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

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 327
culminating and the setting of the sun; and Muir quotes a passage
from the Râmâyaṇa (IV, 40, 64), which mentions udaya-parvata,
or the mountain of sun-rise, and says that on the top of it is
the peak Saumanasa, the place where Viṣhṇu's first step was
planted. We are then told that his second step was placed on
the summit of Meru ; and that " when the sun had circled round
Jambudvîpa by the north, he is mostly visible on that lofty peak."
It seems, therefore, that according to the Râmâyaṇa the third
step of Viṣhṇu was round Jambudvîpa, and was planted after
sunset, whatever that may mean. In the Purâṇic literature,
Viṣhṇu's three steps appear as the three steps of Vâmana, the
fifth incarnation of Viṣhṇu. Bali, the powerful enemy of the
gods, was celebrating a sacrifice, when, assuming the form of a
dwarf, Viṣhṇu approached him, and begged for three paces of
ground. No sooner the request was granted than Viṣhṇu
assumed a miraculous form and occupied the whole earth by
the first step and the atmosphere and everything above it with
the second. Bali, who was the lord of the universe before,
was surprised at the metamorphosis of the dwarf; but had to
make good his own word by offering his head for the third step of
Vâmana. The offer was accepted and Bali was pressed down
under the third step into the nether world, and the empire of
the earth and heavens above was again restored to Indra from
whom it had been snatched away by Bali. Amongst these
various interpretations one thing stands out very clear, viz.,
that Viṣhṇu represents the sun in one form or another. But
Vedic scholars are not agreed as to whether Viṣhṇu's strides
represent the daily or the yearly course of the sun. We must,
therefore, carefully examine the Vedic passages relating to
Viṣhṇu, and see if any indication is found therein to decide
which of these two views is more probable or correct. Now in
I, 155, 6, Viṣhṇu is described as setting in motion, like a revol-
ving wheel, ‘his ninety steeds with their four names, evidently

328 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
referring to 360 days, divided into four groups or seasons
of 90 days each. This is good evidence to hold that the
yearly course of the sun must be taken as the basis of the
exploits of Viṣhṇu. The Ṛig-Veda further tells us that Viṣhṇu
was the intimate friend of Indra (yujyaḥ sakhâ, I, 22, 19), and
that he assisted Indra in his fight with Vṛitra. Thus in IV, 18,
11, we are told that " Indra about to kill Vṛitra said ' O friend
Viṣhṇu ! stride vastly,' (also cf. VIII, 12, 27)"; and . in I, 156, 4,
Viṣhṇu is said to have opened the cows' stable with the assistance
of his friend, while both Indra and Viṣhṇu are described as
having together vanquished Shambara, conquered the host of
Varchins and produced the sun, dawn and the fire in VII, 99, 4
and 5. It is evident from these passages that Viṣhṇu was the
associate of Indra in his fight with Vṛitra (cf. VIII, 100, 12);
and if so, one of the three steps must be placed in regions where
this fight was fought, that is, in the nether world. We can now
understand why, in I, 155, 5, it is said that two of the three steps
of Viṣhṇu are visible to man, but the third is beyond the reach
of birds or mortals (also cf. VII, 99, 1). When the third step
of Viṣhṇu is located in the nether world, it can well be said
to be invisible, or beyond the reach of mortals. We have seen
that the abode of Vṛitra is said to be hidden and filled with
darkness and waters. If Viṣhṇu helped Indra in his fight
with Vṛitra, his third step must be taken to correspond with
the home of Vṛitra ; in other words, Viṣhṇu's strides represent
the annual course of the sun divided into three parts. Dur-
ing two of these the sun was above the horizon, and hence
two of Viṣhṇu's three strides were said to be visible. But
when in the third or the last part of the year the sun
went below the horizon producing continuous darkness, Vi-
ṣhṇu's third step was said to be invisible. It was then that
he helped Indra to demolish Vṛitra and bring back the dawn,
the sun and the sacrifice. It has been shown in the last

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 329
chapter that Indra's fight with Shambara commenced on the
fortieth day of Sharad or in the eighth month after the begin-
ning of the year with Vasanta. These eight months of sunshine
and four of darkness may very well be represented by two
visible and one invisible step of Viṣhṇu, and the Purâṇic story
of Viṣhṇu's sleeping for four months in the year further
supports the same view. It may also be noticed that Viṣhṇu
is said to sleep, on his serpent bed in the midst of the ocean ;
and the ocean and the serpent here alluded to are evidently
the waters (âpaḥ) and Ahi or Vṛitra mentioned in the Vṛitra
legend. It is said that the sleep of Viṣhṇu represents the
rainy season of four months ; but this is a later misrepresenta-
tion of the kind we have noticed in the last chapter in regard
to waters. When the exploits of Indra were transferred from
the last season of the year, viz., Hemanta, to Varshâ or the
rainy season, the period, during which Viṣhṇu lay dormant,
must have been naturally misunderstood in the same way and
identified with the rainy season. But originally Viṣhṇu's
sleep and his third step must have been identical ; and as the
third step is said to be invisible, we cannot suppose that it was
planted in the rainy season, which is visible enough. The long
darkness of the winter night in the Arctic region can alone
adequately represent the third step of Viṣhṇu or the period of
his sleep; and the legend about the Phrygian god, who, accord-
ing to Plutarch, was believed to sleep during winter and
resume his activity during summer, has been interpreted
by Prof. Rhys in the same way. The Irish couvade of the
Ultonian heroes also points out to the same conclusion.*
But apart from the sleep of Viṣhṇu which is Purâṇic, we
have a Vedic legend which has the same meaning. In the
Ṛig-Veda (VII, 100, 6), Viṣhṇu is represented as having a
bad name, viz., shipivishṭa. Thus the poet says, "O Viṣhṇu!

• See Rhys' Hibbert Lectures, p. 632. The passage is quoted in
  full in Chap. XII, infra.

330 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
what was there to be blamed in thee when thou declaredest ' I
am shipivishṭa ' ?" Yâska records (Nir. V, 7-9) an old tradi-
tion that according to Âupamanyava, Vishṇu has two names
Shipivishṭa and Vishṇu, of which the former has a bad sense
(kutsitârthîyam); and then quotes the aforesaid verse which
he explains in two ways. The first of these two interpreta-
tions accords with that of Aupamanyava; and shipivishṭa is
there explained by Yâska to mean shepaḥ iva nirveshṭitaḥ,
or "enveloped like the private parts," or "with rays obscured "
(apratipanna-rashmiḥ). Yâska, however, suggests an alter-
native interpretation and observes that shipivishṭa may be
taken as a laudatory appellation, meaning "one whose rays
(shipayaḥ) are displayed (âvishṭâḥ)." It is inferred by some
scholars from this passage that the meaning of the word shi-
pivishṭa had already become uncertain in the days of Yâska;
but I do not think it probable, for even in later literature shi-
pivishṭa is an opprobrious appellation meaning either "one
whose hair has fallen off," or "one who is afflicted with an
incurable skin disease." The exact nature of the affliction may
be uncertain; but there can be no doubt that shipivishta has
a bad meaning even in later Sanskrit literature. But in days
when the origin of this phrase, as applied to Vishṇu, was for-
gotten, theologians and scholars naturally tried to divest the
phrase of its opprobrious import by proposing alternative mean-
ings; and Yâska was probably the first Nairukta to formulate
a good meaning for shipivishta by suggesting that shipi may
be taken to mean "rays." That is why the passage from the
Mahâbhârata (Shânti-Parvan, Chap. 342, vv. 69-71), quoted by
Muir, tells us that Yâska was the first to apply the epithet
to Vishṇu; and it is unreasonable to infer from it, as Muir
has done, that the writer of the Mahâbhârata "was not a par-
ticularly good Vedic scholar." In the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ, we
are told that Vishṇu was worshipped as Shipivishṭa (II, 2, 12,
4 and 5), and that shipi means cattle or pashavaḥ (II, 5, 5, 2;

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 331
Tān. Br. XVIII, 6, 26 ). Shipivishṭa is thus explained as a
laudatory appellation by taking shipi equal to 'cattle,' 'sacrifice'
or 'rays.' But these etymological devices have failed to invest
the word with a good sense in Sanskrit literature; and this fact
by itself is sufficient to show that the word shipivishṭa originally
was, and has always been, a term of reproach indicating some
bodily affliction, though the nature of it was not exactly known.
The theological scholars, it is true, have tried to explain the
word in a different sense; but this is due to their unwillingness
to give opprobrious names to their gods, rather than to any
uncertainty about the real meaning of the word. It was thus
that the word shipivishṭa, which is originally a bad name
(kutsitārthīyam) according to Aupamanyava, was converted into
a mysterious (guhya) name for the deity. But this transition of
meaning is confined only to the theological literature, and did
not pass over into the non-theological works, for the obvious
reason that in ordinary language the bad meaning of the word
was sufficiently familiar to the people. There can, therefore, be
little doubt that, in VII, 100, 5 and 6, shipivishṭa is used in a bad
sense as stated by Aupamanyava. These verses have been
translated by Muir as follows:—" I, a devoted worshipper, who
know the sacred rites, today celebrate this thy name shipivishṭa;
I, who am weak, laud thee who art strong and dwellest beyond
this lower world (kshayantam asya rajasaḥ parāke). What, Vishṇu,
hast thou to blame, that thou declaredest, 'I am Shipivishṭa'? Do
not conceal from us this form (vārpas), since thou didst assume
another shape in the battle." The phrase "dwelling in the lower
world "(rajasah parāke), or "beyond this world," furnishes us with
a clue to the real meaning of the passage. It was in the nether
world that Vishṇu bore this bad name. And what was the bad
name after all? Shipivishṭa, or "enveloped like shepa," meaning
that his rays were obscured, or that he was temporarily concealed

332 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
in a dark cover. The poet, therefore, asks Viṣhṇu not to be
ashamed of the epithet, because, says he, the form indicated by
the bad name is only temporarily assumed, as a dark armour,
for the purpose of fighting with the Asuras, and as it was no
longer needed, Viṣhṇu is invoked to reveal his true form (varpas)
to the worshipper. That is the real meaning of the verses quoted
above, and in spite of the attempt of Yâska and other scholars
to convert the bad name of Viṣhṇu into a good one by the help
of etymological speculations, it is plain that shipiviṣhṭa was a bad
name, and that it signified the dark outer appearance of Viṣhṇu
in his fight with the demons in the nether world. If the sun is
called bṛihach-chhepas when moving in regions above the horizon,
he can be very well described as shipiviṣhṭa or "enveloped like
shepa," when moving in the nether world; and there is hardly
anything therein of which the deity or his worshippers should be
ashamed. Later Purâṇic tradition represents Viṣhṇu as
sleeping during this period; but whether we take it as sleep or
disease it means one and the same thing. It is the story of
Viṣhṇu going down to the nether world, dark or diseased, to
plant his third step on the head of the Asuras, or in a dark
armour to help Indra in his struggle for waters and light, a
struggle, which, we have seen, lasted for a long time and resulted
in the flowing of waters, the recovery of the dawn and the
coming out of the sun in a bright armour after a long and con-
tinuous darkness.
A comparison with the abodes of other Vedic deities, who
are said to traverse the whole universe like Viṣhṇu confirms the
same view. One of these deities is Savitṛi, who in V, 81, 3,
is described as measuring the world (rajâṁsi); and in I, 35, 6,
we are told "There are three heavens (dyâvaḥ) of Savitṛi, two
of them are near and the third, bearing the brave, is in the
world of Yama." This means that two of Savitri's three
abodes are in the upper heaven and one in the nether world or

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 333
the kingdom of Yama. The second deity that traverses or
measures the universe is Agni (VI, 7, 7). He has three stations,
one in samudra or ocean, one in heaven (divi) and one in the
waters or apsu (I, 95, 3). His light is spoken of as three-fold
(III, 26, 7), he has three heads (I, 146, 1) and three seats, powers
or tongues (III, 20, 2; VIII, 39, 8). Now although these three
stations do not seem to be always conceived alike, yet one of
them at any rate can be clearly identified with the third step of
Viṣhṇu; for in X, 1, 3, we are told that the third station of Agni
is known only to Viṣhṇu, while in V, 3, 3, Agni, with the upama
(last or highest) step of Viṣhṇu, is said to guard the sacred cows.
This description agrees well with I, 154, 5 and 6, where swift
moving cows and a spring of honey are said to exist in the place
where the highest step of Viṣhṇu is planted. It has been shown
above that Agni sometimes represents the sun in the Ṛig-Veda,
and that his hiding in the waters and coming out of them as
apāṁ napāt or the child of waters is only a different version of
the sun sinking below the horizon for a long time and then emerg-
ing out of the nether ocean at the end of the long Arctic night.
Viṣhṇu is also the same sun under a different name, and the
third step of Viṣhṇu and the third or the hidden abode of Agni
can, therefore, be easily recognised as identical in character.
The third deity that traverses the universe is the Ashvins to
whom the epithet parijman or 'going round' is applied several
times in the Ṛig-Veda (I, 46, 14; I, 117, 6). The Ashvins
are said to have three stations (VIII, 8, 23), and their chariot,
which is said to go over both the worlds alike (I, 30, 18), has
three wheels one of which is represented as deposited in a
cave or a secret place, like the third step of Viṣhṇu, which
is beyond the ken of mortals (cf. X, 85, 14–16). This coin-
cidence between the third stations of the three different world-
traversing gods cannot be treated as accidental; and if so,
the combined effect of all the passages stated above will be

334 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
clearly seen to point out to the conclusion that the third or the
hidden place, dwelling or abode in each case must be sought for
in the nether world, the world of the Piṭris, of Yama, of waters
and darkness.

Trita Âptya.

It has been stated above that the year divided into three
parts of 4 months each represents the three steps of Vishṇu;
and that the first two parts were said to be visible as contrasted
with the third which was hidden, because in the ancient home
of the Aryan people the sun was above the horizon only for
about 8 months. If we personify these three parts of the year,
we get a legend of three brothers, the first two of whom may be
described as arranging to throw the third into a pit of darkness.
This is exactly the story of Trita Âptya in the Ṛig-Veda or of
Thrâetaona in the Avesta. Thus Sâyaṇa, in his commentary
on I, 105, quotes a passage from the Taittirîya Brâhmaṇa (III,
2, 8, 10–11) and also a story of the Shâṭyâyanins giving the
legend of three brothers called Ekata, Dvita and Trita, or the
first, the second and the third, the former two of whom threw
the last or Trita into a well from which he was taken out by
Bṛihaspati. But in the Ṛig-Veda Ekata is not mentioned any-
where; while Dvita, which grammatically means the second, is
met with in two places (V, 18, 2; VIII, 47, 16). Dvita is the
seer of the 18th hymn in the fifth Maṇḍala, and in the second
verse of the hymn he is said to receive maimed offerings; while
in VIII, 47, 16, the dawn is asked to bear away the evil dream to
Dvita and Trita. Grammatical analogy points out that Trita
must mean the third, and in VI, 44, 23, the word triteṣhu is used as
a numeral adjective to rochaneshu meaning "in the third region."
As a Vedic deity Trita is called Âptya, meaning "born of or re-
siding in waters" (Sây. on VIII, 47, 15); and he is referred to in
several places, being associated with the Maruts and Indra in

VEDIC MYTHS--THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 335
slaying the demon or the powers of darkness like Vṛitra. Thus
in X, 8, 8, Trita, urged by Indra, is said to have fought against
and slain the three-headed (tri-shiras) son of Tvaṣhṭṛi and released
the cows ; while in X, 99, 6, we read that Indra subdued the
loud-roaring six-eyed demon, and Trita, strengthened by the
same draught, slew the boar (varâha) with his iron-pointed bolt.
But the most important incident in the story of Trita is mention-
ed in I, 105. . In this hymn Trita is described as having fallen
into a kûpa or well, which is also called vavra or a pit in X, 8, 7.
Trita then invoked the gods for help and Bṛihaspati hearing his
prayers released him from his distress (I, 105, 17). Some of the
verses in the hymn are very suggestive ; for instance in verse 9,
Trita tells us about his "kinship with the seven rays in the
heaven. Trita Âptya knows it and he speaks for kinship." The
ruddy Vṛika, or the wolf of darkness, is again described in verse
18 as having perceived Trita going by the way. These references
show that Trita was related to the powers of light, but had the
misfortune of being thrown into darkness. In IX, 102, 2, Trita's
abode is said to be hidden or secret, a description similar to that
of the third step of Viṣhṇu. The same story is found in the
Avesta. There Thrâetaona, who bears the patronomic epithet
Âthwya (Sans. Âptya), is described as slaying the fiendish
serpent Azi Dahâka, who is said to be three-mouthed and six-
eyed (Yt. XIX, 36-37; V, 33-34). But what is still more remarkable
in the Avestic legend is that Thrâetaona in his expedition against
the demon is said to have been accompanied by his two
brothers who sought to slay him on the way.* The Avestic
legend thus fully corroborates the story of the Shâṭyâyanins
quoted by Sâyaṇa, and when the two accounts agree so well
we cannot lightly set aside the story in the Brâhmaṇa,

• See Spiegel, Die Arische Periode, p. 271, quoted by Macdonell
  in his Vedic Mythology, § 23. Also compare S. B. E. Series, Vol.
  XXXIII p. 222 note 2.

336 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
or hold that it was woven out of stray references in the Ṛig-Veda.
But in the absence of the Arctic theory, or the theory of
long darkness extending over nearly four months or a third
part of the year, European Scholars have been at a loss to
understand why the deity should have been named 'the Third';
and various ingenious theories have been started to explain how
Trita, which ordinarily means the third, came to denote
the deity that was thrown into a pit or well in a distant
land. Thus Prof. Max Muller thinks that the name of the
deity was originally Tṛita (तृत) and not Trita (त्रित); and he
derives the former from the root tṛî (तॄ) to cross. Tṛita (तृत)
which, by-the-by, is not a regular grammatical form though
found in the Atharva Veda VI, 113, 1 and 3, would thus
mean "the sun crossing the ocean," being in this respect
comparable to taraṇi which means "the sun" in the later
Sanskrit literature. In short, according to Prof. Max Muller,
Tṛita (तृत) means the 'set sun'; and the story of Trita (त्रित)
is, therefore, only a different version of the daily struggle be-
tween light and darkness. But Prof. Max Muller's theory re-
quires us to assume that this misconception or the corruption
of Tṛita (तृत) into Trita (त्रित) took place before the Aryan
separation, inasmuch as in Old Irish we have the word triath
which means the sea, and which is phonetically equivalent to
Greek triton, Sanskrit trita and Zend thrita. Prof. Max
Muller himself admits the validity of this objection, and
points out that the Old Norse Thridi, a name of Odin, as the
mate of Har and Jasnhar, can be accounted for only on the
supposition that tṛita (तृत) was changed by a misapprehen-
sion into trita (त्रित) long before the Aryan separation. This
shows to what straits scholars are reduced in explaining
certain myths in the absence of the true key to their meaning.
We assume, without the slightest authority, that a mis-
apprehension must have taken place before the Aryan separa-
tion, because we cannot explain why a deity was called

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 337
'the Third,' and why triath in Old Irish was used to denote
the sea. But the whole legend can be now very easily and
naturally explained by the Arctic theory. The personified
third part of the year, called Trita or the Third, is naturally
described as going into darkness, or a well or pit, or into the
waters of the nether world, for the sun went below the horizon
during that period in the home of the ancestors of the Vedic
people. The connection of Trita with darkness and waters, or
his part in the Vritra fight, or the use of the word triath to de-
note the sea in Old Irish now becomes perfectly plain and intel-
ligible. The nether world is the home of aerial waters and
Bṛihaspati, who is said to have released the cows from their
place of confinement in a cave in the nether world, is natural-
ly spoken of as rescuing Trita, when he was sunk in the well
of waters. Speaking of the abode of Trita, Prof. Max Muller
observes that "the hiding place of Trita, the vavra, is really
the same anārambhaṇam tamas, the endless darkness, from
which light and some of its legendary representatives, such
as Atri, Vandana and others, emerged every day." I subscribe
to every word of this sentence except the last two. It shows
how the learned Professor saw, but narrowly missed grasping
the truth having nothing else to guide him except the Dawn
and the Vernal theory. He had perceived that Trita's hiding
place was in the endless darkness and that the sun rose out
of the same dark region; and from this to the Arctic theory
was but a small step. But whatever the reason may be, the
Professor did not venture to go further, and the result is that
an otherwise correct conception of the mythological incidents
in Trita's legend is marred by two ominous words viz., "every
day," at the end of the sentence quoted above. Strike off
the last two words, put a full point after 'emerged,' and
in the light of the Arctic theory we have a correct explana-
tion of the legend of Trita as well as of the origin of the
name, Trita or the Third. '
22

338 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
ÂPAH.
The nature and movement of aerial or celestial waters
have been discussed at length in the last chapter and practi-
cally there is very little that remains to be said on this point.
We have also seen how the nether world or the world of waters
was conceived like an inverted hemisphere or tub, so that any-
one going there was said to go to the region of endless dark-
ness or bottomless waters. A mountainous range was again be-
lieved to extend over the borders of this ocean, forming a stony
wall as it were between the upper and the lower world; and
when the waters were to be freed to flow upwards, it was ne-
cessary to pierce through the mountainous range and clear the
apertures which were closed by Vṛitra by stretching his body
across them. In one place the well or avata, which Brahma-
ṇaspati opened, is said to be closed at its mouth with stones
(ashmâsyam, II, 24, 4), and in X. 67, 3, the stony barriers
(ashmanmayâni nahanâ) of the prison wherein the cows were
confined are expressly mentioned. A mountain, parvata, is also
said to exist in the belly of Vṛitra (I, 54, 10), and Sham-
bara is described as dwelling on the mountains. We have
seen how the word parvata occuring in this connection has
been misunderstood ever since the days of the Nairuktas, who,
though they did a yeoman's service to the cause of Vedic in-
terpretation, seem to have sometimes carried their etymologi-
cal method too far. The connection of the nether world of
waters with mountains and darkness may thus be taken as
established, and the legends of Vṛitra, Bhujyu, Saptavadhri,
Tṛita, &c. further show that the nether waters formed not only
the home of the evil spirits and the scene of fights with them,
but that it was the place which Sûrya, Agni, Vishṇu, the
Ashvins and Trita had all to visit during a portion of the year.
It was the place where Vishṇu slept, or hid himself, when af-
flicted with a kind of skin-disease, and where the sacrificial

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. • 339
horse, which represented the sun, was harnessed by Trita, and
first bestrode by Indra (I, 163, 2). It was the place from
which the seven aerial rivers rose up with the seven suns to
illumine the ancient home of the Aryan race for seven months,
and into which they again dropped with the sun after
that period. It was the same waters that formed the source
of earthly waters by producing rain by their circulation
through the upper regions of heaven. These waters were be-
lieved to stretch from west to east underneath the three
earths, thus forming at once the place of desolation and the
place of the birth of the sun and other matutinal deities men-
tioned in the Ṛig-Veda. It was the place where Vṛitra con-
cealed the cows in a stony stable, and where Varuṇa and
Yama reigned supreme, and the fathers (Pitṛis) lived in comfort
and delight. As regards the division of this watery region,
we might say that the Vedic bards conceived the nether
world as divided in the same way as the earth and the heaven.
Thus there were three, seven or ten lower worlds to match
with the three-fold, seven-fold or ten-fold division of the heaven
and the earth. It will thus be seen that a right conception
of the nether waters and their movement is quite necessary
for understanding the real meaning of many a Vedic, and,
we might even say, the Purâṇic legends, for the latter are ge-
nerally based either upon the Vedic legends or some one or
other incident mentioned in them. If this universal and com-
prehensive character of the waters be not properly understood
many legends will appear dark, confused or mysterious; and
I have, therefore, summed up in this place the leading charac-
teristics of the goddesses of water as conceived by the Vedic
poets and discussed in the foregoing pages. In the post-Vedic
literature many of these characteristics are predicated of the sea
of salt water on the surface of the earth, much in the same way
as the Greek Okeanos, which has been shewn to be phonetically
identical with the Sanskrit word âshayâna or enveloping, came

340 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
to denote the ocean or the sea in European languages. Thus-
Bhartṛihari in his Vairâgya-Shataka (v. 76) says:—" Oh! how
extensive, grand and patient is the body of the ocean! For
here sleeps Keshava (Viṣhṇu); here the clan of his enemies
(Vṛitra and other demons of darkness); here lie also the host
of mountains (the parvata of the Vedas) in search of shelter;
and here too (lies) the Mare's fire (submarine fire) with all the
Saṁvartakas (clouds)." This is intended to be a summary of
the Purâṇic legends regarding the ocean, but it can be easily
seen that every one of them is based upon the Vedic concep-
tion of the nature and movements of aerial waters, which
formed the very material out of which the world was believed
to be created. After this it is needless to explain why Âpaḥ
occupied such an important place in the Vedic pantheon.
Seven-fold Nine-fold and Ten-fold.
It is stated above that the nether waters are divided after
the manner of the heaven and the earth, either into three,
seven or ten divisions. We have also seen that the ancient
sacrificers completed their sacrificial session in seven, nine or
ten months; and that the Navagvas and the Dashagvas are,
therefore, sometimes mentioned together, sometimes separately
and sometimes along with the seven sages or vipras. I have
also breifly referred to the seven-fold division, which generally
obtains not only in the Vedic, but also in other Aryan mytho-
logies. But the subject deserves a fuller consideration, and I
propose here to collect certain facts bearing upon it, which
seem to have hitherto attracted but little attention. All that
Yâska and Sâyaṇa tell us about the seven-fold division is that
there are seven horses of the sun and seven tongues or flames
of Agni, because the rays of the sun are seven in number;
and the late Mr. S. P. Pandit goes so far as to assert that the
seven rays here referred to may be the prismatic colours with
which we are familiar in the Science of optics, or the seven

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 341
colours of the rainbow. All this appears to be very satis-
factory at the first sight, but our complacency is disturbed as
soon as we are told that along with the seven rays and horses
of the sun, the Ṛig-Veda speaks of ten horses or ten rays of
the same luminary. Yâska and Sâyaṇa get over the difficulty
either by ignoring or by explaining away, in a tortuous manner,
all references to the ten-fold division of this kind. But the
places where it is mentioned are too many to allow us to light-
ly set aside the ten-fold division, which occurs along with the
seven-fold one in the Ṛig-Veda; and we must find out why
this double division is recorded in the Ṛig-Veda. But before
inquiring into it, we shall collect all the facts and see how far
this double division extends in the Vedic literature.
We begin with the sun. He is described as seven-horsed
(saptâshva) in V, 45, 9, and his chariot is described as seven-
wheeled, or yoked with seven horses, or one seven-named
horse in I, 164, 3. The seven bay steeds (haritaḥ) are also
mentioned as drawing the carriage of the sun in I, 50, 8. But
in IX, 63, 9, the sun is said to have yoked ten horses to his
carriage; and the wheel of the year-god is said to be carried
by ten horses in I, 164, 14. In the Atharva Veda XI, 4
22, the sun's carriage is, however, said to be eight-wheeled
(ashṭâ-chakra).
Indra is called sapta-rashmi in II, 12, 12, and his chariot
is also said to be seven-rayed in VI, 44, 24. But in V, 33, 8,
ten white horses are said to bear him; while in VIII, 24, 23,
Indra is said to be "the tenth new" (dashamam navam). In
the Taittirîya Âraṇyaka III, 11, 1, Indra's self is said to be go-
ing about ten-fold (Indrasya âtmânaṁ dashadhâ charantam);
and corresponding to it, it may be here noticed, we have in
the Bahrâm Yasht, in the Avesta, ten incarnations of Vere-
thraghna (Sans. Vṛitrahan) specifically mentioned. Amongst
the proteges of Indra we again have one called Dasha-dyu,
or one shining ten-fold (I, 33, 14; VI, 26, 4); while Dashoṇi,

342 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
a being with ten arms or helpers, and Dasha-mâya, or a ten-
wiled person, are mentioned amongst those whom Indra forc-
ed to submit to Dyotana in VI, 20, 8. Dashoṇya and Dasha-
shipra are also mentioned to have been by the side of Indra
when he drank Soma with Syûmarashmi in VIII, 52, 2.
The chariot of Soma and Pûṣhan is described as five-
rayed and seven-wheeled in II, 40, 3. But Soma is said to
have ten rays (rashmayaḥ) in IX, 97, 23.
Agni is described as sapta-rashmi or seven-rayed in I,
146, 1, and his rays are expressly said to be seven in II, 5, 2.
His horses are similarly described as seven-tongued in
III, 6, 2. But in I, 141, 2, Agni is said to be dasha-pramati,
and his ten-secret dwellings are mentioned in X, 51, 3. The
adjective navamam or the ninth is also applied to the young-
est (navishṭhâya) Agni in V, 27, 3, much in the same way as
dashamam is applied to the new (nava) Indra in VIII, 24, 23.
Seven dhîtis, prayers or devotions of sacrificial priests,
are mentioned in IX, 8, 4. But in I, 144, 5, their number is
said to be ten.
Foods are said to be seven in III, 4, 7. But in I, 122, 13,
the food is described as divided ten-fold. In the Shatapatha
Brâhmaṇa I, 8, 1, 34, haviḥ, or sacrificial oblation, is, however,
described as made in ten ways.
Seven vipras (III, 7, 7,), or seven sacrificers (hotâraḥ)
are mentioned in several places (III, 10, 4; IV, 2, 15; X, 63, 7).
But in III, 39, 5, the number of the Dashagvas is ex-
pressly stated to be ten. Ten sacrificers (hotâraḥ) are also men-
tioned in the Taittirîya Brâhmaṇa II, 2, 1, 1, and II, 2, 4, 1.
Bṛihaspati, the first-born sacrificer, is described as seven-
mouthed or saptâsya in IV, 50, 4, and the same verse occurs
in the Atharva Veda (XX, 88, 4). But in the Atharva Veda
IV, 6, 1 the first Brâhmaṇa Bṛhaspati is said to be dashâsya,
or ten-mouthed, and dasha-shîrsha, or ten-headed. Seven
heads of the Brâhmaṇa are not expressly mentioned in the

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 343
Ṛig-Veda, but in X, 67, 1, “our father,” meaning the father
of the Aṅgirases, is said to have acquired seven-headed (sapta-
shīrṣhṇī) devotion or intelligence (dhī).
Seven divisions of the earth are mentioned in I, 22, 16.
But the earths are said to be ten (dashāvanī) in X, 94, 7,
(also cf. I, 52, 11).
The cows’ stable which the Ashvins opened is said to be
saptāsya or seven-mouthed in X, 40, 8. But a ten-fold cows’
stable (dashavraja) is mentioned in VIII, 8, 20; 49, 10; 50, 9.
In X, 93, 4, Aryaman, Mitra, Varuṇa, Rudra, Maruts,
Pūṣhan and Bhaga are mentioned as seven kings. But ten
gold-like (hiraṇyasaṅdṛisha) kings are referred to in VIII,
5, 38, and ten non-sacrificing (ayajyavaḥ) kings are mentioned
in VII, 83, 7. The Atharva Veda, XI 8, 10, further tells
us that there were only ten ancient gods.
These references will make it clear that if the horses of the
sun are mentioned as seven in one place, they are said to be ten
in another; and so there are seven devotions and ten devo-
tions; seven earths and ten earths; seven cowpens and ten
cowpens, and so on. This double division may not be equally
explicit in all cases; but, on the whole, there can be no
doubt that the several objects mentioned in the above passages
are conceived as divided in a double manner, once an seven-
fold and once as ten-fold. To this double division may be added
the three-fold division of the heaven, the earth and the nether
world or Nir-ṛiti; and the eleven-fold division of gods in the
heaven, the earth and waters mentioned previously. In the
Atharva Veda XI, 7, 14, nine earths, nine oceans and nine skies
are also mentioned, and the same division again occurs in the
Atharvashiras Upanishad, 6. Now it is evident that the theory
started by Yâska cannot explain all these different methods
of division. We might say that the three-fold division was
suggested by the heaven, the earth and the lower world. But
how are we to account for all kinds of division from seven to

344 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
eleven? So far as I am aware there is no attempt made to
explain the principle of division underlying these different
classifications. But now the analogy of the seven priests, the
Navagvas and the Dashagvas, suggests to us the probable rea-
son of the different methods of division noticed above. The
fact that the horses of the sun are once said to be seven and once
ten, seems naturally to refer to seven months' and ten months'
period of sunshine previously described ; and if so, this helps us
in understanding the real meaning of the different divisions.
The seven-fold, nine-fold or ten-fold division of things is thus
merely a different phase of the division of sacrificers into
the seven Hotṛis, the Navagvas and the Dashagvas. Both
seem to be the effects of the same cause. The mother-land of
the Aryan race in ancient times, lying between the North Pole
and the Arctic circle, was probably divided into different zones
according to the number of months for which the sun was seen
above the horizon in each ; and the facts, that the Navagvas
and the Dashagvas are said to be the chief or the most promi-
nent of the Aṅgirases, that saptáshva was the principal
designation of Sûrya, and that the sons of Aditi who were pre-
sented to the gods were only seven in number, further show
that in the ancient Arctic home a year of seven, nine, or ten
months' sunshine must have been more prevalent than a year of
8 or 11 months. It may, however, be noticed that just as the
Aṅgirases are said to be virûpas, Aryaman is described in X,
64, 5, as having a great chariot, and amidst his births of va-
rious forms (vishu-rûpeshu) he is said to be a seven-fold sacri-
ficer (sapta-hotṛi), showing that though the seven-fold cha-
racter of Aryaman was the chief or the principal one, yet there
were various other forms of the deity. In X, 27, 15, seven,
eight, nine and ten Viras or warriors are said to rise from be-
low, behind, in the front, or on the back, or, in other words, all
round. This verse is differently interpreted by different scho-
lars ; but it seems to me to refer to the seven-fold, eight-fold,

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. · 345
or nine-fold division of the sacrificers, or the Aṅgirases, who are
actually described in III, 53, 7, as "the Vîras or warriors of the
Asura." It is, therefore, quite probable that the same Vîras are
referred to in X, 27, 15. In VIII, 4, 1, Indra is said to be
worshipped by people in the front (east), behind (west), up (north),
and down (south), meaning that his worshippers were to be found
everywhere; and if the adjectives "below, behind &c." in X,
27, 15, be similarly interpreted the verse would mean that the
seven-fold, eight-fold, nine-fold, or ten-fold division of sacrificers
was to be met with in places all round. In other words, the
different places in the Arctic region had each a group of
sacrificers of its own, corresponding to the months of sunshine in
the place. On no other theory can we account for the different
divisions satisfactorily as on the Arctic theory, and in the
absence of a better explanation we may, I think, accept the one
stated above.
The ten Kings and Râvaṇa.
It has been noticed above that ten gold-like kings (VIII,
5, 38), and ten non-sacrificing kings (VII, 83, 7), are mentioned
in the Ṛig-Veda. But there is an important incident connected
with the ten non-sacrificing kings which deserves more than a
passing notice in this place. Sudâs, the son of Divodâsa
Atithigva, is described as engaged in a fight with the ten
non-worshipping (ayajyavaḥ) kings, and is said to have re-
ceived help from Indra and Varuṇa (VII, 33, 3-5 ; 83, 6-8).
It is known as the Dâśarâjña fight, and Vasiṣhṭha, as the
priest of Sudâs, is said to have secured the assistance of Indra
for him. On this slender basis some scholars have erected a
stately edifice of the fight of the Aryan races with the ten non-
Aryan or non-worshipping kings. But it seems to me that the
Dâśarâjña fight can be more simply and naturally explained
by taking it to be a different version of Indra's fight with the
seven Dânus or demons (X, 120, 6). In X, 49, 8, Indra is

346 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
called the seven-slayer (sapta-han) with reference either to the
seven Dânus or demons (X, 120, 6,) or to the seven cities of
Vṛitra (I, 174, 2), in the seven-bottomed ocean (VIII, 40, 5).
Now if Indra is sapta-han on the seven-fold division, he may be
easily conceived as dasha-han, or the ten-slayer, on the ten-fold
method of division. The word dasha-han does not occur in the
Ṛig-Veda, but the fight with the ten kings (ayajyavaḥ dasha
râjânaḥ) practically amounts to the same thing. It has been
stated above that amongst Indra's enemies we have persons like
Dasha-mâya and Dashoṇi, who are obviously connected in some
way with the number ten. The ten gold-like kings mentioned
above again seem to represent the ten monthly sun-gods, and the
fact that they are said to be given to the sacrificers further
strengthens this view. One of Indra's proteges is, we further
know, described as Dasha-dyu, or shining ten-fold. If all these
facts are put together, we are naturally led to the conclusion that
like the seven Dânus or demons, the powers of darkness were
sometime conceived as ten-fold, and Indra's helping Sudâs in his
fight with the ten non-worshipping kings is nothing more than
the old story of the annual fight between light and darkness as
conceived by the inhabitants of a place where a summer of ten
months was followed by a long winter night of two months, or,
in other words which formed the land of the Dashagvas.
But our interest in this remarkable fight does not come
to an end with this explanation. For when we remember the
fact that the word king was not confined to the warrior class
in the Ṛig-Veda, and that in one place (I, 139, 7) it seems to
be actually applied to the Aṅgirases, the expressions ‘ten
golden kings’ and ‘ten sacrificers’ or ‘ten-fold Aṅgirases,’ or
‘the ten Dashagvas sacrificing for ten months’ become syn-
onymous phrases. Now Bṛihaspati was the chief of the Aṅgi-
rases, and as such may naturally be considered to be the repre-
sentative of them all; and we have seen that he is represented