A History of Sanskrit Literature c8.71

c8.71

The thirteenth or intercalary month, contrasted with the twelve others conceived as pairs, is thus darkly alluded to: "Of the co-born they call the seventh single-born; sages call the six twin pairs god-born." The latter expression probably alludes to the intercalary month being an artificial creation of man. In the later Vedic age it became a practice to propound such enigmas, called "theological problems" (*brahmodya*), in contests for intellectual pre-eminence when kings instituted great sacrifices or Brahmans were otherwise assembled together.