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

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

244 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
upon the lives and fortunes of the beholders.'"* For this rea-
son Prof. Kuhn thinks that these meteorological phenomena are
the principal ground-work of all Indo-European mythologies
and superstitions; and in accordance with this creed Prof.
Roth explains Saraṇyu as the dark storm-cloud soaring in the
space in the beginning of all things and takes Vivasvat as
representing the light of heavens.
The third theory, like the first, is solar in origin, and at-
tempts to explain certain Vedic myths on the supposition that
they represent the triumph of spring over snow and winter.
Yâska and other Indian Nairuktas lived in regions where the
contrast between spring and winter was not so marked as in the
countries still further north; and it was probably for this reason
that the Vernal theory was not put forward by them to explain
the Vedic myths. Prof. Max Muller has tried to explain most of
the exploits of the Ashvins by this theory.† If the Ashvins re-
stored Chyavâna to youth, if they protected Atri from the heat
and darkness, if they rescued Vandana from a pit where he was
buried alive, or if they replaced the leg of Vishpalâ, which she
had lost in battle, or restored to Ṛijrâshva his eye sight, it was
simply the Sun-god restored to his former glory after the decay
of his powers in winter. In short the birth of the vernal Sun, his
fight against the army of winter, and his final victory at the
beginning of the spring is, on this theory, the true key to the
explanation of many myths where the Sun-god is represented
as dying, decaying or undergoing some other affliction. As
contrasted with the Dawn theory the physical phenomena, here
referred to, are annual. But both are solar theories, and as
such may be contrasted with the Storm theory which is
meteorological in origin.

• See Max Muller's Lectures on the Science of Language Vol. II,
  p. 566.
  † See Contributions to the Science of Mythology, Vol. II,
  pp. 579-605

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 245
Besides these three theories, the Dawn, the Storm and the
Vernal, Mr. Nârâyaṇa Aiyangâr of Bangalore has recently at-
tempted to explain a number of Vedic myths on the hypothesis
that they refer to Orion and Aldebaran. This may be called
the Astral theory as distinguished from others. But all these theo-
ries cannot be discussed in this place; nor is it necessary to do
so, so far as our purpose is concerned. I wish only to show that
in spite of the various theories started to explain the Vedic
myths, a number of incidents in several important legends have
yet remained unexplained; and mythologists have either ignored
them altogether, or pushed them out of the way as insignificant
or immaterial. If everything could be explained by the Dawn
or the Storm theory, we may indeed hesitate to accept a new
theory for which there would then be very little scope; but when
a number of facts, which have yet remained unexplained, are
satisfactorily and appropriately accounted for only by the Arctic
theory, we shall be perfectly justified in citing these legends as
corroborative evidence in support of our new theory. It is from
this point of view that I mean to examine some of the important
Vedic myths in this and the following chapter, and shall now
begin with the legend of Indra and Vṛitra, or of captive waters,
which is generally believed to have been satisfactorily explained
by the Storm theory.
The struggle between Indra and Vṛitra is represented in the
Vedas as being four-fold in character. First, it is a struggle bet-
ween Indra and Vṛitra, the latter of whom appears also under
the names of Namuchi, Shuṣhṇa, Shambara, Vala, Pipru, Kuyava
and others. This is Vṛitra-tûrya, or the fight or struggle with
Vṛitra. Secondly, it is a fight for the waters, which, either in the
form of sindhus (rivers) or as âpaḥ (simple floods), are often des-
cribed as released or liberated by the slaughter of Vṛitra. This is
ap-tûrya or the struggle for waters; and Indra is called apsu-jit or

246 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
conquering in the waters, while Vṛitra is described as encom-
passing them (apaḥ pari-shayânam). Thirdly, it is a struggle to re-
gain the cows (go-ishṭi); and there are several passages in the
Ṛig-Veda where the cows are said to have been released by Indra
after having overthrown Vṛitra. Fourthly, it is a fight to regain
the day-light or heaven called (div-ishṭi), or the striving for day ;
and in many places the sun and the dawn are said to be brought
out by Indra after killing Vṛitra.* The following extracts from
Macdonell's Vedic Mythology give the requisite authorities from
the Ṛig-Veda for this four-fold character of the struggle between
Indra and Vṛitra. Speaking of the terrible conflict, he thus sums
up the principal incidents thereof as mentioned in the Ṛig-Veda :-
"Heaven and earth tremble with fear when Indra
strikes Vṛitra with his bolt (I, 80, 11 ; II, 11, 9-10; VI, 17, 9);
even Tvaṣhṭṛi, who forged the bolt, trembles at Indra's anger
(I, 80, 14). Indra shatters Vṛitra with his bolt (I, 32, 5);
and strikes his face with his pointed weapon (I, 52, 15). He
smote Vṛitra, who encompassed the waters (VI, 20, 2), or the
dragon that lay around (pari-shayânam) the waters (IV, 19, 2);
he overcame the dragon lying on the waters (V, 30, 6). He
slew the dragon hidden in the water and obstructing the
waters and the sky (II, 11, 5), and smote Vṛitra, who enclo-
sed the waters, like a tree, with the bolt (II, 14, 2). Thus

• The exploits of Indra are very pithily summed up in the Nivids
  or short sûtras or sentences used in offering oblations to the gods.
  These will be found collected in a separate chapter amongst the Pari-
  shishṭas or supplements to the Ṛig-Veda Saṁhitâ text published in
  Bombay (Tatvavivechaka Press). According to Dr. Haug these Nivids
  are the originals of the Vedic Suktas or hymns. The Nivids, relating
  to Indra's exploits contain the following :—इंद्रो मरुत्वान् सोमस्य पिबतु
  ...। अन्वहन्नासृजदपः । महतामोजसा सह ।...। अप्तूर्ये वृत्रतूर्ये । शंबरहत्ये
  गविष्टौ ।..। परमस्यां परावति ।...। वज्रस्य भर्त्ता । पुरां भेत्ता ।...। अपां स्रष्टा
  अपां नेता । As regards the meaning of Div-ishṭi see Oldenberg's Vedic-
  Hymns (I, 45, 7), S. B. E. Series, Vol. XLVI. p. 44.

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 247
'conquering in the waters (apsu-jit)' is his exclusive attribute
(VIII, 36, 1)."*
As regards the abode of Vṛitra, we have (§ 68, A):—
"Vṛitra has a hidden (ninya) abode, whence the waters,
when released by Indra, escape, overflowing the demon (I, 32,
10). Vṛitra lies on the waters (I, 121, 11; II, 11, 9), or enve-
loped by the waters, at the bottom (budhna) of the rajas or
aerial space (I, 52, 6). He is also described as lying on a
summit (sānu), when Indra made the waters to flow (I, 80, 5).
Vṛitra has fortresses, which Indra shatters when he slays him
(X, 89, 7), and which are ninety-nine in number (VIII, 93, 2;
VII, 19, 5). He is called nadi-vrit, or encompasser of rivers
(I, 52, 2), and in one passage parvata or cloud is described as
being within his belly (I, 54, 10)."
There are again passages (V, 32, 5 & 6) where Indra is
said to have placed Shuṣhṇa, who was anxious to fight, "in
the darkness of the pit," and slaughtered him "in the darkness,
which was unrelieved by the rays of the sun," (asūrye
tamasi). In I, 54, 10, darkness is said to have prevailed in
Vṛitra's hollow side, and in II, 23, 18, Bṛihaspati, with Indra,
is said to have hurled down, the ocean, which was "encom-
passed in darkness," and opened the stall of kine. Finally in
I, 32, 10, Vṛitra's body is said to have sunk in "long dark-
ness," being encompassed with waters. This shows that the
waters of the ocean, which was encompassed by Vṛitra, were
not lighted by the rays of the sun. In other words, the ocean
(arṇaḥ) which Vṛitra is said to have encompassed was different
from the 'bright ocean' (shukram arṇaḥ), which the sun is
said to have ascended in V, 45, 10. Vṛitra's ocean (arṇava)
was enveloped in darkness (tamasā parivṛitam, II, 23, 18),
while the ocean, which the sun ascended, was bright and shin-
ing (shukram). Indra is again described as going to a very

• See Macdonell's Vedic Mythology, in Grundriss der Indo-
  Arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde, § 22 (Indra), pp. 58-61.

248 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
distant (parâvat) region to kill Vṛitra or Namuchi, (I, 53,
7; VIII, 12, 17; VIII, 45, 25). If we combine all these
statements regarding the scene of the struggle between Indra
and Vṛitra, we are led to the conclusion that the fight took
place in a dark, distant and watery region. In VIII, 32, 26,
Indra is said to have killed Arbuda with ice (hima); and in
X, 62, 2, the Aṅgirases, who were the assistants of Indra in
his conquest of the cows, are said to have struck Vala at the
end of the year (parivatsare). There is another statement in
the Ṛig-Veda, which gives us the date of Indra's fight with
Shambara, but we shall discuss it later on. It is stated above
that the number of Vṛitra's forts destroyed by Indra is given
as ninety-nine; but in other passages it is said to be ninety or
one hundred (I, 130, 7; IV, 30, 20). These fortresses or cities
(puraḥ) are described as made of stone or iron (IV, 30, 20; IV,
27, 1), and in some places they are said to be autumnal (shâ-
radiḥ, I, 130, 7; 131, 4; VI, 20, 10). The importance of these
facts, in the interpretation of the legend, will be discussed
later on.
We have seen that the release of cows and the bringing
up of the dawn and the sun are the simultaneous effects of
Indra's conquest of Vṛitra. The following extract from
Macdonell's Vedic Mythology (p. 61) give the necessary au-
thorities on the point:—
"With the liberation of waters is connected the winning
of light, sun and dawn. Indra won light and the divine
waters (III, 34, 8), The god is invoked to slay Vṛitra and
win the light, (VIII, 89, 4). When Indra had slain the dra-
gon Vṛitra with his metallic bolt releasing the waters for man,
he placed the sun visibly in the heavens (I, 51, 4; 52, 8). In-
dra, the dragon-slayer, set in motion the flood of waters of the
sea, generated the sun, and found the cows (II, 19, 3). He
gained the sun and the waters after slaying the demon (III,
34, 8-9). When Indra slew the chief of the dragons and

VEDIC MYTHS--THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 249
released the waters from the mountain, he generated the sun,
the sky and the dawn (I, 32, 4; VI, 30, 5). The cows are also
mentioned along with the sun and the dawn (I, 62, 5; II, 12, 7;
VI, 17, 5), or with the sun alone (I, 7, 3; II, 19, 3; X, 138, 2),
as being found, delivered or won by Indra."
Indra is described in other passages as having released the
streams pent up by the dragon (II, 11, 2,), and he is said to have
won the cows and made the seven rivers flow (I, 32, 12;
II, 12, 12). In II, 15, 6, the streams released by him have been
described as flowing upwards (udañcham). It may be further
noticed that in all these passages the clouds are not referred to
under their ordinary name abhra; but the words used are
parvata, giri, adri, (which primarily mean a mountain), or ūdhas
(udder), utsa (spring) kabandha (cask) or kosha (pail). All these
words have been interpreted by the Nairuktas as meaning a
cloud, and this interpretation has been accepted by Western
scholars. The word go, which generally means a cow, is also
interpreted in some cases to mean the waters released by Indra.
Thus when Indra is said to have released the cows, which were
fast within the stone (VI, 43, 3); or when he is said to have
moved the rock, which encompassed the cows, from its place
(VI, 17, 5), it is understood that the reference is to a cloud-
rock, which imprisons the rain-waters. Maruts are the usual
companions of Indra in this fight; but Viṣṇu, Agni, and
Bṛihaspati are also spoken of as assisting him in the rescue of the
cows from the grip of Vala. Bṛihaspati's conquest of Vala, who
had taken shelter in a rock, is thus taken to be a paraphrase of
Indra's conquest over Vṛitra. In X, 62, 2 and 3, the Aṅgirases
are also described as driving out the cows, piercing Vala and
causing the sun to mount the sky,--exploits, which are usually
attributed to Indra. There are other versions of the same story
to be found in the Ṛig-Veda, but for the purpose in hand, we
need not go beyond what has been stated above.

250 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
Now whosoever reads this description of Indra's fight with
Vṛitra cannot fail to be struck with the fact that there are four
simultaneous effects (Sâkam, in VI, 30, 5) said to have been produced
by the conquest of Indra over Vṛitra, namely, (1) the release of the
cows, (2) the release of the waters, (3) the production of the dawn
and (4) the production of the sun. Let us now see if the Storm
theory satisfactorily explains the simultaneous production of these
results from the destruction of Vṛitra. Vṛitra is a cloud, a storm-
cloud, or a rain-cloud, hovering in the sky, and by smiting it with
his thunder-bolt Indra may well be described as releasing the
waters imprisoned therein. But where are the cows which are
said to be released along with the waters? The Nairuktas inter-
pret cows to mean waters; but in that case, the release of the
waters and the release of the cows cannot be regarded as two
distinct effects. The recovery of the dawn and the sun, along
with the release of waters, is, however, still more difficult to ex-
plain by the Storm theory, or, we might even say, that it cannot
be explained at all. Rain-clouds may temporarily obscure the
sun, but the phenomenon is not one which occurs regularly, and
it is not possible to speak of the production of the light of the sun
as resulting from the breaking up of the clouds, which may only
occasionally obscure the sun. The recovery of the dawn, as a
prize of the conflict between Indra and Vṛitra, simultaneously
with the release of waters, is, similarly, quite inexplicable
by the Storm theory. The rain-clouds usually move in the
heavens, and though we may occasionally find them on the
horizon, it is absurd to say that by striking the clouds Indra
brought out the dawn. I know of no attempt made by any
scholar to explain the four simultaneous effects of Indra's-
fight with Vṛitra by any other theory. The Storm theory
appears to have been suggested by the Nairuktas, because the
release of waters was supposed to be the principal effect of the
conquest, and waters were naturally understood to mean the

VEDIC MYTHS—THE CAPTIVE WATERS. 251
waters, which we see every day. But in spite of the efforts of
the Nairuktas and Western scholars, the simultaneous winning
of light and waters still remains unexplained. Macdonell
(Ved. Myth. p. 61) referring to this difficulty observes, " There
appears to be a confusion between the notion of the restoration
of the sun after the darkness of the thunderstorm, and the re-
covery of the sun from the darkness of the night at dawn.
The latter trait in the Indra myth is most probably only an
extension of the former." If this means anything, it is only
a confession of the inability of Vedic scholars to explain the
four simultaneous effects of Indra's conquest over Vṛitra by
the storm theory; and, strange to say, they seem to attribute
their failure, not to their own ignorance or inability, but to the
alleged confusion of ideas on the part of the Vedic bards.
These are not, however, the only points, in which the Storm
theory fails to explain the legend of Indra and Vṛitra. It
has been pointed out above that Vṛitra was killed in distant
regions, in which ghastly darkness reigned, and which abound-
ed in waters; while in X, 73, 7, Indra by killing Namuchi,
alias Vṛitra, is said to have cleared the gates of the Deva-
yâna path, evidently meaning that Vṛitra was killed at the
gates of the path leading to the region of the gods. Even in
the Avesta, the fight between Apaosha and Tishtrya is said to
have taken place in the sea of Vouru-Kasha, and Tishtrya is
described as moving along the path made by Mazda after his
fight with Apaosha. Vṛitra's abode is similarly described as
'hidden' and 'enveloped by water' at the bottom of rajas
(I, 52, 6). None of these conditions is satisfied by making
the storm-cloud, the scene of the battle between Indra and
Vṛitra; for a cloud cannot be said to be the ocean of waters,
nor can it be described as lying in a distant (parâvat) region,
or at the threshold of the Devayâna or the path of the gods.
In the Ṛig-Veda parâvat is usually contrasted with arâvat,
and it means a distant region on the other side, as contrasted