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

456 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
theological views mentioned above. We may not be able to
fix definitely when each hymn of the Ṛig-Veda was sung; but
we may safely say that those who survived the catastrophe, or
their immediate descendants, must have incorporated into
hymns the religious knowledge they had inherited as a sacred
trust from their forefathers at the first opportunity, that is, soon
after they were able to make at least temporary settlements.
The hymns cannot, therefore, be supposed to promulgate a new
religion consciously or unconsciously evolved on the plains of
Central Asia in post-Glacial times; and the Polar character of
the Vedic deities removes every doubt on the point. How far
the language of the hymns, as we have them at present, resem-
bled the ante-diluvian forms of speech is a different question;
and according to Patanjali and Vyâsa, we are not here concerned
with the words or the syllables of the hymns, which, it is admit-
ted, have not remained permanent. We have to look to the
subject matter of the hymns; and there is no reason to doubt
either the competency or the trustworthiness of the Vedic
bards to execute what they considered to be their sacred
task or duty, viz., that of preserving and transmitting,
for the benefit of future generations, the religious knowledge
they had inherited from their ante-diluvian forefathers. It
was by an agency similar to this that the hymns have
been preserved accent for accent, according to the lowest
estimate, for the last 3000 or 4000 years; and what is
achieved in more recent times can certainly be held to
have been done by the older bards in times when the tradi-
tions about the Arctic home and religion were still fresh in
their mind. We may also observe that the hymns were
publicly sung and recited, and the whole community, which
must be supposed to have been interested in preserving its an-
cient religious rites and worship, must have keenly watched
the utterances of these Ṛiṣhis. We may, therefore, safely assert
that the religion of the primeval Arctic home was correctly

PRIMITIVE ARYAN CULTURE AND RELIGION. 457
preserved in the form of traditions by the disciplined
memory of the Ṛishis until it was incorporated first into crude
as contrasted with the polished hyms (su-uktas) of the Ṛig-Veda
in the Orion period, to be collected later on in Maṇḍalas and
finally into Saṁhitâs; and that the subject matter of these
hymns is inter-glacial, though its ultimate origin is still lost in
geological antiquity. Without mixing up the theological and
historical views we may, therefore, now state the two in parallel
columns as follows :—
Theological view. Historical view.

1. The Vedas are eternal 1. The Vedic or the Aryan
   (nitya), beginning-less (anâ- religion can be proved to be
   di), and not made by man inter-glacial; but its ultimate
   (a-paurusheya). origin is still lost in geological
   antiquity.
2. The Vedas were destroy- 2. Aryan religion and cul-
   ed in the deluge, at the end ture were destroyed during the
   of the last Kalpa. last Glacial period that in-
   vaded the Arctic Aryan home.
3. At the beginning of the 3. The Vedic hymns were
   present Kalpa, the Ṛiṣhis, sung in post-Glacial times by
   through tapas, reproduced in poets, who had inherited the
   substance, if not in form, the knowledge or contents there-
   ante-diluvian Vedas, which of in an unbroken tradition
   they carried in their memory from their ante-diluvian fore-
   by the favour of god. fathers.
   On a comparison of the two columns it will be found that
   the tradition about the destruction and the reproduction of the
   Vedas, recorded by Vyâsa in the Mahâbhârata verse referred
   to above, must be taken to have been founded substantially on a
   historical fact. It is true that according to the Purâṇic
   chronology the beginning of the current Kalpa is placed
   several thousands of years before the present time;
   but if, according to the estimates of some modern geologists,

458 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
the post-Glacial period is, even now, said to have com-
menced some 80,000 years ago, if not earlier, we need not be
much surprised at the Purâṇic estimate, especially when, as
stated above, it is found to disclose a real tradition of 10,000
years assigned to a cycle of the four yugas, the first of which
began with the new Kalpa, or, in the language of geology,
with the present post-Glacial period. Another point wherein
the two views may be said to differ is the beginning-less-ness
(anâditva) of the Vedas. It is impossible to demonstrate histori-
cally or scientifically that Vedic religion and worship is
absolutely without a beginning. All that we can say is that its
beginning is lost in geological antiquity, or that the Vedic religion
is as old as the Aryan language or the Aryan man himself. If
theologians are not satisfied with the support which this scienti-
fic view accords to their theory about the eternity of the
Vedas, the scientific and the theological views must stand,
as they are, distinct from each other, for the two methods of
investigation are essentially different. It is for this reason
that I have stated the views in parallel columns for comparison
without mixing them up. Whether the world was produced
from the original WORD, or the Divine Logos, is a question
which does not fall within the pale of historical investiga-
tion; and any conclusions based upon it or similar other
doctrines cannot, therefore, be treated in this place. We may,
however, still assert that for all practical purposes the Vedic
religion can be shown to be beginning-less even on strict scienti-
fic grounds.
A careful examination of the Ṛig-Vedic hymns will show
that the Vedic Ṛishis were themselves conscious of the fact
that the subject matter of the hymns sung by them was ancient
or ante-diluvian in character, though the expressions used
were their own productions. We have already referred
before to the two sets of Vedic passages, the first expressly
saying that the hymns were made, generated or fashioned like

PRIMITIVE ARYAN CULTURE AND RELIGION. 459.
a chariot by the Ṛiṣhis to whom they are ascribed, and the other
stating in equally unmistakable terms that the hymns were
inspired, given or generated by gods. 'Dr. Muir attempts to
reconcile these two contradictory views by suggesting that
the different Ṛiṣhis probably held different views ; or that when
both of them can be traced to the same author, he may have
expressed the one at the time when it was uppermost in his
mind, and the other at another ; or that the Vedic Ṛiṣhis or
poets had no very clearly defined ideas of inspiration, and thought
that the divine assistance of which they were conscious did not
render their hymns the less truly the producation of their own
mind.* In short, the existence of a human is not supposed to
be incompatible with that of the super-human element in the
composition of these hymns. But it will be seen that the above
reconciliation is at once weak and unsatisfactory. A better
way to reconcile the conflicting utterances of the Ṛiṣhis would
be to make a distinction between the expression, language, or form
on the one hand, and the contents, substance, or the subject
matter of the hymns on the other ; and to hold that while
the expression was human, the subject matter was believed to be
ancient or superhuman. There are numerous passages in the
Ṛig-Veda where the bards speak of ancient poets (pūrve ṛiṣhayah),
or ancient hymns (I, 1, 2 ; VI, 44, 13 ; VII, 29, 4 ; VIII, 40, 12 ; X,
14, 15 ; &c.) ; and Western scholars understand by these phrases
the poets or hymns of the past generations of Vedic bards,
but not anterior to the post-Glacial times. But there are
clear indications in the hymns themselves which go to refute
this view. It is true that the Vedic bards speak of ancient
and modern hymns ; but they often tell us that though the
hymn is new (navyasi), yet the god or the deity to whom it
is addressed is old (pratna), or ancient, (VI, 22, 7 ; 62, 4 ;

• See Muir O. S. T., Vol. III, pp. 274-5.

460 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
X, 91, 13 ; &c.) This shows that the deities whose exploits were
sung in the hymns were considered to be ancient deities.
Nay, we have express passages where not only the deities but
their exploits are said to be ancient, evidently meaning that
the achievements spoken of in the hymns were traditional and
not witnessed by the poet himself ; thus, in I, 32, 1, the poet
opens his song with a clear statement that he is going to sing
those exploits of Indra which were achieved at first (pratha-
mâni) or in early times, and the adjectives pûrvyâṇi and
pûrvîḥ are applied to Indra's exploits in I, 11, 3, and I, 61,
13. The achievements of the Ashvins are similarly said to be
pûrvyâṇi in I, 117, 25 ; and the long list of the exploits given
in this hymn clearly shows that the poet is here rather sum-
marising the exploits traditionally known to him than enu-
merating events witnessed by himself or by his forefathers in
the near past. This is also evident from the fact that the
ancient Ṛiṣhis mentioned in the hymns, like the Aṅgirases or
Vasiṣhṭha, are believed to have been invested with supernatural
powers (VII, 33, 7–13), or to have lived and 'conversed with
(I, 179, 2), or shared in the enjoyments of the gods (Devâ-
nâm sadhamâdaḥ VIII, 76, 4). They are also said to be the
earliest guides (pathikṛit, X, 14, 15) for future generations. It
is impossible to suppose that Vedic poets could have ascribed
such superhuman character to their ancestors in the near
past ; and we are, therefore, led to the conclusion that the an-
cestors here spoken of were the ante-diluvian ancestors (naḥ
pûrve pitaraḥ) who completed their sacrifices in the Arctic year
of 7 or 10 months. And what is true of the ancestors applies
as well to the ancient deities mentioned in the hymns. I have
pointed out previously that the legend of Aditi and her sons
is expressly stated to be a legend of the past age (pûrvyam
yugaṁ) ; and the same thing may be predicated of the legends
of Indra, the Ashvins or the other deities whose expliots are
described in the Ṛig-Veda as pûrvyâṇi or prathamâni, that is,

PRIMITIVE ARYAN CULTURE AND RELIGION. 461
old or ancient. In short, the ancient hymns, poets, or deities,
mentioned in the Ṛig-Veda must be referred to a by-gone age
and not to post-Glacial times. The Arctic character of these
deities, it may be further observed, is intelligible only on this
view. The Vedic bards may well be credited with having
composed, or fashioned, new songs or hymns; but the question
still remains whether the subject matter of these hymns was of
their own creation, and the fact that the deities have been
called ancient in contradistinction with the songs offered
to them (VI, 62, 4), and are clothed with Polar attributes,
at once enables us to solve the question by answering
that though the wording of the hymns was new, their sub-
ject matter was old, that is, traditionally handed down to the
poet from remote ages. Thus in a hymn of the tenth Maṇḍa-
la (X, 72, 1-2), the poet desiring to celebrate the births or
the origin of gods, thus begins his hymn, "Let us, from the
the love of praise, celebrate, in recited hymns, the births of
gods,—any one of us who in this later age may see them,
(yaḥ pashyâd uttare yuge)." Here we have a distinct con-
trast between the births of gods on the one hand and the
poet who may see the hymn in the later age on the other,
evidently meaning that the subject matter of the hymn is
an occurrence of the former age (yuga), and that the poet
celebrates as he perceives or sees it in the later age. The
view that the Vedic hymns, or rather their contents, were
perceived and not made by the Ṛiṣhis, derives material support
from this statement. A similar expression is also found in
VIII, 59, 6, which says "Indra and Varuṇa! I have seen
(abhi apashyam) through tapas that which ye formerly gave to
the Ṛiṣhis, wisdom, understanding of speech, sacred lore (shru-
tam) and all the places which the sages created when perform-
ing sacrifices."* The notion about the perception of the

• Ṛig. VIII, 59, 6,—इंद्रावरुणा यदृषिभ्यो मनीषां वाचो मतिं श्रुतम-
  दत्तमग्रे । यानि स्थानान्यसृजंत धीरा यज्ञं तन्वानास्तपसाभ्यपश्यम् ॥

462 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
subject matter of the Vedic hymns is here referred to almost
in the same terms in which it is expressed by Vyâsa in the
Mahâbhârata verse quoted above; and with such express-
texts before us, the only way to reconcile the conflicting state-
ments about the human and the superhuman origin of the
hymns is to refer them to the form and the matter of the
hymns respectively, as suggested by Patanjali and other schol-
ars. Dr. Muir notices a passage (VIII, 95, 4-5) where the
poet is said to have "generated (ajîjanat) for Indra the new-
est exhilarating hymn (navîyasîm mandrâm giram), springing
from an intelligent mind, an ancient mental product (dhiyam
pratnâm), full of sacred truth."* Here one and the same
hymn is said to be both new and old at the same time; and
Dr. Muir quotes Aufrecht to show that gir, that is, expres-
sion or wording, is here contrasted with dhî or thought, ob-
viously showing that an old thought (pratnâ dhîḥ) has been
couched in new language (navîyasî gîḥ) by the bard to whom
the hymn is ascribed. In other words, the hymn is ancient in
substance though new in expression,—a conclusion to which
we have been already led on different grounds. We may also
cite in this connection the fact that amongst the different
heads into which the contents of the Brâhmaṇas have been
classified by Indian divines, we find one which is termed
Purâ-kalpa or the rites or traditions of a by-gone age, showing
that even the Brâhmaṇas are believed to contain ante-diluvian
stories or traditions. The statement in the Taittirîya Saṃhitâ
that "The priests, in old times, were afraid that the dawn
would not terminate or ripen into sunshine," is quoted by Sâya-
ṇa as an example of Purâ-kalpa, and we have seen before that
this can be explained: only by supposing it to refer to the
Arctic dawn,—an incident witnessible by man only in the in-
ter-glacial times. If the Brâhmaṇas can be thus shown to
contain or refer to the facts of a by-gone age, a fortiori the

• See Muir O. S. T., Vol. III, p. 239.

PRIMITIVE ARYAN CULTURE AND RELIGION. 463
Vedas may, very well, be said to do the same. Thus from
whatever side we approach the question, we are irresistibly led,
by internal as well as external evidence, to the conclusion that
the subject matter of the Vedic hymns is ancient and inter-
glacial, and that it was incorporated into the Vedic hymns in
post-Glacial times by Ṛiṣhis who inherited the same in the
shape of continuous traditions from their inter-glacial fore-
fathers.
There are many other points in Vedic interpretation,
or in Vedic and Purâṇic mythology, which are elucidated, or,
we may even say, intelligently and rationally explained for
the first time, by the theory of the Arctic home in inter-
glacial times. For instance, we can now easily account for
the disappointment of those Western scholars, who, when
the Vedas became first known to them, expected to find
therein the very beginnings of the Aryan civilisation or the
out-pourings of the Aryan mind as it first became impressed
with awe and wonder by the physical phenomena or the
workings of natural elements and looked upon them as divine
manifestations. Our theory now shows very clearly that though
the Vedas are the oldest records of the Aryan race, yet the
civilisation, or the characteristics and the worship of the deities
mentioned therein did not originate with the Vedic bards, but
was derived by them from their inter-glacial fore-fathers and
preserved in the forms of hymns for the benefit of posterity;
and if any one wants to trace the very beginnings of the Aryan
civilisation he must go back beyond the last Glacial period, and
see how the ancestors of the Aryan race lived and worked in
their primeval Polar home. Unfortunately we have very few
materials for ascertaining the degree of this civilisation. But
we think we have shewn that there are grounds to hold that
the inter-glacial Aryan civilisation and culture must have
been of a higher type than what it is usually supposed to be;

464 THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
and that there is no reason why the primitive Aryans should not
be placed on an equal footing with the pre-historic inhabitants of
Egypt in point of culture and civilisation. The vitality and
superiority of the Aryan races, as disclosed by their con-
quest, by extermination or assimilation, of the non-Aryan
races with whom they came in contact in their migrations in
search of new lands from the North Pole to the Equator, if not
to the farther south, is intelligible only on the assumption of a
high degree of civilisation in their original Arctic home; and
when the Vedas come to be further examined in the light of
the Arctic theory, we may certainly expect to discover therein
many other facts, which will further support this view, but
which are still hidden from us owing to our imperfect know-
ledge of the physical and social surroundings amidst which the
ancestors of the Vedic Ṛiṣhis lived near the North Pole in
times before the Glacial epoch. The exploration of the Arctic
regions which is being carried on at present, may also help us
hereafter in our investigation of the beginnings of the Aryan
civilisation. But all these things must be left to be done by
future investigators when the theory of the Arctic home of the
Aryans comes to be generally recognised as a scientific fact. Our
object at present is to show that there is enough evidence in
the Veda and the Avesta to establish the existence of an Arctic
home in inter-Glacial times; and the reader, who has fol-
lowed us in our arguments, set forth in the preceding pages,
will at once perceive that the theory we have endeavoured
to prove, is based on a solid foundation of express
texts and passages traditionally preserved in the two
oldest books of the Aryan race, and that it is amply forti-
fied by independent corroboration received from the latest
results of the correlative sciences, like Geology, Archæology
Linguistic Palæology, Comparative Mythology and Astronomy.

PRIMITIVE ARYAN CULTURE AND RELIGION. 465
In fact, the idea of searching for the evidence of an
Arctic home in the Vedas may be said to have been stimulated,
if not suggested, by the recent advances made in these sciences,
and it will be seen that the method, adopted by us in working it
up, is as rigid as it ought to be. It is now several centuries
since the science of Vedic exegetics was founded by Indian
Nairuktas ; and it may seem surprising that traces of an Arctic
home in the Vedas should remain undiscovered so long. But
surprises like these are out of place in investigations of this kind,
where one must be prepared to accept the results proved, in
the light of advancing knowledge, by the strictest rules of logic
and scientific research. It is these rules that we have taken for
our guide, and if the validity of our conclusions be tested by this
standard, we hope it will be found that we have succeeded in
discovering the true key to the interpretation of a number of
Vedic texts and legends hitherto given up as hopeless, ignored
or misunderstood. In these days of progress, when the question
of the primitive human culture and civilisation is approached
and investigated from so many different sides, the science of
Vedic interpretation cannot stand isolated or depend exclusively
on linguistic or grammatical analysis; and we have simply
followed the spirit of the time in seeking to bring about the co-
ordination of the latest scientific results with the traditions
contained in the oldest books of the Aryan race,—books which
have been deservedly held in the highest esteem and preserved
by our ancestors, amidst insurmountable difficulties, with
religious enthusiasm ever since the beginning of the present
age.
FINIS.

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GENERAL INDEX.
ABHIPLAVA, a kind of shaḷaha, 207,
209.
Adhyâtmikas, their school of Vedic
interpretation, 238.
Aditi, and her Âditya sons, the le-
gend of, 152-158; said to have
occurred in a former yuga, 158,
460.
Âdityas, seven with an eighth still-
born brother, represent the seven
monthly sun-gods in the Arctic
region, 156-158; 216; 282.
Âdityânâm-ayanam, an yearly sa-
crificial session, 193, 209.
Adri, a mountain, meaning of, in the
Ṛig-Veda, 249, 253.
Æsir, gods, the reign of, 78.
Ages, archæological, of Stone,
Bronze and Iron, 4; distinction
between Neolithic and Palæoli-
thic, 10; their co-relation with
the geological, 11; of Beech, Oak
and Fir, 12.
—Geological and their subdivi-
sions, 11; climate and distribution
of land and water in, 20-24.
—Human and divine in the Ṛig-
Veda, 173 f.
—Purâṇic, Kṛita, Tretâ, Dvâ-
para, and Kali; their real duration,
421-427; their characteristics,
455.
Aggilos, phonetic equivalent of
Aṅgiras, 160.
Agni, fire, a Vedic matutinal deity,
74; living in long darkness, 127;
his hidden home in waters and
darkness, 317; as child of waters,
317; traversing the universe, 333;
his secret third station, 333;
seven rays or tongues, and ten
secret dwellings of, 342.
Agniṣhṭoma, a Soma-sacrifice, 206
Ahalyâ, the legend of, 347.
Ahanî, Day and Night, distinguish-
ed from Ushâsâ-naktâ, 135; right
and left side of the Year-god,
138-139.
Ahîna, a Soma-sacrifice of less than
thirteen days, 206.
Ahura Mazda, warning Yima about
the coming winter in Airyana
Vaêjo, 72, 376.
Airyana Vaêjo, the original Para-
dise of the Iranians or the Aryan
race, Yima's Vara in, 72; descrip-
tion of, in the Vendidad, 357-359;
wrongly identified with coun-
tries to the east of Iran, 361-363;
change in the climate of, caused
by Angra Mainyu, 366; proves
its invasion by ice during the last
Glacial epoch, 368; ten winter
months therein, 366-368; also
seven summer months, 370 f; an-
nual rise of sun, moon and stars,
and a year-long day at the place,
71, 72, 376; possible only if it be
located in the Arctic regions, and
not to the east of Iran, 378; de-
scription of the glaciation of, 380.
Aitihâsikas, their school of Vedic
interpretation, 239.
Aiyangâr, Mr., Nârâyaṇa, on the
interpretation of Vedic myths on

468 GENERAL INDEX.
the Astral theory, 63, 245; on the
nature of Kumâra, Kârttikeya,
318; on the nature of Sîtâ, 348.
Aiyer, Mr. on the yuga-system in
the Purâṇas, 422-424.
Âjânadevatâs, 237.
Alburz, a mountain, separating the
upper from the lower world in the
Avesta, 266; apertures in, for the
sun to pass through, 269, 318.
Alps, low in early geological ages 21.
Altitude, high, its effect on climate,
21.
Amma, the ascending stream of, in
the Finnish mythology, 276.
Ammarik, the gloaming, in the Fin-
nish mythology, 404.
Anaximenes, on the overhead rota-
tion of the sky, 78.
Aṅgirasâm ayanam, the yearly sa-
crificial session of Aṅgirases, 162,
193, 209.
Aṅgirases, ancient sacrificers of the
Aryan race, 160; probably Indo-
European in origin, 171; different
species of, the Navagvas and the
Dashagvas, 162; ten months' sa-
crifical session of the latter, 163;
helping Indra in the rescue of the
cows at the end of each year, 163;
found the sun dwelling in dark-
ness, 163; described as Virûpas,
that is, of various forms, 168.
Aṅgra Mainyu, the evil spirit in the
Avesta, destroys Airyana Vaêjo
by introducing severe winter
therein, 359; explained as a glacial
invasion, 368 f.
Anquetil, discovery of the Avesta
by, 356.
Âpaḥ, waters, distinguished as ter-
restrial and celestial in the Ṛig-
Veda, 256; celestial or aerial rid-
den for ten months by the sun,
177, 184; ruled over by Varuṇa,
178; coeval with the world, 257;
captivated by Vṛitra and released
to flow upwards by Indra, cannot
but be celestial, 274, 275, 294,
295; in the seven rivers must be
celestial, 288-293; cosmic circu-
lation of the aerial, in the Avesta,
270, 271; cessation of their flow
in winter, 271-274; cosmic circu-
lation of, in other mythologies,
275-278; their nature and charac-
teristics as a Vedic deity summed
up, 338, 339; the same compared
with the Purâṇic legends, 340.
Apaosha, the demon conquered by
Tishtrya, an Avestic proto-type
of Shuṣhṇa in the Ṛig-Veda, 222,
223; fight with, lasting for a
hundred nights, 224.
Apaturia, ancient Greek feast, 399.
Apollon, oxen of, stolen by Hermes,
204; derived from Sanskrit apa-
varyan, 255.
Apsu-jit, conqueror in waters, an
epithet of Indra, 245, 247.
Aptoryâma, a Soma-sacrifice, 206.
Ap-tûrya, the fight for waters by
Indra, 245.
Âptya, See Trita.
Arag, See Rangha.
Archæology, prehistoric, ages of
Iron, Bronze and stone in, 4, 8;
characterised by instruments of
metals and stone discovered in
the recent strata of the earth, 8;
ages not synchronous in different
countries, 9; transition from one
into another gradual and not
sudden, 9; distinction between
New and Old stone age, 10; ages
of Beech, Oak and Fir, 12; the
date of the commencement of
the Neolithic age in, 12, 13;

GENERAL INDEX. 469
latest researches in, effect of, on
primitive history, 4; on Vedic
interpretation, 7; summary of
the latest researches in, 37, 38.
Arctic regions, characterised by
mild climate suitable for hu-
man habitation in inter-glacial
times, 24, 38, 419; a wide conti-
nent before the glacial epoch, 41;
appearance of the heavens in, 51,
52; duration of day and night in,
55, 56; dawn in, 56, 57; distin-
guishing characteristics of, sum-
med up, 59.
Ardhau, the two celestial hemis-
pheres in the Ṛig-Veda, 262.
Ardvi Sûra Anâhita, Avestic celes-
tial river, like the Vedic Sarasvatî,
265, 363; grants a boon to Thraê-
taona, 266, 402.
Aristotle, mentions an aerial river,
276; his belief in the reality of
the deluge, 388.
Ârya, Indra, dealing measure for
measure to Dâsa or Vṛitra, 140,
143.
Âryabhaṭṭa, 422.
Aryan, race and people, their unity
in primitive times, 2; controversy
regarding the original type of,
16; Vedic, settled in central Asia
in the Orion period, 420; primitive,
interglacial and not post-glacial
in origin, 433; European Neoli-
thic, not progressive but retro-
gressive savages, 444; origin of
and differentiation from other hu-
man races, lost in geological anti-
quity, 445.
—Home, primitive, cannot be loc-
ated in Central Asia, 18; nor in
North Germany or Scandinavia,
408; must be located in the Arctic
regions, 232, 296, 390, 409,
417-418; destroyed during the
last Glacial epoch, 381, 82; mig-
ration therefrom at the beginning
of the post-glacial period, 429.
—Culture and religion, primitive,
Schrader's view of, 3; in their Arc-
tic Home, 435-438; higher than
the Neolithic European, 439-445.
—Languages, unity of, 2; not de-
veloped from the Finnic, 18; not
of Neolithic origin, 438; origin of,
lost in geological antiquity, 444.
Âshvina-shastra, a prize in the race
of matutinal deities, 82, 83, 299.
Ashvins, a dual matutinal deity in
the Veda, their path, 74; time of
singing the hymn or prayer of, 82;
rescuers of Dîrghatamas, 169,
170; physicians of gods, explained
by Max Muller as restorers of the
winter sun, 244, 299; their double
equipment, boat and golden cha-
riot, 277; help Indra in his fight
with Vṛitra, 298, 299; their ex-
ploits and character, 301–304;
save their proteges from bottom-
less darkness, 304, 305; inex-
plainable by the vernal theory,
305-311; safely deliver Sapta-
vadhri from ten months' confine-
ment in the womb of his mother,
312-316; satisfactorily explained
by the Arctic theory, 319; their
three stations, the third hidden,
explained, 333; their achievements
said to be ancient, that is, inter-
glacial, 460.
Asia, Northern, the glaciation of, and
milder climate in, 14; Central, the
theory of the original Aryan home
in, challenged by Poshe and Pen-
ka, 4; Taylor's view, 5; Rhys'

470 GENERAL INDEX.
view, 408; Indo-Iranian settle-
ments in, not primitive, 390, 420.
Astral, theory, to explain Vedic
myths, 245.
Astronomers, Hindu, locate Meru at
the North Pole, 67; chronology
of, 422.
Atharvan, an ancient sacrificer, 160-
161.
Ati-agniṣhṭoma, a Soma-sacrifice, 206,
Ati-râtra, a Soma-sacrifice, 206; in-
troduces and concludes a sattra,
208, 228; one of the night-sacri-
fices, 213, 215; extraction and
purification of Soma juice therein
at night, 213, 214; an Avestic pa-
rallel, 214; meaning of ati in, 227;
production of a cycle of day and
night therefrom, 227; position of,
in the annual round of sacrifices
in ancient times, 229, 230.
Atri, an ancient sacrificer, 160, 161.
Atri Saptavadhri, See Ashvins, and
Saptavadhri.
Aufrecht, Prof., 87, 88, 462.
Aurora Borealis, 47, 70.
Aupamanyava, a Nairukta, correct-
ness of his interpretation of shipi-
vishṭa, 330, 331.
Aurṇavâbha, 326.
Autumnal, hundred forts of Vṛi-
tra, meaning of, 221, 248, 252, 287.
Autumns, a hundred, 389.
Avesta, passages in, See Index of
Avestic passages. Traditions about
the Polar home in, 19, 354-390;
method of counting by seasons
in, 285; See Airyāna Vaêjo.
Âyus, a Soma-sacrifice, 207.
Azi-Dahâk, 267, 308, 309.
BÂDARÂYANA, on the inauspicious-
ness of dying in the Dakshiṇâyana,
76; on the eternity of the
Vedas, 450.
Balder, or Baldur, the Norse summer-
god, his dwelling place in the
heavens, 403; killed by Hodur,
the winter-god, 405.
Bali, the rescuer of Dîrghatamas, 170;
Purâṇic enemy of Vâmana, 327.
Ball, Sir Robert, supports Croll's
theory, 27; but refrains from
adopting Croll's calculations, 33.
Beech age, 12; See Ages.
Bhâṇḍârkar, Dr., on the date of
Mâḍhariputta and Puḷumâvi, 285,
Bhartṛihari, 340.
Bhâskara, Bhaṭṭa, 191, 220.
Bhâskarâchârya, on perpetual day
and night, 56; his erroneous view
about Uttarâyaṇa, 67.
Bhîshma, a Mahâbhârata warrior.
waiting to die in the Uttarâyaṇa,
75.
Bhrigu, an ancient sacrificer,
160, 161.
Bhujyu, a protege of the Ashvins,
who rescued him from bottomless
darkness, 302, 303, 305, 306-9.
Bloomfield, Prof., 115, 287.
Bodas, Râjârâma Shâstri, and M. R.
446.
Brahma-chârin, the sun in the
Atharva-Veda, 315.
Brahma-jâyâ, the Brâhmin's lost
wife, restoration of, 347.
Brâhmaṇas, the Vedic works, the
Vedas partially unintelligible at
the time of their composition, 5;
classification of the contents of,
129; their probable aim and nat-
ure, 230; on the eternity of the
Vedas, 448.
Bṛihaspati, the son of Aṅgiras, said
to be seven-mouthed, 169; his cou-
quest of cows, 201; helps Indra
in the rescue of cows, from Vala,

GENERAL INDEX. 471
249; saviour of Trita from dis-
tress, 335; seven-mouthed, and ten-
headed, 342; connected with the
story of Sarmâ and Paṇis, 347;
restoration of his lost wife, 347.
Bronze, art of making, probably in-
troduced into Europe from out-
side, 9; known before the Aryan
separation, 442.
Bronze, age, See Ages.
Bundahish, referred to or quoted,
224, 266, 269, 361-363, 374.
Bunsen, 356, 365, 367.
Burma, Indian names of cities in,
293.
CACUS, a Greek monster like the
Vedic Vala, 200.
Calendar, Vedic, in the Taittirîya
Saṁhitâ, of 12 months and six
seasons, 62; ancient sacrificial, of
ten months, 229, 231, 232; anci-
ent Roman, of ten months, 199,
230, 395; ancient Celtic and
Norse, 398, 399; ancient Greek,
399; primitive Aryan, Arctic,
436, 437.
Calends, of May and of Winter, 396,
397.
Caspian, sea, wrongly identified
with Rangha, 363.
Celts, the yearly feasts of, 396;
their gods and heroes, 406 f.
Chaillu, Paul Du, on the long night
at Nordkyn, 56; his Land of the
long night referred to, 214, 215.
Chalceia, an ancient Greek yearly
feast, 399.
Chaturviṁsha, a sacrificial day, 208,
209.
Chatvâriṁshyâm sharadi, on the
fortieth in autumn, the meaning
of, (in Ṛig. II. 12, 11,) 281.
Chavee, on the original type of the
Aryan race, 16.
Chronology, Purâṇic, of Kalpas,
Manvantaras, and Mahâ-yugas
421; length of a Kalpa, and a
Yuga in, 422; Raṅgâchârya's
and Aiyer's views thereon, 423-
426.—in Manu and Mahâbhâ-
rata, 426-428.
—Vedic, 420, 453-454.
Chyavâna, the falling (sun), a
protege of the Ashvins who re-
stored him to youth, 170, 244,
301-303.
Circum-polar, regions, distinguished
from the Polar, 43; characteris-
tics of, described and summed up,
55, 59.
Civilization, Palæolithic and Neoli-
thic, 16, 17; primitive, as de-
duced from comparative philology,
431; original Vedic or Aryan,
inter-glacial, 439-444.
Climate, geological, equable and uni-
form over the whole earth till the
end of the Pliocene period, 21;
sudden change in, during the
Pleistocene, 22; cold, in the gla-
cial, and mild, in the inter-glacial
period, 23, 24.
Coins, bronze, in use amongst un-
divided Aryans, 442.
Comparative, Mythology and Philo-
logy, q. v.
Couvade, the Irish custom of, 329,
405, 407.
Corpses, the custom of not disposing
of, during winter, 73-77, 271-275,
Cows, the three-fold meaning of, in
the Vedas, 201, 202; the sacri-
ficial session of, lasting for ten
months, 194-198; its nature
explained, 200 f.
Cow-stable, seven-fold and ten-fold,
343.
Cow's Walk, See Gavâm ayanam.
Croll, Dr., his theory about the cause

472 GENERAL INDEX.
of the Glacial period, 27-31; his
three periods of the maximum ec-
centricity of the earth's orbit,
32; his estimate of the duration
and commencement of the Glacial
period, 33; questioned by Ball
and Newcomb, 33; by Geikie
and Hudlestone, 35.
Cuchulainn, the Celtic Sun-hero,
making love to a number of
Dawns, 393, 394; his encounters
with the Fomori or the Fir Bolg,
405; unaffected by couvade,
406; fighting without rest for
several days, 406, 407.
Culture, primitive, See Civilization.
Currents, oceanic and aerial, effects
of, on climate, 21.
DAITYA, the meaning of, in the
Vendidad 1, 3-4, 362; a river
in the Bundahish, otherwise
called Dâitik, 362, 363.
Darkness, of the Polar night, nature
of, 47; ghastly and sunless, as
Vṛitra's stronghold, in the Ṛig-
Veda, 125, 247; long, too long,
the end of, 125; Agni living long
in, 127, 317; Indra driving the
Asuras from, 213; Arctic,
synchronous with winter, 273-
279; daily and annual struggle
between it and light, 242, 296,
406; proteges of the Ashvins
condemned to, 304, 305; the
sun dwelling in 321, 322.
Dakshiṇâ, the mother of the sun, 145.
Dakshiṇâyana, or Pitṛiyâna, night
of gods, 67; death during, in-
auspicious, 75; Bâdarâyaṇa's
view of, 76; parallel tradition in
the Avesta, 77.
Darmesteter, Prof., the translator of
Vendidad and Yasht, his rendering
of the Vendidad I and II, 72; on
the nature of the legend of Tish-
trya, 223; does not explain why
the appointed time of Tishtrya
varies from one to a hundred
nights, 224; his rendering of Tîr
Yasht, para 36, 226; his view of
the same single source of waters
and light, 266; on the cessation of
the flow of waters in winter, 271;
on the transference of the name
Hapta hindu to a new settlement,
289; on the meaning of Dâitya in
Vend. I, 362; his identification of
the Airyana Vaêjo examined and
rejected, 360-365.
Dâsa, Vṛitra, 140, 143.
Dashadyu, a protege of Indra, 341,
346.
Dashagvas, a species of the Aṅgi-
rases, 342-344; See Navagvas.
Dashamâya, an enemy of Indra, 342,
346.
Dashame yage, meaning of (in Ṛig.
I, 158, 6), 177.
Dasha prapitve, meaning of (in Ṛig.
VI., 31, 3), 322-326.
Dâsharâjña, Indra's fight with ten
kings, 345 f.
Dasharatha, 347.
Dashashipra, an enemy of Indra, 342,
Dashoṇi, an enemy of Indra, 341-
346.
Dawn, two months' duration of, at
the pole, 47, 48; revolving splend-
ours of, 49, 50; why styled Dak-
shiṇâ, 145; the first, commenc-
ing the mânushâ yugâ, 176; why
addressed in the plural number in
the Vedas, 95 f; in the Lettish;
Greek and Celtic mythologies,
393; the dying torch of, in the
Finnish mythology, 404; as a
Vedic Deity, See Uṣhas.

GENERAL INDEX. 473
Dawn-theory, 3 ; its scope and ap-
plication, 240-242.
Day, longer than 24 hours in the
Arctic regions, 55 ; six-monthly,
in the Tâittirîya Brâhmaṇa, 70 ;
in the Avesta, 71 ; in Manu and
Mahâbhârata, 68, 69 ; originally
a real observation, 73; of the gods,
See, Night of the gods.
Day and Night, a dual deity in the
Vedas, 131 ; two such dual deities
135 ; diurnal changes in, over the
globe stated, 137; the existence of
two dual deities explainable only
on the Arctic theory, 137, 138.
Death, inauspiciousness of, in the
Dakshiṇâyana, 75 ; in winter in
the Parsi scriptures, 77, 273.
Debris, glacial, its action and ex-
tent 23.
December, the tenth and the last
month in the ancient Roman year,
its reason explained, 198, 395 ;
denotes an ancient Arctic year of
ten months, 200.
Deities, Vedic, pre-glacial in origin
and character, 433.
Deluge, the Avestic account of,
379 f; the story of, in the Shata-
patha Brâhmaṇa, 385 ; said to be
of water and not ice, 387 ; Greek
account of, 388 ; compared with
the Avestic, account 389 ; See
Glacial period.
Demeter, the mother-earth rejoicing
for six months in the presence of
Proserpine, 398.
Deukaliôn, saved from the deluge in
Greek mythology, 388.
Devayâna and Pitṛiyâna, originally
representing the two-fold division
of the year at the Pole, 73, 74 ;
the path of the gods, same as
the path of Mazda in the Avesta,
75 ; Vṛitra killed on the borders
of, 251.
Dhîtis, prayers, seven-fold and ten-
fold, 342.
Dîrghatamas, the legend of, in the
Mahâbhârata, 170 ; in the Ṛig-
Veda, id; saved by Ashvins, 171;
becoming decrepit in the tenth
yuga, 171 f; means the sun dis-
appearing after riding on aerial
waters for ten months, 177, 178;
a solar legend of Arctic origin,
178, 231, 256, 306, 319, 351.
Divine, years, the theory of, 423-
426 ; See, year.
Divishti, striving for the day, 246.
Divodâsa, the father of Sudâs, 345.
Dixit, the late Mr. S. B., on the
equinox in the Kṛittikâs, 44, 422.
Durga, a commentator on Yâska, 134.
Dvâdashâha, a twelve days' sacrifice,
how made up, 276.
Dvâpara, the third yuga in Purâṇic
mythology, duration and nature
of, 422-426.
Dvita, the Second, a brother of Tri-
ta, 334.
Dyotana, an enemy of Indra, 342.
EARTH, classification of stratified
rocks on the surface of, 11 ;
climate on, in early geological
times, 21 ; obliquity of its axis
producing seasons, id.; change in
the position of axis improbable,
25 ; diminishing heat of, 26 ;
eccentricity of its orbit producing
glacial periods, according to Dr.
Croll, 28, 29; Dr. Ball's estimate
of the average heat received by
each of its hemispheres, 32;
maximum value of the eccentri-
city of its orbit, 73; three-fold
in the Vedas and the Avesta, 260

474 GENERAL INDEX.
seven-fold, nine-fold and ten-fold,
343.
Edda, a Norse epic poem, 'death of
Anses in, 406.
Eden, the garden of, in the Bible,
410.
Egypt, the historic period in, 2, 12,
14, 37; no trace of glaciation in,
14.
Ekâha, a Soma-sacrifice lasting for
a single day, 206.
Ekâshṭakâ, the mother of Indra, 118.
Ekata, the First, a brother of Trita,
334.
Eleven-fold, division of gods in the
Vedas, 290, 343.
Equinoxes, precision of, 28; cy-
cle of, 29; used as a Vedic chro-
nometer, 44.
Eras, geological, climate in earlier,
21; See Ages.
Euripides, on the fountain of the
world's waters, 276.
Evans, 7.
FATHERS, our ancient, in the Vedas,
160.
Fauna, and Flora, fossil, distinguish
different geological eras, 11; indi-
cate warm climate in early times,
21.
Fedelm, of nine forms, in Celtic
mythology, 401.
Finland, once thought to be the
Aryan home, 409, 417.
Finns, not the originators of the
Aryan speech, 18, 19; the circu-
lation of cosmic waters in the
mythology of, 276.
Fir-age, archæological, 12.
Fir-Bolg, See Fomori.
Fish, the, saved by Manu and in turn
the saviour of Manu, 386;
Five, milkings, 119; seasons, 182 f.
Floods, during deluges, probably
glacial in origin, 386.
Fomori, the Irish representatives
of darkness, 405.
Foods, seven and ten, 342.
Forseti, Baldur's son, his long sit-
tings at the court, 408.
Fravashis, shewing the path of
Mazda to the sun, 75; correspond
to Vedic Pitṛis, 270; said to
have shown the way to the waters
and the sun in the Avesta, 271.
GAVAM-AYANAM, a ten-months' year-
ly sacrifice, or the Cow's Walk,
162; of ten months in the Aita-
reya Brâhmaṇa, 194; in the
Tâittirîya Saṁhitâ 195, 196; its
ten months' duration said to be an
immemorial custom, 197; repre-
sents the ancient Arctic year,
198; compared with the old
Roman year of ten months, 199;
meaning of cows (gavâm) in, 200-
202; the type of yearly sacrifices,
207; an outline scheme of, 208;
supplemented by night-sacrifices,
215 f., 229, 231, 394.
Geikie, Prof., 7; on the commence-
ment of the post-Glacial period,
14; five glacial and four inter-gla-
cial periods according to, 23, 36,
38; on the glacial and inter-gla-
cial climate in the Arctic regions,
24; on Dr. Croll's theory, 35.
Geldner, Prof., 323.
Geology, eras and periods in, enume-
rated and described, 11, 12; co-
relation of geological and archæo-
logical ages, 12; Iron, Bronze and
Neolithic included in the post-
Glacial period and Palæolithic in
the Pleistocene or the Glacial, 11;
the date of the commencement-

GENERAL INDEX. 475

of the post-Glacial period
in, 13; evidence and extent
of glaciation in the glacial period,
13, 23; climate in the early ages
of, 21-24; causes of a succession
of glacial periods in, 25; Dr.
Croll's view 28-34; estimate of
the duration of the glacial period,
36; latest researches in, summary
of, 37, 38; supports the Avestic
account of the deluge of snow
and ice, 383, 384. See Archæolo-
gy, Climate, Glacial period.
Gharma, a sacrificial pot, 190.
Ghoshâ, a protege of the Ashvins,
302.
Gilbert, Mr., his view regarding the
commencement of the post-glacial
period, 13.
Giri, a mountain, misinterpretation
of, See Parvata.
Glacial, epoch or period, discovery
of its evidence, 4; nature of the
evidence of, 22; existence of two,
with an intervening interglacial,
conclusively established, 23; ex-
tent of glaciation in Europe and
America, 23; climate cold in gla-
cial, warm in interglacial, 24;
various theories regarding the
cause of, 25; Lyell's theory and
estimate about its duration, 26;
Croll's theory and esimate about
its duration, 27-33; long duration
of, 36; Avestic evidence in proof
of 379 f.
Glaciation, in northern Europe and
America, 13, 23; traces of, not
yet discovered in northern
Asia, 14.
Go, a Soma-sacrifice, 207.
Gods, the six-monthly night of, in
astronomical works, 67; in Manu
and Mahâbhârata, 69; in the
Taittirîya Brâhmaṇa, 70; in the
Ṛig-Veda, 73-75; in other Aryan
mythologies, 78; eleven-fold divi-
sion of, in the Vedas, 290, 343;
temporary sickness or affliction
of in ancient mythology, 406-
408.
Go-ishṭi, the meaning of, 245.
Gotama, a Vedic sage, 347.
Grassmann, Prof., 171, 323.
Griffith, Mr., his interpretation of
Ṛig-Vedic verses stated and exa-
mined, 86, 89, 91, 101, 116,
133, 140, 141, 174, 180.
Grill, on the German world-river,
276.
Grote, his account of deluge in the
Greek mythology, 388.
Gulf-stream, its effect on climate,
21, 25.
Gwin, and Gwythur, fighting for
the same damsel and having her
in turn, 397, 398.
HADES, conceived as turned upside
down, 307.
Hanûmân, a Purâṇic deity, traced
to Vṛishâkapi, 348.
Hapta-Hindu, Avestic name fo
Sapta Sindhavah, its origin and
meaning explained, 288-293; See
Sapta Sindhavah.
Hara-Berezaiti, a mountain in the
Avesta; See Alburz.
Haug, Dr. 150, 356, 359, 365, 455.
Heavens, spinning round of, in the
Ṛig Veda, 65.
Hebrews, their belief in the exist-
ence of celestial waters, 265, 278.
Heeren, Prof., 356.
Hêlios, the sun, his 350 oxen and
sheep, 202, 310, 394; sailing
from west to east in a golden
boat, 275.
Hemispheres, the two celestial,
upper and lower, referred to and