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

224 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS,
time " signifies the time during which the battle is fought and at
the termination of which Tishtrya comes to the faithful ; and
the passage, therefore, means (1) that the "appointed time," when
Tishtrya was to appear before man after fighting with Apaosha,
varied from one night to a hundred nights, and (2) that Tishtrya
required to be strengthened during the period by Haoma sacri-
fices in which he was to be invoked by his own name. We have
seen above that a hundred nightly Soma sacrifices were offered to
Indra by the ancient Vedic sacrificers to enable him to secure
a victory over Vṛitra, and that Indra was the only deity to whom
the libations were offered in these sacrifices. The legend of
Tishtrya and Apaosha is, therefore, an exact reproduction of
Indra's fight with Vṛitra or Vala ; and with this correspondence
before us, we should feel no hesitation in accepting the view
stated above regarding the origin of the Shata-râtra sacrifice.
Neither Darmesteter nor Spiegel explains why the appointed
time for the appearance of Tishtrya is described as " one night,
or two nights, or fifty, or a hundred nights," though both trans-
late the original in the same way. The legend also forms the
subject of chapter VII of the Bundahish, but there, too, we find no
explanation as to why the appointed time is described as varying
from one to a hundred nights. It is, however, suggested by some
that the appointed time may refer to the season of rains. But
rains cannot be said to come after "one night, two nights, or fifty,
or a hundred nights," and the latter expression would, therefore,
be utterly inappropriate in their case ; nor, as stated above, does
Tishtrya's fight with Apaosha represent only a struggle for rain,
since we know that it is a struggle for light as well. We have also
seen that the existence of night-sacrifices in the Vedic literature,
extending over one, two, three, or ten, or a hundred nights, indi-
cates the long darkness during which Indra fought with Vala ;
and the coincidence between this fact and the 'appointed time,'

THE COWS' WALK. 225
of Tishtrya cannot be regarded as accidental. The legends are
undoubtedly identical in character, and taking the one to illus-
trate the other, the only conclusion deducible from them is that
a hundred nights was regarded to be the maximum duration of
the fight between Indra and Vala, or Tishtrya and Apaosha, so
far as the ancestors of the Indo-Iranian people were concerned,
and that the sea Vouru-Kasha, or the ocean 'encompassed with
darkness,' as the Ṛig-Veda has it (II, 23, 18), was the scene of
this battle between the powers of light and darkness. We also
learn from them that the hero of the battle, whether he was
Indra or Tishtrya, stood in need of help, derived from the per-
formance of the sacrifices specially offered to him during the
period; and that as a matter of fact such sacrifices were performed
in ancient times. The word shata-kratu does not occur in the
Avesta, but in the Ashi Yasht (Yt. XVII, 56) "a.ram of hundred-
fold energy (maeshahe satokarahe) is spoken of; and considering
the fact that in the Bahram Yasht (Yt. XIV, 23) "a beautiful ram,
with horns bent round" is said to be one of the incarnations of
Verethraghna, and that Indra is also described as appearing in
the form of a ram in the Ṛig-Veda (VIII, 2, 40), it is very
probable that the phrase sato-karahe maeshahe refers to Verethra-
ghna in the Ashi Yasht, and like the epithet shata-kratu, the
adjective sato-karahe means not "possessed of hundred powers,"
but "the master of a hundred deeds or sacrifices." There is
thus a very close correspondence between the Vedic and the
Avestic ideas on this subject, and this strengthens the conclusion
that the night sacrifices in the Vedic literature had their origin
in the existence of a long continuous night of varying durations
in the original home of the Vedic people. We can now also
satisfactorily explain why Tishtrya is described (Yt. VIII, 36,
vide Spiegel's Trans.) as 'bringing hither the circling years of
men." It is the Avestic parallel of the Vedic story of the
Dawn setting, in motion "the ages of men, or mânuṣhâ yugâ,"
15

226 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
discussed in the last chapter, and shews that when Tishtrya's
fight with Apaosha, or Indra's war with Vala, was over, the new
year commenced with the long dawn, followed by the months
of sunshine varying from seven to eleven in number, according
to the latitude of the place.*

• The passage about Tishtrya's connection with the year is
  noticed by Mr. Meherjibhai Nosherwanji Kuka, M. A, in his essay
  “On the order of Parsi months,” published in the Cama Memorial
  Volume (p. 58), and of which he was kind enough to send me a
  separate copy.
  The passage is in the Tir Yasht, § 36:—‘Tishtrîm stârem raevan-
  tem kharenanghvantem yazamaide, yim yâre-charesho mashyehe
  Ahuracha khratu-gûto aurunacha gairishâcho sizdaracha ravas-
  charâto uziyoirentem hisposentem huydiryâicha danghve uzjasen-
  tem duzydiryâicha, kata Airyâo danghâvo huydiryâo bavâonti.’ Spiegel
  translates it thus, ‘We praise the star Tishtrya, the shining, the majestic,
  who brings here the circling years of men.” Darmesteter takes yâre-
  charesho mashyehe &c., with the words following, viz, uziyoirentem
  hisposentem, and translates, “We praise Tishtrya, &c., whose rising
  is watched by men, who live on the fruits of the year.” According
  to Dastur Erachji Meherjirana (see his Yasht bâ mâeni), the meaning
  of the whole paragraph, in which this passage occurs, is:—“We
  praise Tishtrya, &c, who maketh the year revolve in accordance with
  the notions of the mountaineers and the nomads. He riseth and is
  visible towards the regions where there is no correct calculation of
  the year.”
  But whatever the difficulties of interpretation may be, one thing
  seems to be quite clear from this passage, viz., that Tishtrya was the
  star by which the year was reckoned. In the Tîr Yasht § 5, springs
  of water are said to flow at the rising of Tishtrya, who in § 16 is
  described as ‘mingling his shape with light, or ‘moving in light,’ § 46.
  All those incidents can be satisfactorily explained if we suppose that,
  after Tishtrya's fight with Apaosha, lasting for 100 nights at the
  longest, the aerial waters, which communicated motion to the sun and
  other heavenly bodies (see Faravardîn Yasht 53-58) and which lay
  still or stagnant during the time, were set free to move again
  along the path made by Mazda, bringing on with them the light of
  the sun and thus commencing the new year after the long winter
  night in the Arctic region. The simultaneous character of the motion
  of waters, the commencement of the new year, and the winning of light
  after Tishtrya's fight with Apaosha, can be explained only in this way,
  and not by making the legend refer to the rainy season (see the discus-
  sion about ‘waters’ in the next chapter). The Pairika Duz-yairya,
  or the Bad Year, which Tishtrya is said to break-asunder, is, on this
  theory, the wearisome dark Arctic night.

THE COWS' WALK. 227
In the light of what has been stated above, we can now
better understand the original nature and meaning of the Ati-
râtra sacrifice. It is a nightly sacrifice, performed during the
night, even at present, and the Mîmâṁsakas have not succeeded
in converting it into a day-sacrifice. So far it is all right; but the
question is why should the sacrifice be called Ati-râtra ? The pre-
fix ati (corresponding with Latin trans) ordinarily denotes 'some-
thing beyond,' 'something on the other side, or at the other end,'
and not 'something pervading, extending, or spreading through
the whole extent of anything.' Even Sâyaṇa in his commentary
on VII, 103, 7, the only place where the word Ati-râtra occurs in
the Ṛig-Veda, explains it to mean 'that which is past or beyond
the night' (râtrim atîtya vartate iti atirâtraḥ), and Rudradatta
in his commentary on the Âpastamba Shrauta Sûtra (XIV, 1, 1),
gives the same explanation. The Ati-râtra, therefore, denotes a
trans-nocturnal sacrifice, that is, performed at either end of the
night. Now according to the Aitareya Brâhmaṇa (IV, 5), the
Ati-râtra sacrifice is performed for the purpose of driving out the
Asuras from the darkness of night; and the Tâṇḍya Brâhmaṇa
(IV, 1, 4-5) tells us that Prajâpati, who first perceived the sacri-
fice, created from it the twin of day and night (aho-râtre). It
follows from this that the Ati-râtra was performed at the close
of such night as gave rise to the ordinary days and nights, or, in
other words, the regular succession of days and nights follow-
ed its performance. This can only be the case if we suppose
that the Ati-râtra was performed at the end of a long continu-
ous night in regions where such night occurred. With us
in the temperate or the tropical zone, ordinary days and nights
regularly succeed each other throughout the year without any
break, and it is meaningless, if not absurd, to speak of the cycle
of day and night, as produced from a particular night in the
year. Again, on the theory of a daily struggle between light
and darkness the Asuras must be turned out of darkness every

228 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
night, and strictly speaking the performance of the Ati-râtra is-
necessary on every one of the 360 nights of the Sattra. But as a
matter of fact the Ati-râtra is performed only at the beginning
and the end of the Sattra; and even then the regular Sattra is
said to commence on the Chaturviṁsha and close on the Mahâ-
vrata day, and not on the concluding Atirâtra day. It seems,
therefore, that the performance of the Ati-râtra was not originally
intended to drive away the Asuras from only the first of 360
nights over which the Sattra now extends. For in that case,
there is no reason why the Asuras were not required to be expelled
from every one of the 360 nights. It follows, therefore, that the
Ati-râtra or the trans-nocturnal sacrifice refers to some night
not included in the regular nights of the Gavâm-ayanam. It is
true that the Ati-râtra is performed at the beginning and the end
of every Sattra, and in one sense it is, therefore, a trans-sattra or
ati-sattra sacrifice. But that does not account for the name
Ati-râtra, as the Sattra is not held during night. We must,
therefore, hold that the two Ati-râtras were originally performed
not at the beginning and the end of a Sattra, but at the begin-
ning and the end of a night, which occured or intervened between
the last and the first day of the Sattra. When this night
ended with an Ati-râtra, the usual Sattra began; and as
the sun was above the horizon during the period producing the
regular succession of days and nights, no Ati-râtra was needed
during the Sattra, for, as stated in the Taṇḍya Brâhmaṇa,
the object of the Ati-râtra was gained. But the Sattra closed
with the long night, and the Ati-râtra had, therefore, again
to be performed at the end of the Sattra to drive the Asuras
from this night. I have shown before that we have direct
and reliable authority in the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ to hold that
the Gavâm-ayanam was once completed in ten months or
300 days, and it was, therefore, appropriately closed with and in-
troduced by an Ati-râtra. The word Ati-râtra is thus rationally

THE COWS' WALK. 229
explained, for the sacrifice was performed at the beginning and
the close of the long night and, was therefore, adequately called
a trans-nocturnal sacrifice. Between these two Ati-râtras came
all the night-sacrifices mentioned above, offered exclusively to
Indra. The old Gavâm-ayanam of ten or less than ten months,
the Ati-râtra or the trans-nocturnal, the Râtri-kratus and Râtri-
sattras, or nightly Soma sacrifices of two, three, &c., up to a
hundred continuous nights' duration, and lastly the Ati-râtra, to
be again followed by the Gavâm-ayanam, thus formed the com-
plete yearly round of sacrifices performed by the primeval ances-
tors of the Vedic people; and each of these sacrifices had ori-
ginally the same place in the yearly round as is indicated
by the root-meaning of its name.* But when the year of ten
months was converted into one of twelve to suit the altered
conditions of the new home, the Gavâm-ayanam expanded into
a performance of 360 days, and the elastic nature of the greater
portion of the performance, as pointed out above, permitted the
change to be easily carried out. But though the annual Sattra
expanded in this way, encroaching upon the night-sacrifices of
the long night, which were no longer needed, the Ati-râtra was
retained as an introductory sacrifice and was incorporated in
the ceremonies of the Sattra itself. Thus the two Ati-râtra
sacrifices, which were originally performed, as shown by the
etymology, at the two termini of the long night, came to be
converted into the introductory and concluding sacrifices of
the annual Sattra; and if the word Ati-râtra had not been
retained, we could not have got any clue to reveal to us

• The time here assigned to the Râtri-sattras appears to have
  been known to the Shrauta Sûtras, or in the Lâtyâyana Shrauta
  Sûtra VIII, 2, 16, we have, समाप्ते वा संवत्सरे रात्रिसत्रेषु राजानं क्रीणीयुः,
  meaning that "After the year (annual secrificial session) is over, the
  Soma should be purchased during the Râtri-sattras," evidently shewing
  that the Râtri-sattras came at the end of the yearly Sattras.

230 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
the story of its changing fortune. But the night-sacrifices, the
Râtri-kratus or Râtri-sattras, which were performed during the
long night between the two Ati-râtras, were no longer needed
and their nature came to be soon misunderstood, until at last the
the Mîmâṁsakas finally made room for them in the class of
daily Soma sacrifices, partly under Ahînas and partly under
Sattras, by means of the equation that râtri (night) is equal to
aho-râtre (day and night) in the sacrificial literature. How this
change was carried out is a question beyond the scope of this
book ; but I may here state that, in my opinion, it was the
authors of Brâhmaṇas, or the Brahmavâdins who preceded them,
that had to perform the difficult task of adapting the ancient
sacrificial calendar to the changed conditions of their new
home, somewhat after the manner of Numa's reform of the
ancient Roman calendar. The sacrifice was the main ritual
of the Vedic religion, and naturally enough the priests must
have tried to preserve as much of the old sacrificial system as
they possibly could in adapting it to the new conditions. The
task was by no means an easy one, and those that find fault
with the Brâhmaṇas as full of fanciful speculations must bear in
mind the fact that an ancient and sacred system of sacrifices
had to be adapted to new conditions, by assigning plausible
reasons for the same, at a time when the true origin of the
system was almost forgotten. The Brâhmaṇas could not have
indulged in free speculations about the origin of the rites and
ceremonies mentioned by them, had the latter originated in their
own time, or in days so near to them that the real traditions
about the origin of these ceremonies could be preserved intact.
But so long as these traditions were fresh, no explanation was
probably needed; and when they became dim, their place had to
be supplied by plausible reasons based on such traditions as were
known at the time. This throws quite a new light on the nature
and composition of the Brâhmaṇas; but as the discussion is not

THE COWS' WALK. 231
pertinent to the subject in hand, we cannot enter into it more
fully in this place.
We have now reviewed the leading features of the system
of Soma sacrifices as described in the Vedic literature, so far
as our purpose is concerned, and seen that by the aid of the
Arctic theory, some hard facts therein, which have been hither-
to incomprehensible, can be easily and naturally explained.
A history of the whole sacrificial system from the point of view
indicated above is a work quite outside the pale of this book;
but so far as we have examined the subject and especially the
question about the isolated group of a hundred nightly Soma
sacrifices, I think, we have sufficient evidence therein to warrant
us in holding that these sacrifices are a relic of the ancient times
when the ancestors of the Vedic Ṛiṣhis performed them with
the object of helping Indra to fight with the powers of darkness.
It has been already shown in the first part of this chapter that
the Gavâm-ayanam or the 'Cows'. walk,' like the Roman year,
once lasted only for ten months; and a series of suitable night-
sacrifices is a natural supplement to such sessions. Both are
relics of ancient times, and taken along with the evidence regard-
ing the existence of a long dawn of thirty days and of the long
day and night discussed in previous chapters, they conclusively
establish the existence of an ancient home of the ancestors of the
Vedic people in the circum-polar region. The sacrificial sessions
of the Navagvas and the Dashagvas, the legend of Dîrghatamas
growing old in the tenth month, the tradition about the ancient
year of five seasons, or the yoking of seven or ten horses to the
chariot of the sun, all go to strengthen the same view; and the
Avestic passages regarding the duration of Tishtrya's fight with
Apaosha, the Purâṇic tradition about Indra's being the master
of a hundred sacrifices or the destroyer of a hundred cities,
the existence of a series of one hundred nightly Soma sacri-
fices, which; though obsolete long since, could not have found

232 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
place in the sacrificial works as Rātri-sattras, unless they were
ancient sacrifices performed, as their name indicates, during
night,—these and many other minor facts noticed before, further
corroborate, if corroboration be needed, our theory regarding
the original home of the Aryans near the north Pole. It must,
however, be stated here that I do not wish to imply in any way
that the numerous sacrificial details found in the later Vedic
literature were in vogue or were known in these ancient times.
On the contrary I am prepared to believe that in all probability
these ancient sacrifices were very simple in character. The
ancient priests probably went on sacrificing from day to day,
and afterwards from night to night, without any idea that the
system was capable of giving rise to various rigid annual Sattras.
The sacrifice was the only ritual of their religion; and howsoever
simple such sacrifices might have been in ancient times, it was
almost a matter of duty, at least with the priests, to perform
them every day. It was also a means, as remarked by me else-
where, to keep up the calendar in ancient times, as the yearly
round of sacrifices closely followed the course of the sun. It is
from this latter point of view that the ancient sacrificial system
is important for historical or antiquarian purposes, and I have
examined it above in the same light. This examination, it will
be seen, has resulted in the discovery of a number of facts which
lead us directly to, and can be satisfactorily explained only by
the theory of the original Arctic home; and when our conclusions
are thus supported by the hymns of the Ṛig-Veda on the one
hand, and the sacrificial literature on the other, I think, we need
have no doubt about their correctness.

CHAPTER IX.
VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS.
Direct evidence for the Arctic theory summed up—Different na-
ture of the mythological evidence—Schools of mythological
interpretation—The naturalistic or the Nairukta school—Its
theories—The Dawn theory and the myths explained by it
—The Storm theory, Indra and Vritra—The Vernal theory,
the Ashvins' exploits—Vritra's legend usually explained by
the Storm theory—Simultaneous effects of Indra's conquest
over Vritra—The release of waters, the release of cows, the
recovery of the dawn and the production of the sun—Vedic
authorities in support of their simultaneous character
—Passages relating to the place and time of the conflict
—The simultaneous nature left unexplained by the Dawn or
the Storm theory—Battle not fought in the atmosphere above,
as implied by the Storm theory—Nor in the rainy season
—Misinterpretation of words like parvata, giri, adri, &c.
—The Storm theory inadequate in every respect—New ex-
planation necessary—The real nature of waters explained—
They are aerial or celestial waters, and not the waters of rain
—Vedic bards knew of a region 'below the three earths'
—The contrary view of Wallis refuted—The real meaning of
rajas, Nir-riti, ardhau and samudram explained—Cosmic circu-
lation of aerial waters—Nether world, the home of aerial
waters—Avestic passages describing the circulation of waters
cited and explained—Sarasvatî and Ardvi Sûra Anâhita are
celestial rivers—The source of all plants and rain—The real
nature of Vritra's fight—Simultaneous release of waters and
light is intelligible, if both have the same source—Both
stopped by Vritra's encompassing the waters in the lower
world—The closing of the apertures in the mountains
(parvatas) on the horizon—The movement of the waters and
the sun co-related—Express passages from the Avesta to
that effect—The sun stopping for a long time in waters
—Avestic passages in support thereof—Its effect on the
disposal of corpses—Darkness synchronous with the cessation
of the flow of waters in winter—Its long duration—Cosmic
circulation of waters in other mythologies—Express

234 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
texts showing that the fight with Vritra was annual and fought
in winter —Inexplicable except on the Arctic theory —The
exact date of Indra's fight with Vritra preserved in the Ṛig-
Veda —The real meaning of chatvârimshyâm sharadi explained
—Shambara found on the 40th day of Sharad—Denotes the
commencement of the long night —Vedic passages shewing
Sharad to be the last season of sunshine —Paleographical
evidence for reckoning time by seasons—Similar reckoning in
the Avesta --100 autumnal forts of Vritra and the killing of
the watery demon with ice explained —The seven rivers-
released by Indra —Cannot be terrestrial, nor the rivers of
the Panjaub —The interpretation of Western scholars ex-
amined and rejected —The connection between the seven-
rivers and the seven suns pointed out--The origin of the
phrase Hapta-hindu in the Aveṣta --Probably a transference-
of an old mythological name to a place in the new home--
Vritra's legend Arctic in origin--Captive waters represent
the yearly struggle between light and the darkness in the
ancient Arctic home.
WE have now examined most of the Vedic passages, which
directly show that the Polar or the Circum-Polar characteristics,
determined in the third chapter, were known, by tradition, to
the Vedic bards. We started with the tradition about the night
of the gods, or a day and a night of six months each, and found
that it could be traced back to the Indo-Iranian, if not to the
Indo-Germanic, period. A close examination of the dawn-hymns
in the Ṛig-Veda next disclosed the fact that Uṣhas, or the deity
presiding over the dawn, is often addressed in the plural num-
ber in the Vedic hymns, and that this could be accounted for
only on the supposition that the Vedic dawns were a closely
connected band of many dawns, —a supposition, which
was found to be fully borne out by express passages in the
Vedic literature, stating, in unambiguous terms, that the
Vedic dawns were 30 in number, and that in ancient times
a period of several days elapsed between the first appearance
of light on the horizon and the rising of the sun. We
have also found that the dawn is expressly described in the

V DIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 235
Ṛig-Veda as moving round like a wheel, a characteristic, which is
true only in the case of the Polar dawn. These facts suffici-
ently prove the acquaintance of the Vedic bards with the
physical phenomena, witnessible only in the Arctic regions.
But to make the matter more certain, I have, in the last three
chapters, quoted and discussed Vedic passages, which go to
prove that the long Arctic nights and the corresponding long
days of varying duration, as well as a year of ten months or
five seasons, were equally known to the poets of the Ṛig-Veda.
An examination of the ancient sacrificial system and especially
of the annual Sattras and night-sacrifices, further showed that in
old times yearly sacrificial sessions did not last for twelve months
as at present, but were completed in nine or ten months; and
the hundred night-scarifices were, at that time, really performed
as their name indicates, during the darkness of the long night.
The legends of Dîrghatamas and Aditi's sons, and the tradition
about the sacrificial sessions of the Navagvas and the Dashag-
vas also pointed to the same conclusion. Our case does not,
therefore, depend on an isolated fact here and an isolated fact
there. We have seen that the half-year-long day and night, the
long dawn with its revolving splendours, the long continuous
night matched by the corresponding long day and associated
with a succession of ordinary days and nights of varying lengths,
and the total annual period of sunshine of less than twelve
months are the principal peculiar characteristics of the
Polar or the Circum-Polar calendar; and when express pas-
sages are found in the Vedas, the oldest record of early Aryan
thoughts and sentiments, showing that each and every one of
these characteristics was known to the Vedic bards, who
themselves lived in a region where the year was made up of
three hundred and sixty or three hundred and sixty five days,
one is irresistibly led to the conclusion that the poets of the
Ṛig-Veda must have known these facts by tradition and that

236 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
their ancestors must have lived in regions where such pheno-
mena were possible. It is not to be expected that the evidence
on each and every one of these points will be equally conclusive,
especially as we are dealing with facts which existed thousands
of years ago. But if we bear in mind that the facts are astrono-
mically connected in such a way that if one of them is firmly
established all the others follow from it as a matter of course,
the cumulative effect of the evidence discussed in the previous
chapters cannot fail to be convincing. It is true that many of
the passages, quoted in support of the Arctic theory, are inter-
preted, in the way I have done, for the first time; but I have
already pointed out that this is due to the fact that the real key
to the interpretation of these passages was discovered only du-
ring the last 30 or 40 years. Yâska and Sâyaṇa knew nothing
definite about the circum-polar or the Arctic regions, and when
a Vedic passage was found not to yield a sense intelligible to
them, they either contented themselves with barely explaining
the verbal texture of the passage, or distorted it to suit their
own ideas. Western scholars have corrected some of these
mistakes, but as the possibility of an Arctic home in pre-glacial
times was not admitted 30 or 40 years back, the most explicit
references, whether in the Avesta or the Ṛig-Veda, to a primeval
home in the extreme north, have been either altogether ignored,
or somehow or other explained away, even by Western scholars.
Many of the passages cited by me fall under this class; but I
trust that if my interpretations are examined without any bias
and in the light of the latest scientific researches, they will be
found to be far more natural and simple than those in vogue
at present. In some cases no new interpretations were, how-
ever, necessary. The passages have been correctly interpret-
ed; but in the absence of the true key to their meaning, their
real import was either altogether missed, or but imperfectly
understood. In such cases I have had to exhibit the passages

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 237
in their true light or colours, giving in each case, my reasons-
for doing the same. This has sometimes rendered it necessary
to introduce certain topics not directly relevant to the question
in hand; but on the whole, I think, it will be found that I have,
as far as possible, tried to confine myself to the discussion of the
direct evidence bearing on the points in issue, and have exami-
ned it according to the strict method of historic or scientific
investigation. I did not start with any preconceived notion in
favour of the Arctic theory, nay, I regarded it as highly impro-
bable at first; but the accumulating evidence in its support
eventually forced me to accept it, and, in all probability, the
evidence cited in the previous chapters, will, I think, produce
the same impression on the reader's mind.
But the evidence, which I am now going to cite in support
of the Arctic theory, is of a different character. If the ances-
tors of the Vedic bards ever lived near the North Pole, the
cosmical or the meteorological conditions of the place could
not have failed to influence the mythology of these people;
and if our theory is true, a careful examination of the Vedic
myths ought to disclose facts, which cannot be accounted for
by any other theory. The probative value of such evidence
will manifestly be inferior to that of the direct evidence pre-
viously cited, for myths and legends are variously explained
by different scholars. Thus Yâska mentions three or four dif-
ferent schools of interpretation, each of which tries to ex-
plain the nature and character of the Vedic deities in a
different way. One of these schools would have us believe that
many of the deities were real historical personages, who were
subsequently apotheosized for their supernatural virtues or ex-
ploits. Other theologians divide the deities into Karma-deva-
tâs or those that have been raised to the divine rank by their
own deeds, and Âjânadevatâs or those that were divine by birth;
while the Nairuktas (or the etymologists) maintain that the

238 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
Vedic deities represent certain cosmical and physical pheno-
mena such as the appearance of the dawn or the breaking up of the
storm-clouds by the lightning. The Adhyâtmikas, on the other
hand, try to explain certain Vedic passages in their own philoso-
phical way; and there are others, who endeavour to explain
Vedic myths in other different ways. But this is not the place
where the relative merits of these different schools can be dis-
cussed or examined. I only wish to point out that those, who
explain the Vedic myths on the supposition that they represent,
directly or allegorically, ethical, historical or philosophical facts,
are not likely to accept any inference based upon the theory
which interprets the Vedic myths as referring to certain cosmi-
cal and physical phenomena. It was for this reason that I
reserved the discussion of the mythological evidence for consi-
deration in a separate chapter, after all the evidence directly
bearing on the subject has been examined. The evidence,
which proves the existence of a long continuous dawn, or a long
continuons day or night, is not affected by the different theories
regarding the interpretation of the Vedic myths, and may,
therefore, be termed, what the lawyers call, direct; but in the
case of the mythological evidence only those, who accept the
Nairukta method of interpretation, will admit the validity of any
inference based upon the consideration of these myths. It is true
that the Nairukta school of interpretation dates from ancient
times, and that modern scholars have accepted the method
almost without reserve, though they might differ from the
ancient Nairuktas, like Yâska, in the details of the explanation
suggested by them. But still when a new theory is to be
established, I thought it safer to separate the mythological
from the direct evidence bearing upon the points at issue, even
when the two lines of investigation seemed to converge towards
the same point.
Now it has been recorded by Yâska that the Nairuktas
explain most of the Vedic legends on the theory that they

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 239
represent either the daily triumph of light over darkness, or the
conquest of the storm-god over the dark clouds that imprison
the fertilising waters and the light of the sun. Thus when the
Ashvins are said to have rescued a quail (Vartikâ) from the jaws
of a wolf, Yâska interprets the legend to mean the release and
bringing out of the dawn or light from the darkness of the night
(Nir. V, 21). His explanation of the character of Vṛitra is
another instance in point. Speaking of the nature of the demon,
he thus refers (Nir. II, 16) to the opinions of the different schools,
"Who was Vṛitra? 'A cloud,' say the Nairuktas; 'an Asura,
son of Tvaṣhṭṛi,' say the Aitihâsikas. The fall of rain arises
from the mingling of the waters and of light. This is figuratively
depicted as a conflict. The hymns and the Brâhmaṇas describe
Vṛitra as a serpent. By the expansion of his body, he blocked
up the streams. When he was destroyed the waters flowed
forth."* The Storm and the Dawn theories thus formed the
basis of the Nairukta school of interpretation, and though
Western scholars have improved upon it, yet the credit of
suggesting this method of interpretation will always rest with
the ancient Nairuktas, who, as observed by Prof. Max Muller,
had carefully thought out the true character of the Vedic
gods several centuries before the Christian era. Thus the
legend of Prajâpati loving his own daughter is explained
in the Aitareya Brâhmaṇa as referring to the sun running
after the dawn or the heaven above (Ait. Br. III, 33);
while Kumârila extends this theory to the case of Indra and
Ahalyâ, which according to him represent the sun and the
night. But though the Nairuktas fully accepted the theory,
which explained the Vedic myths as representing cosmical and

• See Nir. II, 16:—तत्को वृत्रः। मेघ इति नैरुक्ताः। त्वाष्ट्रोऽसुर इत्यै-
  तिहासिकाः। अपां च ज्योतिषश्च मिश्रीभावकर्मणो वर्षकर्म जायते । तत्रोपमा-
  र्थेन युद्धवर्णा भवंति । अहिवत्तु खलु मंत्रवर्गाः ब्राह्मणवादाश्च । विवृद्ध्या
  शरीरस्य स्रोतांसि निवारयांचकार । तस्मिन्हते प्रसस्यन्दिरे आपः । Cf. Muir's
  O. S. T. Vol. II, p. 175.

240 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
physical phenomena, yet as their knowledge of the physical
world was very limited in those days, they were not able to
explain every Vedic myth or legend by this method. For
example, out of the various legends about the Ashvins Yâska
could explain only one by the Dawn theory, namely, that of the
quail being rescued from the jaws of the wolf. This defect has
now been partially removed by Western scholars, who, living
in the more northern regions are familiar with the decay in the
power of the sun during the cold season, or the eventual triumph
of spring over winter, or the restoration of the decayed powers of
the sun in summer. This phenomenon has, therefore, been used
by them to explain the origin of certain Vedic myths, which
have been left unexplained either by the Dawn or the Storm
theory. Upto now, we have, thus, three theories for explaining
the Vedic myths according to the Nairukta school of interpreta-
tion; and it is necessary to describe them briefly before we
proceed to show how they fail to account for all the incidents
in the myths and legends to which they are applied.
According to the Dawn theory, "the whole theogony and
philosophy of the ancient world is centered in the Dawn, the
mother of the bright gods, of the sun in his various aspects,
of the morn, the day, the spring; herself the brilliant image
and visage of immortality." Prof. Max Muller, in his Lec-
tures on the Science of Language, further remarks* that "the
dawn, which to us is a merely beautiful sight, was to the early
gazers and thinkers the problem of all the problems. It was
the unknown land from whence rose every day those bright em-
blems of divine powers, which left in the mind of man the first
impression and intimation of another world, of power above,
of order and wisdom. What we simply call the sun-rise,
brought before their eyes every day the riddle of all riddles, the
riddle of existence. The days of their life sprang from that dark
* See Lectures on the Science of Language, Vol. II, p. 545, ff.

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 241
abyss, which every morning seemed instinct with light and life.”
And again “a new life flashed up every morning before their
eyes, and the fresh breezes of the dawn reached them like
greetings wafted across the golden threshold of the sky from
the distant lands beyond the mountains, beyond the clouds, be-
yond the dawn, beyond ‘the immortal sea which brought us
hither.’ The dawn seemed to them to open golden gates for the
sun to pass in triumph, and while those gates were open their
eyes and their minds strove in their childish way to pierce be-
yond the finite world. That silent aspect awakened in the
human mind the conception of the Infinite, the Immortal, the
Divine, and the names of dawn became naturally the names
of higher powers.” This is manifestly more poetic than real.
But the learned Professor explains many Vedic myths on the
theory that they are all Dawn-stories in different garbs. Thus
if Saraṇyu, who had twins from Vivasvat, ran off from him
in the form of a mare, and he followed her in the form of a
horse, it is nothing but a story of the Dawn disappearing at
the approach of the Sun and producing the pair of day and
night. The legend of Suryâ’s marriage with Soma, and of
Vṛishâkapâyî, whose oxen (the morning vapours) were swallow-
ed by Indra, or of Aditi giving birth to the Âdityas are again
said to be the stories of the Dawn under different aspects.
Saramâ, crossing the waters to find out the cows stolen by Paṇis,
is similarly the Dawn bringing with her the rays of the morn-
ing, and when Urvashî says that she is gone away and
Purûravas calls himself Vasiṣhṭha or the brightest, it is the
same Dawn flying away from the embrace of the rising Sun.
In short, the Dawn is supposed to have been everything to
the ancient people, and a number of legends are explained
in this way, until at last the monotonous character of these
stories led the learned professor to ask to himself the ques-
tion, “Is everything the Dawn? Is everything the Sun?”—
a question, which he answers by informing us that so far as
16

242 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
his researches were concerned they had led him again and
again to the Dawn and the Sun as the chief burden of the
myths of the Aryan race. The dawn here referred to is the
daily dawn as we see it in the tropical or the temperate zone,
or, in other words, it is the daily conquest of light over dark-
ness that is here represented as filling the minds of the
ancient bards with such awe and fear as to give rise to a variety
of myths. It may be easily perceived how this theory will
be affected by the discovery that Uṣhas, or the goddess of the
dawn in the Ṛig-Veda, does not represent the evanescent dawn
of the tropics, but is really the long continuous dawn of the
Polar or the Circum-Polar regions. If the Arctic theory is
once established, many of these mythological explanations will
have to be entirely re-written. But the task cannot be under-
taken in a work which is devoted solely to the examination of
the evidence in support of that theory.
The Storm theory was originally put forward by the Indian
Nairuktas as a supplement to the Dawn theory, in order to ac-
count for myths to which the latter was obviously inapplicable.
The chief legend explained on this theory is that of Indra and
Vṛitra, and the explanation has been accepted almost without
reserve by all Western scholars. The word Indra is said to be
derived from the same root which yielded indu, that is, the
rain drop; and Vṛitra is one, who covers or encompasses (vṛi,
to cover) the waters of the rain-cloud. The two names being
thus explained, everything else was made to harmonise with
the Storm theory by distorting the phrases, if the same could
not be naturally interpreted in conformity therewith. Thus
when Indra strikes parvata (i. e., a mountain) and delivers
the rivers therefrom, the Nairuktas understood parvata to be
a storm-cloud and the rivers to be the streams of rain. Indra's
wielding the thunderbolt has been similarly interpreted to
mean that he was the god of the thunderstorm, and thunder-
storm implied rain as a matter of course. If the Maruts

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 243
helped Indra in the battle, it was easily explained by the Storm
theory, because a thunderstorm or rain was always accompanied
by stormy weather. But a more difficult point in the legend,
which required explanation, was the hemming in or the captiva-
ting of the waters by Vṛitra or Ahi. In the case of waters in the
clouds it was easy to imagine that they were kept captive in the
cloud by the demon of drought. But the Ṛig-Veda often speaks
of sindhus or streams being released by the slaughter of Vṛitra;
and if the streams or rivers really represented, as conceived by
the advocates of this theory, the rivers of the Panjaub, it was
rather difficult to understand how they could be described as be-
ing hemmed in or kept captive by Vṛitra. But the ingenuity of
Vedic scholars was quite eqral to the occasion, and it was sug-
gested that, as the rivers in India often entirely dried up in sum-
mer, the god of the rainy season, who called them back to life,
could be rightly described as releasing them from the grasp of
Vṛitra. The Indian Nairuktas do not appear to have extended
the theory any further. But in the hands of German mytholo-
gians the Storm theory became almost a rival to the Dawn
theory; and stories, like that of Saraṇyu, have been explained
by them as referring to the movements of dark storm-clouds
hovering in the sky. "Clouds, storms, rains, lightning and
thunder," observes Prof. Kuhn, "were the spectacles that
above all others impressed the imagination of the early Aryans
and busied it most in finding terrestrial objects to compare with
their ever-varying aspects. The beholders were at home on
the earth, and the things on the earth were comparitively
familiar to them; even the coming and going of the celestial
luminaries might often be regarded by them with more com-
posure, because of their regularity; but they could never sur-
cease to feel the liveliest interest in those wonderful meteoric
changes, so lawless and mysterious in their visitations, which
wrought such immediate and palpable effects for good or ill