The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c11.22

c11.22

Here the Ṛibhus, awakened from their sleep and rest for twelve days, ask "Agohya! Who is it that awakened us?"‡ The goat (the sun) replies that it is the "hound." Sâyaṇa understands *shvânam* to mean 'wind,' but there is no authority for it and the meaning is perfectly unnatural. In fact Sâyaṇa may be said to have failed to interpret the verse correctly. Ludwig and Grassmann both translate it by ‘hound,’ but neither of them explains what it signifies. There is again some difference of opinion as to whether the word *samvatsare* should be taken with *bodhayitâram* or with *vyakhyata*. But whichsoever construction we adopt the meaning remains the same, since it is the same thing if the Ribhus are said to be awakened at the end of the year and then commenced their course, or they awakened and then looked up at the beginning of the new year, or in other words, commenced their new-year’s course. Practically, therefore, all agree in holding that the awakening of the Ribhus here referred to is their awakening at the end of the year, after they have enjoyed sound sleep and rest in the house of Agohya for twelve (intercalary) days, and the only question that remains is, who is the hound or the dog that awakens them? We have seen that the Ribhus were the genii of the seasons and that as companions of the sun they worked wonders during the whole course of the year. But as it was a lunar year, 12 days were intercalated at the end of each year to make it correspond with the solar year. These 12 days belonged neither to the old nor to the new year, and the Ribhus were therefore naturally believed to suspend work during this *neutral* period and spend it in rest and enjoyment in the house of Agohya. When the whole legend has thus a chronological signification it is natural to hold that the hound, here alluded to, must be some constellation in the heavens, and if so, after what has been said in the previous chapters about it, what could it be except Canis Major or the Dog-star? The end of the year here referred to is evidently the end of the three seasons, represented by the three Ribhus, and we must, therefore, take it to mean the end of the equinoctial year or the beginning of Vasanta, the first of the seasons. Durgâchârya in his commentary on Nirukta 11. 16 explains the phrase samvatsare (in Rig. i. 110. 4) in the same way. As I have already discussed the subject before,* I do not here repeat the grounds on which I hold that the year, in primitive times commenced with the vernal equinox. Prof. Ludwig has made a happy suggestion that âbhogaya, which the Ribhus are said to desire (Rig i. 110. 2) before they commence their career and reach the house of the sun, should be interpreted in its ordinary sense to mean the bend or the inclination of the ecliptic with the equator. Our investigation based upon independent facts leads us to the same conclusion. In short, the whole story of the Ribhus, as we find it recorded in the Rigveda, directly establishes the fact that at the time when this legend was formed the year commenced with the vernal equinox in Canis Major or the Dog-star. It is highly improbable, if not impossible, to give any other reasonable interpretation to the verse in question, whether we understand the Ribhus to mean the three seasons of the year or the rays of the sun as Yâska and Sâyaṇa have done. With the vernal equinox near the Dog-star, the winter solstice would fall on the full-moon in Phâlguna and Mṛigashiras would head the list of the Nakshatras. Our interpretation of the verse in question is, therefore, fully warranted by the traditions about the ancient year beginnings given in the Taittirîya Sanhitâ and the Brâhmaṇas.