The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c6.13.2

c6.13.2

There are many passages in the Taittirîya and Vâjasaneyi Sanhitâs and also one in the Rigveda‡ wherein the intercalary month is mentioned, and though opinions may differ as to when and how it was inserted, we may, for the purpose of our present inquiry, regard it as undisputed that in the old Vedic days means were devised and adopted to secure the correspondence of the lunar with the solar year. The occurrence of the twelve hallowed nights amongst the Teutons points to the same conclusion. They were in fact the supplementary days (366-354 = 12) required to balance the lunar with the solar year,—a period when the Ribhus, or the genii of the seasons, slackened their course and enjoyed the hospitality of the sun after toiling for a whole year (Rig. i. 33. 7.),* and when Prajâpati, the God of sacrifices, after finishing the old year's sacrifice, prepared himself for the new year's work (Atharva Veda iv. 11. 11.). The sacrificial literature of India still preserves the memory of these days by ordaining that a person wishing to perform a yearly sacrifice should devote 12 days (dvâdashâha) before its commencement to the preparatory rites. These facts, in my opinion, conclusively establish that the primitive Aryans had solved the problem involved in balancing the solar with the lunar year.