The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c11.5

Language: English

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Sāyaṇa's explanation, as I have above observed, may be good from the ritualistic standpoint; but we cannot, for other purposes, accept an interpretation which makes the 'fourth' to mean the 'tenth' verse of the hymn! Thus understood the hymn clearly indicates that at the time when the observation was taken the Vedic priests were tolerably well acquainted with the elementary astronomical facts. It is, however, suggested that the planets were unknown in these days. I am unable to accept even this statement. It is impossible to suppose that the Vedic poets, who constantly watched and observed the various Nakshatras in the Zodiac, should not have noticed planets like Venus, Jupiter, or Saturn, which outshine many of the Nakshatras in brilliancy. The periodical appearance of Venus in the west and the east, and especially its rising only to a certain altitude followed by its regress, are facts too striking to remain unnoticed even by the superficial observers of the heaven. But we must not go on mere probabilities. The hymns of the Rigveda are before us, and though probabilities may serve the purpose of determining the direction of our search, yet if we cannot find any reference to the planets in the Vedic works themselves we must give up the notion that they were known to the poets of these hymns. There is no question that planets were known in the days of the Brāhmaṇas. In the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa (iii. 1. 1.

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5) we are told that Brihaspati (Jupiter) was first born* near the asterism of Tishya, and to this day the conjunction of Tishya and Jupiter is considered as highly auspicious in the astrological works. We have, however, to look for any allusion to the planets in the Rigveda itself. The mention of the five bulls in Rig. i. 105. 10 may not be considered as sufficiently explicit to denote the five planets ;* but what shall we say to the mention of Shukra and Manthin together in Rig. iii. 32. 2 and ix. 46. 4? They seem to be evident references to the vessels called Shukra and Manthin used in sacrifices and have been so interpreted by the commentators. But as I have before observed, the vessels in the sacrifice themselves appear to have derived their names from the heavenly bodies and deities known at the time. It is generally conceded that the sacrificial arrangements more or less represent the motions of the sun† and the chief events of the year. In other words, the yearly sacrifice is nothing but a symbolical representation or rather imitation of the sun's yearly course. If so, it is natural to suppose that some of the sacrificial vessels at least were named after the Nakshatras and the planets. In the Taittirîya Sanhitâ iii 1. 6. 3. the vessels are spoken of as 'the vessels of Shukra,' 'the vessels of Manthin,' and so on, which indicates that Shukra and Manthin were not used as adjectives of the vessels.

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The only other explanation is to suppose that Shukra, Manthin, Âgrayana, &c, were the names of Soma juice, and that the vessels used for holding that juice in its various capacities, were described as the vessels of Shukra, &c. There is, however, no authority in the sacrificial literature for holding that Soma really had so many and such different capacities; and I therefore conclude that the mention of Shukra and Manthin, as applied to vessels, in the Rigveda is a clear indication of the planets being then discovered. There is, however, in my opinion, a more explicit reference to a planet in the Rigveda which does not seem to have yet been noticed. In the tenth Mandala we have a hymn (123) dedicated to Vena which according to Yâska denotes a deity of the middle region. Yâska (Nirukta 10. 38) derives the word from ven 'to love,' 'to desire,' and explains it as denoting, as his commentator Durgâchârya says, "loved by all;"* while the hymn itself contains such expressions as the "son of the sun," "on the top of rita," "comes out of the ocean like a wave," † &c., which have been variously interpreted by the commentators. But from all these facts I think we have herein the original Aryan name of Venus.

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The word, or rather the meaning I have here proposed, is entirely lost in the Sanskrit literature, but considering the fact that the Latins named the planet as Venus, while the word cannot be satisfactorily derived from any Latin root,‡ there can be no objection to identify Venus with the Vena (nom. sin. Venas) in the Vedic works. In the Latin mythology Venus is the goddess of love, and this we can now easily account for, as the name of the Vedic deity is derived from a root which means "to desire," "to love." I may again point out that the hymn of Vena in the Rigveda, is used in sacrifices at the time, when the priest takes up the vessel Shukra in the sacrificial ceremonies. Kâtyâyana, indeed, mentions the optional use of the hymn for taking up the vessel of Manthin.† But that does not much alter the position, for, when the meaning of the word was utterly forgotten the hymn might come to be used for a different purpose in addition to the previous one. The fact, that the Vena hymn was used in taking up the Shukra vessel is, therefore, an important indication of its old meaning, and when we find the name actually preserved till now indicating the planet Venus, and that this name cannot be satisfactorily derived in any other way, we might fairly infer that Vena of the Rigveda is Venus of the Latin mythology.

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As regards the change of gender we need not consider it to be a serious objection inasmuch as not only Venus, but also the moon has changed in gender in its passage to Europe. As a further proof of the statement that the planets, or at any rate Shukra, was discovered and named in the primitive period, I refer to the Greek word *Kupris* (Latin *Cypris*) which means Venus. The word can be easily identified with Sanskrit *Shukra* which, according to the well-established phonetic rules, becomes *Kupros* in Greek, the initial *sh* being changed to *k*, as in Sk. *shvan*, Gk. *kuon* and the medial *kr* to *pr* by labialisation, cf. Gk.