The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c11.4

c11.4

∗ Prof. Ludwig has tried to deduce the date of the hymn from this circumstance. But the attempt is a failure as shewn by Prof. Whitney (see the Proceedings of the American Oriental Society, Vol XIII. pp. 17 22) As the eclipses recur in the same order after a certain period, we cannot use such facts for chronological purposes without knowing the geographical position of the place where the eclipse occurred, and even then the conclusion will be correct only if it can be shown on independent grounds that such a phenomenon did not occur at that place during several centuries before or after the date we determine. I, therefore, simply use the hymn for the purpose of showing that an eclipse of the sun was observed in those days in such a way as to leave a record behind. It would be difficult to deduce any other reliable conclusion from it even upon the assumption, not known and hence not used by Prof. Ludwig, that the vernal equinox was then in Orion and that the eclipse occurred three days before the autumnal equinox as described in the Brāhmaṇas. I cannot, however, accept the suggestion that the hymn may be understood as referring to the obscuration of the sun by clouds.