The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c12.23

c12.23

We next come to the Orion piriod which, roughly speaking extended from 4000 B. C. to 2500 B. C., from the time when the vernal equinox was in the asterism of Ardra to the time when it receded to the asterism of the Krittikâs. This is the most important period in the history of the Aryan civilization. A good many sûktas in the Rigveda (e. g.. that of Vrishâkapi, which contains a record of the begining of the year where the legend was first conceived) were sung at this time, and several legends were either formed anew or developed from the older ones. The Greeks and the Parsis appear to have left the common home during the latter part of this period as they have retained most of these legends, and even the attributes of the constellation of Mrigashiras, otherwise called Agrayâṇa, Orion or the Pauryani. We can now easily understand why no confirmatory evidence about the Krittikâ-period is found either in the Rigveda or in the Greek and Parsi legends and traditions. This was pre-eminently the period of the hymns.