seven-fold character of the sun from his seven
rays; but why solar rays were taken to be seven still re-
mains unexplained, unless we hold that the Vedic bards had
anticipated the discovery of seven prismatic rays or colours,

MONTHS AND SEASONS. 153
which were unknown even to Yâska or Sâyaṇa. Again though the
existence of seven suns may be explained. on this hypothesis, yet
it fails to account for the death of the eighth sun ; for the legend
of Aditi (Ṛig. X, 72, 8-9) tells us, "Of the eight sons of Aditi,
who were born from her body, she approached the gods with
seven, and cast out Mârtâṇḍa. With seven sons Aditi approached
(the gods) in the former age (pûrvyam yugam); she brought thi-
ther Mârtâṇḍa again for birth and death."* The story is discus-
sed in various places in the Vedic literature, and many other
attempts, unfortunately all unsatisfactory, have been made to
explain it in a rational and intelligent way. Thus in the Taittirî-
ya Saṁhitâ, VI, 5, 6, 1 f., the story of Aditi cooking a Brahmau-
dana oblation for the gods, the Sâdhyas, is narrated. The
remnant of the oblation was given to her by the gods, and four
Âdityas were born to her from it. She then cooked a second
oblation, and ate it herself first; but the Âditya born from it was
an imperfect egg. She cooked a third time and the Âditya
Vivasvat, the progenitor of man, was born. But the Saṁhitâ
does not give the number and names of the eight Âdityas, and
this omission is supplied by the Taittirîya Brâhmaṇa (I, 1, 9,
1 f.). The Brâhmaṇa tells us that Aditi cooked the oblation
four times, and each time the gods gave her the remnant
of the oblation. Four pairs of sons were thus born to her;
the first pair was Dhâtṛi and Aryaman, the second Mitra
and Varuṇa, the third Aṁsha and Bhaga and the fourth
Indra and Vivasvat. But the Brâhmaṇa does not explain why
the eighth son was called Mârtâṇḍa, and cast away. The
Taittirîya Âraṇyaka, I, 13, 2-3, (cited by Sâyaṇa in his gloss
on Ṛig. II, 27, 1, and X, 72, 8.), first quotes the two verses

• Ṛig. X, 72, 8 & 9:— अष्टौ पुत्रासो अदितेर्ये जातास्तन्वस्परि । देवाँ
  उप प्रैत्सप्तभिः परा मार्ताण्डमास्यत् ॥ सप्तभिः पुत्रैरदितिरुप प्रैत्पूर्व्यं युगं ।
  प्रजायै मृत्यवे त्वत्पुनर्मात्तांण्डमाभरत् ॥ For त्वत्पुनः in the second verse the
  Taittirîya Âraṇyaka, 1, 13, 3, reads तत्परा, see infra.

154 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
from the Ṛig-Veda (X, 72, 8 and 9), which give the legend of
Aditi but with a slightly different reading for the second line of
the second verse. Thus, instead of tvat punaḥ Mârtâṇḍam â
abharat (she brought again Mârtâṇḍa thither for birth and death),
the Âraṇyaka reads tat parâ Mârtâṇḍam â abharat (she set aside
Mârtâṇḍa for birth and death). The Âraṇyaka then proceeds
to give the names of the eight sons, as Mitra, Varuṇa, Dhâtṛi,
Aryaman, Aṁsha, Bhaga, Indra and Vivasvat. But no further
explanation is added, nor are we told which of these eight sons
represented Mârtâṇḍa. There is, however; another passage in the
Âraṇyaka (I, 7, 1–6) which throws some light on the nature of
these Âdityas.* The names of the suns here given are different.
They are:—Âroga, Bhrâja, Patara, Pataṅga, Svarṇara, Jyotiṣhî-
mat, Vibhâsa and Kashyapa ; the last of which is said to remain
constantly at the great mount Meru, permanently illumining
that region. The other seven suns are said to derive their
light from Kashyapa and to be alone visible to man. We are
then told that these seven suns are considered by some
Âchâryas to be the seven manifestations of the Prâṇas, or
the vital powers in man ; while others are said to hold
the opinion that they are the types of seven officiating priests
*. See Taittirîya Âraṇyaka, 1, 7,—आरोगोभ्राजः पटरः पतंगः । स्वर्णरो
ज्योतिषीमान् विभासः ।...। कश्यपोष्टमः । स महामेरुं न जहाति ।...। ते
अस्मै सर्वे कश्यपाज्ज्योतिर्लभन्ते । ...। सप्त शीर्षण्याः प्राणाः सूर्या इत्याचार्याः
...। सप्तर्त्विजः सूर्या इत्याचार्याः । तेषामेषाभवति । “सप्त दिशो नानासूर्याः
सप्त होतार ऋत्विजः । देवा आदित्या ये सप्त तेभिः सोमाभि रक्ष न” इति
( Ṛig. IX, 114, 3 ) । तदप्याह्नायः । दिग्भ्राज ऋतून् करोति । एतच्चैवावृता
सहस्रसूर्यताया इति वैशंपायनः ।......। नानालिंगत्वादृतूनां नानासूर्यत्वं । अष्टौ
तु व्यवसिता इति ।
Upon this Sâyaṇa says:—‘ दिग्भ्राजः ’ तान् तान् दिशं प्राप्यावस्थिताः सूर्याः
‘ ऋतून्’ वसंतादिसूचितानृतुधर्मान् , ‘ करोति ’ तस्यां तस्यां दिशि कुर्वंति । न हि ऋतु-
निष्पादकसूर्यव्यतिरेकेण तत्तहतुधर्माः संभवंति । तस्मात्संत्येव दिक्षु विभिन्नाः सूर्याः ।
And again नानालिंगत्वादिति । यद्येक एव सूर्यः स्यात् तदानीं वसंताद्यृतूनां नाना-
लिंगत्वं न स्यात् । न हि कारणभेदमन्तरेण कार्यभेदः संभवति । तस्माहतुधर्मवैलक्षण्यसिद्धये
बहुसूर्यत्वमभ्युपेयम् ।...। 'अष्टौ तु व्यवसिता' इति । बाढम्, संत्येक तत्तल्लिंगकल्पा
अनन्ताः सूर्याः । किन्तु तत्रारित कश्चिद्विशेषः । 'व्यवसिताः' निश्चिताः ।

MONTHS AND SEASONS. 155
(ṛitvijaḥ). A third explanation is then put forward, viz., that
the distinction of seven suns is probably based on the different
effects of sun's rays in different months or seasons, and in support
of it a Mantra, or Vedic verse, Dig-bhrâja ṛitûn karoti, (resorting
to, or shining in, different regions (they) make the seasons), is
quoted. I have not been able to find the Mantra in the existing
Saṁhitâs, nor does Sâyaṇa give us any clue to it, but simply
observes "the different features of different seasons cannot be
accounted for, except by supposing them to have been caused by
different suns; therefore, different suns must exist in different
regions".* But this explanation is open to the objection (actually
raised by Vaishampâyana), that we shall have, on this theory, to
assume the existence of thousands of suns as the characteristics
of the seasons are so numerous. The Âraṇyaka admits, to a
certain extent, the force of this objection, but says—aṣhṭau tu
vyavasitâḥ, meaning that the number eight is settled by the text
of the scripture, and there is no further arguing about
it. The Shatapatha Brâhmaṇa, III, 1, 3, 3, explains the le-
gend of Aditi somewhat on the same lines. It says that
seven alone of Aditi's sons are styled Devâḥ Âdityâḥ (the
gods Âdityas) by men, and that the eighth Mârtâṇḍa was
born undeveloped, whereupon the Âditya gods created man
and other animals out of him. In two other passages of the
Shatapatha Brâhmaṇa, VI, 1, 2, 8, and XI, 6, 3, 8, the num-
ber of Âdityas is, however, given as twelve. In the first
(VI, 1, 2, 8) they are said to have sprung from twelve
drops generated by Prajâpati and then placed in different
regions (dikshu); while in the second (XI, 6, 3, 8)† these

• See Sâyaṇa's explanation quoted on the last page.
  † Shatapatha Brâhmaṇa, VI, 1, 2, 8,—स मनसैव वाचं मिथुनं समभवत्
  स द्वादश द्रप्सान् गर्ब्भवत् । ते द्वादशादित्या असृज्यंत तान्दिक्षूपदधात् ।
  Again XI, 6, 3, 8—कतम आदित्या इति । द्वादश मासाः संवत्सरस्यैत
  आदित्याः ।

156 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
twelve Âdityas are identified with the twelve months of the
year. The number of Âdityas is also given as twelve in the
Upaniṣhads : while in the post-Vedic literature they are every-
where said to be twelve, answering to the twelve months f the
year. Muir, in his Original Sanskrit Texts, Volumes IV and V,
gives most of these passages, but offers no explanation as to the
legend of Aditi, except such as is to be found in the passages
quoted. There are many different speculations or theories of
Western Scholars regarding the nature and character of Aditi,
but as far as the number of Âdityas is concerned, I know of no
satisfactory explanation as yet suggested by them. On the con-
trary the tendency is, as observed by Prof. Max Muller, to regard
the number, seven or eight, as unconnected with any solar move-
ments. A suggestion is made that the eight Âdityas may be
taken to represent the eight cardinal points of the compass, but
the death or casting away of the eighth Âditya seals the fate
of this explanation, which thus seems to have been put forward
only to be rejected like Mârtâṇḍa, the eighth Âditya.
We have here referred to, or quoted, the texts and passages
bearing on Aditi's legend, or the number of Âdityas, at some
length, in order to show how we are apt to run into wild spe-
culations about the meaning of a simple legend when the key to
it is lost. That the twelve Âdityas are understood to represent
the twelve month-gods in later Vedic literature is evident from
the passage in the Shatapatha Brâhmaṇa (XI, 6, 3, 8=Bṛih.
Ârṇ. Up. III, 9, 5), which says "There are twelve months of the
year ; these are the Âdityas." With this explanation before us,
and the belief that different seasonal changes could be explained
only by assuming the existence of different suns, it required no
. very great stretch of imagination to infer that if twelve Âdityas
now represent the twelve months of the year, the seven Âdityas
must have once (pûrvyam yugam) represented the seven

MONTHS AND SEASONS. 157
months of the year. But this explanation, reasonable though
it was, did not commend itself, or we might even say, occur
to Vedic scholars, who believed that the home of the Aryans
lay somewhere in Central Asia. It is, therefore, satisfactory
to find that the idea of different suns producing different
months is recognised so expressly in the Taittirīya Âraṇyaka,
which quotes a Vedic text, not now available, in support
thereof, and finally pronounces in favour of the theory, which
regards the seven suns as presiding over seven different heavenly
regions and thereby producing different seasons, in spite of the
objection that it would lead to the assumption of thousands of
suns—an objection, which the Âraṇyaka disposes of summarily
by observing that eight is a settled number, and that we have
no right to change it. That this explanation is the most probable
of all is further evident from Ṛig. IX, 114, 3, which says "There
are seven sky-regions (sapta dishaḥ), with their different suns
(nānā sūryāḥ), there are seven Hotṛis as priests, those who are
the seven gods, the Âdityas,—with them, O Soma! protect us."
Here nānā-sūryāḥ is an adjective which qualifies dishaḥ (sapta),
and the co-relation between seven regions and seven suns is
thus expressly recognised. Therefore, the simplest explanation
of Aditi's legend is that she presented to the gods, that is, brought
forth into heavens, her seven sons, the Âdityas, to form the seven
months of sunshine in the place. She had an eighth son, but he
was born in an undeveloped state, or, was, what we may call, still-
born; evidently meaning that the eighth month was not a month
of sunshine, or that the period of darkness at the place commen-
ced with the eighth month. All this occured not in this age, but
in the previous age, and the words pūrvyam yugam in X, 72, 9, are
very important from this point of view. The word yuga is evi-
dently used to denote a period of time in the first and second
verses of the hymn, which refer to the former age of the gods;

158 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
(devānāṁ pūrve yuge) and also of the later age (uttare yuge).
Western scholars are accustomed to interpret yuga to mean 'a
generation of men' almost in every place where the phrase is
met with; and we shall have to consider the correctness of this
interpretation later on. For the purpose of this legend it is
enough to state that the phrase pūrvyam yugam occurs twice in
the hymn, and that where it first occurs (in verse 2), it clearly
denotes 'an early age' or 'some division of time.' Naturally
enough we must, therefore, interpret it in the same way where
it occurs again in the same hymn, viz., in the verse describing
the legend of Aditi's seven sons. The sun having seven rays, or
seven horses, also implies the same idea differently expressed.
The seven months of sunshine, with their different temperatures,
are represented by seven suns producing these different results
by being differently located, or as having different kinds of rays,
or as having different chariots, or horses, or different wheels to the
same chariot. It is one and the same idea in different forms, or
as the Ṛig-Veda puts it, "one horse with seven names," (I, 164,
2). A long dawn of thirty days indicates a period of sunshine
for seven months; and we now see that the legend of Aditi is
intelligible only if we interpret it as a relic of a time when there
were seven flourishing month-gods, and the eighth was either still-
born, or cast away. Mārtāṇḍa is etymologically derived from
mārta meaning 'dead or undeveloped', (being connected with
mṛita, the past participle of mṛi, to die) and aṇḍa, an egg or a
bird; and it denotes a dead sun, or a sun that has sunk below the
horizon, for in Ṛig. X, 55, 5, we find the word mamāra (died)
used to denote the setting of the daily sun. The sun is also repre-
sented as a bird in many places in the Ṛig-Veda (V, 47,3; X, 55, 6;
X, 177, 1; X, 189, 3). A cast away bird (Mārtāṇḍa) is, there-
fore, the sun that has set or sunk below the horizon, and
the whole legend is obviously a reminiscence of the place

MONTHS AND SEASONS. 159
where the sun shone above the horizon. for seven months, and
went below it in the beginning of the eighth. If this nature of
the sun-god is once impressed on the memory, it cannot be
easily forgotten by any people simply by their being obliged to
change their residence ; and thus the sevenfold character of the
sun-god must have been handed down as an old tradition, though
the Vedic people lived later on in places presided over by the
twelve Âdityas. That is how ancient traditions are preserved
everywhere, as, for instance, those relating to the older year in
the Egyptian literature, previously referred to.
We have seen above that the peculiar characteristic of
the Arctic region is the varying number of the months of sun-
shine in that place. It is not, therefore, enough to say that
traces of a period of seven months' sunshine are alone found in
the Ṛig-Veda. If our theory is correct, we ought to find re-
ferences to periods of eight, nine or ten months' sunshine along
with that of seven months either in the shape of traditions, or
in some other form ; and fortunately there are such references
in the Ṛig-Veda, only if we know where to look for them.
We have seen that the sun's chariot is said to be drawn by seven
horses, and that this seven-fold character of the sun has refer-
ence to the seven suns, conceived as seven different month-gods.
There are many other legends based on this seven-fold division,
but as they do not refer to the subject under discussion, we
must reserve their consideration for another occasion. The
only fact necessary to be mentioned in this place is that the
number of the sun's horses is said to be not only seven (I, 50,
8), but also ten in IX, 63, 9; and if the first be taken
to represent seven months, the other must be understood
to stand for ten months as well. We need not, however, de-
pend upon such extension of the legend of seven Âdityas
to prove that the existence of nine or ten months of sunshine

160 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
was known to the poets of the Ṛig-Veda. The evidence, which
I am now going to cite, comes from another source, I mean, the
sacrificial litetature, which is quite independent of the legend of
the seven Âdityas. The Ṛig-Veda mentions a number of ancient
sacrificers styled 'our fathers' (II, 33, 13; VI, 22, 2), who instituted
the sacrifice in ancient times, and laid down, for the guidance of
man, the path which he should, in future, follow. Thus the
sacrifice offered by Manu, is taken as the type, and other sacri-
fices are compared with it in I, 76, 5. But Manu was not
alone to offer this ancient sacrifice to the gods. In X, 63, 7, he
is said to have made the first offerings to the gods along with
the seven Hotṛis; while Aṅgiras and Yayâti are mentioned with
him as ancient sacrificers in I, 31, 17, Bhṛigu and Aṅgiras in
VIII, 43, 13, Atharvan and Dadhyañch in I, 80, 16, and Dadhy-
añch, Aṅgiras, Atri and Kaṇva in I, 139, 9. Atharvan by
his sacrifices is elsewhere described, as having first extended
the paths, whereupon the sun was born (I, 83, 5 ), and the
Atharvans, in the plural, are styled 'our fathers' (naḥ pitaraḥ)
along with Aṅgirases, Navagvas and Bhṛigus in X, 14, 6.
In II, 34, 12, Dashagvas are said to have been the first to
offer a sacrifice; while in X, 92, 10 Atharvan is spoken
of, as having established order by sacrifices, when the Bhṛigus
showed themselves as gods by their skill. Philologically the
name of Atharvan appears as Athravan, meaning a fire-priest,
in the Avesta, and the word Aṅgiras is said to be etymolo-
gically connected with the Greek Aggilos, a 'messenger' and the
Persian Angara 'a mounted courier.' In the Aitareya Brâhmaṇa
(III, 34) Aṅgirases are said to be the same as Aṅgârâḥ,
'burning coals or fire,' (Cf. Ṛig. X. 62, 5). Whether we accept
these etymologies as absolutely correct or not, the resemblance
between the different words sufficiently warrants the assump-
tion that Atharvan and Aṅgiras must have been the ancient

MONTHS AND SEASONS. 161
sacrificers of the whole Aryan race and not merely of the
Vedic people. Therefore, even though Manu, Atharvan, Aṅgiras
be not the names of particular individuals, still there can be
little doubt that they represented families of priests who conduct-
ed, if not originated, the sacrifices in primeval times, that is,
before the Aryan separation, and who, for this reason, seem to
have attained almost divine character in the eyes of the poets of
the Ṛig-Veda. They have all been described as more or less
connected with Yama in X, 14, 3-6 ; but it does not follow there-
from that they were all Yama's agents or beings without any
human origin. For, as stated above, there are a number of
passages in which they are described as being the first and the
most ancient sacrificers of the race ; and if after their death they
are said to have gone to Yama and become his friends and com-
panions, that does not, in any way, detract from their human
character. It is, therefore, very important in the history of the
sacrificial literature to determine if any traditions are preserved
in the Ṛig-Veda regarding the duration of the sacrifices perfomed
by these ancient ancestors of the Vedic people (naḥ pûrve pitaraḥ,
VI, 22, 2), in times before the separation of the Aryan people,
and see if they lend any support to the theory of an early Circum-
Polar home.
Now so far as my researches go, I have not been able to
find any Vedic evidence regarding the duration of the sacri-
fices performed by Manu, Atharvan, Bhṛigu or any other
ancient sacrificers, except the Aṅgirases. There is an annual
sattra described in the Shrauta Sûtras, which is called the
Aṅgirasâm-ayanam, and is said to be a modification of the
Gavâm-ayanam, the type of all yearly sattras. But we do not
find therein any mention of the duration of the satra of the
Aṅgirases. The duration of the Gavâm-ayanam is, however,
given in the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ, and will be discussed in