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

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

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 347
once as seven-mouthed and seven headed, and once as ten-mouthed
and ten-headed (Ṛig. IV, 50, 4; A. V. IV, 6, 1). This Bṛihaspati
is connected with the story of Saramâ and Paṇis, and is said to
have helped Indra in recovering the cows, or is sometimes des-
cribed as having performed the feat himself (I, 83, 4; X, 108,
6-11). Bṛihaspati is also represented in X, 109, as having lost his
wife, who was restored to him by the gods. This is obviously
the story of the restoration of the dawn to man, as represented
by the chief sacrificer Bṛihaspati. In the Taittirîya Âraṇyaka
I, 12, 3-4, Indra is described as the lover of Ahalyâ (Ahalyâyai
jâraḥ), and the myth has been explained as referring to the dawn
and the sun, by an old orthodox scholar like Kumârila. Ahalyâ
in the later literature is the wife of the Ṛiṣhi Gotama (lit. rich in
cows); but it is not difficult to perceive that the story of Ahalyâ
(which Prof. Max Muller derives from ahan, a day), was originally
a dawn-story, or a different version of the legend of Brahmajâyâ
narrated in X, 109.
These facts are very suggestive and call to mind some of
the incidents in the story of the Râmâyaṇa. It is quite out-
side the scope of this book to fully enter into the question of
the historical basis of this well-known Indian epic. We are
concerned with Vedic myths and Vedic mythology, and if we
refer to the Râmâyaṇa we do so simply to point out such re-
semblances as are too striking to be left unnoticed. The main
story in the Râmâyaṇa is narrated in such detail that, on the
face of it, it bears the stamp of a historic origin. But even
then we have to explain why Râma's adversary was conceived
as a ten-headed monster or an unnatural being, and why Râ-
ma's father was called Dasharatha or ten-carred. A ten-head-
ed monster cannot ordinarily be regarded as a historical fact,
and it seems not unlikely that some of the incidents of Vedic
myths may have been skilfully interwoven with the main
story of the epic by its author. We have seen above that

348 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
some of the Indra's enemies are described as Dashoṇi or Dasha-
mâya, and that in the Dâsharâjña fight there were ten non-sacrifi-
cing or demoniac kings opposed to Sudâs. These ten non-sacrifi-
cing kings may well be conceived as a single king with ten heads
and spoken of as a ten-headed monster, much in the same way
as Bṛihaspati, the chief of the ten Aṅgirases, is said to be ten-
headed or ten-mouthed. The fact that the brother of this
ten-headed monster slept continuously for six months in a year
also indicates his Arctic origin. Prof. Rhys, in his Hibbert
Lectures, quotes Plutarch to the effect that the Paphlagonians
regarded their gods as shut up in a prison during winter and let
loose in summer, and interprets the legend as indicating the
temporary ascendancy of the powers of darkness over those of
light during the continuous night of the Arctic region. If we
adopt this view, we can easily explain how all the gods were said
to be thrown into prison by Râvaṇa until they were released by
Râma. Another fact in the Râmâyaṇa which is supposed to
require explanation is the conception of the monkey-god Hanû-
mân. The Ṛig-Veda mentions a monkey (kapi), who, as Vṛishâ-
kapi, has been elsewhere shown to represent the sun at the
autumnal equinox, or according to the Arctic theory discussed in
this book, at the time of going down below the horizon into the
long darkness of the nether world. It is Dr. Pischel, who first
threw out the hint that this Vṛishâkapi may probably be the
ancestor of the Purâṇic Hanûmân; and the fact that Hanûmân
was born at a time when the sun we said to be eclipsed goes to
corroborate the view to a certain extent. Mr. Nârâyan Aiyangâr,
in his Essays on Indo-Aryan mythology, further points out that
Sîtâ, the wife of Râma, may be traced to the Ṛig-Vedic Sîtâ,
meaning "a ploughed furrow" which is invoked to bestow wealth
upon the worshipper in IV, 57, 6 and 7; and so far as the birth of
Sîtâ from the earth and her final disappearance into it are concer-
ned the explanation appears very probable. It seems, therefore,

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 349
very likely that the mythical element in the Râmâyaṇa was de-
rived from the story of the restoration of the dawn or Brahma-
jâya to man as represented by the first sacrificer Bṛihaspati, or
the fight of Indra with Vṛitra for the recovery of light. Whether
we can go further than this cannot be decided without further
research. Prof. Max Muller, in his Lectures on the Science
of Language, has shown that many names in the Iliad can be
traced back to the Vedas. For instance he derives Helen from
Saramâ, Paris from Paṇis, and Briesis from Bṛisaya. But even
then all the personages mentioned in the Iliad cannot be ex-
plained in this way. One thing, however, seems certain, that the
story of the restoration of the Dawn-wife to her husband was an
ancient inheritance both with the Greeks and the Indians ; and
we need not, therefore, be surprised if we discover a few strik-
ing coincidences between the Iliad on the one hand and the Râ-
mâyaṇa on the other ; for a common mythical element appears to
have been interwoven with the main story, of course with a differ-
ent local colouring, in each case. The question whether the Râmâ-
yaṇa was copied from Homer is, therefore, entirely meaningless.
The fact seems to be that both Homer and Vâlmîki have uti-
lised a common mythological stock, and any resemblances be-
tween their work only go to prove the theory of their common
origin. It has been pointed out by Prof. Weber that in the
Buddhistic Dasharatha Jâtaka, Sîtâ is represented as the sister
and not as the wife of Râma, and the learned Professor tells us
that this must be an ancient version of the story, for a marriage
with one's sister must be considered to be as primeval as
Adam himself. The late Mr. Telang was of opinion that the
Buddhists must have deliberately misrepresented the story of
the Brahmanical epic, and such a perversion is not improbable.
But on the theory that certain features of the Vedic dawn-myths
were probably interwoven with the main historic story
of the epic, we may explain the Buddhistic account by

350 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
supposing that it was the out-come of an unsuccessful attempt
made in pre-Buddhistic time to identify Râma with Sûrya in
the Ṛig-Veda, the latter of whom is described both as the bro-
ther and the lover of the Dawn (VII, 75, 5; VI, 55, 4 and 5; X, 3
3 ). I have already stated that the subject is too vast to be treat-
ed here at any length. My object was to point out a few resem-
blances between the story of the Râmâyaṇa and the Vedic myths
as they occurred to me: But the question, howsoever interest-
ing, is not relevant to the subject in hand, and I must give up
the temptation of going into it more fully in this place. The ques-
tion of ten incarnations is also similarly connected with the
ten golden kings, or the ten gods mentioned in the Atharva
Veda, or the ten incarnations of Verethreghna in the Avesta.
The ten incarnations in the Avesta ( Yt. XIV) are, a wind,
a bull, a horse, a camel, a boar, a youth, a raven, a ram, a
buck and a man; and four of them, viz., a horse. a boar, a youth
and a man, seem to correspond with Kalki, Varâha, Vâmana
and Râma amongst the ten Avatâras mentioned in the Purâṇic
literature. This shows that the conception of the ten Avatâras
was, at any rate, Indo-Iranian in origin, and it is no doubt inte-
resting to follow it up and trace its development on the Indian
soil. The Matsya, the Kûrma, the Varâha, the Nârasimha, the
Vâmana and, as we have now seen, the Râma Avatâra can be
more or less traced to the Ṛig-Veda. But it would require much
patient research to thoroughly investigate these matters, and I
cannot do more than to throw out such hints as have occurred
to me, and ask the reader to take them for what they are
worth. If the Arctic theory is established, it will throw a good
deal of new light not only on the Vedic but also on the Purâṇic
mythology, and it will then be necessary to revise, in some cases
entirely recast, the current expalnations of both. But the work as
stated previously cannot be undertaken in a book which is

VEDIC MYTHS—THE MATUTINAL DEITIES. 351
mainly devoted to the examination of evidence in support of
the new theory.
We have now discussed most of the Vedic legends likely to
throw any light on the main point of our inquiry. There are
many other incidents, which can be better explained on the
Arctic theory than at present. For instance, we can now well
understand why Mitra and Varuṇa were originally conceived as
two correlated deities; for according to our theory they would
represent half-year-long light and darkness in the Paradise of
the Aryan race, and Varuṇa can then be very well described as
“ embracing the nights, ” ( kshapaḥ pari shasvaje, VIII, 41, 3 ).
But we cannot go into all these points in this place. What I
have said is, I think, sufficient to convince any one that there
are a number of incidents in the Vedic myths, which are inex-
plicable on the theory of a diurnal struggle between light and
darkness, or the conquest of spring over winter, or of the storm-
god over clouds. Thus we have not been able as yet to explain
why Vṛitra was killed once a year, why the waters and the light
were described as being released simultaneously by killing Vṛitra,
or why Indra's fight with Shambara was said to have com-
menced on the 40th day of Sharad, or why the fight was said
to be conducted in the parāvat regions, why Dirghatamas was
described as having grown old in the 10th yuga, why Mârtâṇḍa
was cast away as a dead son, why Trita, or the Third, was
said to have fallen into a pit, or again why Viṣhṇu's third stride
was said to be invisible. We now find that not only all these but
many more incidents in the Vedic myths are satisfactorily ac-
counted for, and the legends in their turn directly lead us to the
Arctic theory. The legends of Indra and Vṛitra, of Saptavadhri,
of Aditi and her seven flourishing and one still-born son,
of Sûrya's wheel and of Dīrghatamas, are again found to
contain express passages which indicate seven or ten months'
period of sunshine at the place, where these legends originated;

352 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
and unless we are prepared to say that all these may be
accidental coincidences, we cannot, I think, legitimately with-
hold our assent to a theory which explains so many facts, and
incidents, hitherto ignored, neglected or misunderstood, in an
easy, natural and intelligible manner. I do not mean to say that
the Arctic theory would entirely dispense with the necessity of
the Dawn, the storm or the Vernal theory. All that I contend
for is that the Arctic theory explains a number of legendary or
traditional facts hitherto hopeles ly given up as inexplicable and
that in the interpretation of Vedic myths it furnishes us with a
weapon far more powerful and effective than either the Dawn,
the Storm or the Vernal theory. In short, from a mythological
point of view alone, there is ample ground to recommend it to
our acceptance side by side with, and, in some cases, even in
substitution of the old theories. In addition to this it has been al-
ready shown in previous chapters that the new theory rests on
direct and independent statements of facts, contained in the Ṛig-
Veda, about the duration and nature of the dawn, days and
nights, seasons, months and the year in the home of the ancient
fathers of the Vedic Ṛiṣhis; and that the Avestic and Roman
traditions fully corroborate our conclusion. We have further seen
that the theory is perfectly consistent with the latest results of
geological and archæological researches. Shall we then still with-
hold our assent to the only theory which explains so many facts,
legends, and incidents, in a natural and intelligent way and
which throws such a flood of light on the ancient history of the
Aryan race, simply because it seems to be rather uncouth at
the first sight ? The rules of logic and scientific research will
not justify us in doing so, and I fully rely on them for the eventual
success or failure of the theory I have endeavoured to prove in
these pages.

CHAPTER XI.
THE AVESTIC EVIDENCE.
Nature of Avestic evidence stated—Different views of scholars
regarding its character—Necessity of re-examining the subject
—An abstract of the first Fargard of the Vendidad—Sixteen
lands created by Ahura Mazda with their modern equivalents
&c.—Airyana Vaejo, the first created land represents the
Paradise of the Iranians—Different views regarding its position
—Darmesteter, Spiegel and others locate it in the east ; Haug
and Bunsen in the far north—Darmesteter’s argument examin-
ed—Airyana Vaejo cannot be determined from the position of
Vanguhi—Identification of Rangha with the Caspian Sea or the
westernmost river doubtful—Rangha is probably the same as
Rasâ in the Rig-Veda X, 75, 6—Unsoundness of Darmesteter’s
reasoning—The position of the Airyana Vaejo must be deter-
mined from its special characteristics found in the Avesta—
The passage where ten months winter is said to be such a
characteristic cited—Ten months winter first introduced into
the happy land by Angra Mainyu—Indicates that before the
fiend’s invasion there must have been ten months summer and
two months winter in the land—Sudden change in the Polar
climate fully confirmed by latest geological researches—Two
months winter necessarily synchronous with long Arctic night
—The tradition about seven months summer and five months
winter also refers to the original climate in the Airyana Vaejo
—Mentioned in the Bundahish—Not inconsistent with the
tradition of ten months summer recorded in the original
passage—Both possible in the Arctic regions—Similar state-
ments in the Rig-Veda—Coincidence between seven months
summer, the legend of Aditi, and the date of Indra’s fight with
Shambara, pointed out—Summary of the second Fargard—
Yima’s Vara in the Airyana Vaejo—Annual sun-rise and a
year-long day therein—Shows that the Airyana Vaejo must
be located near the North Pole and not to the east of Iran—
The account too graphic to be imaginary or mythical—Re-
presents the advent of the Glacial epoch in the land—It is
the oldest human testimony to the advent of the Ice-age,
23