The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c6.58

c6.58

†एकं वा एतदेवानामहः । यत्संवत्सरः । It is however extremely hazardous to base any theory upon this. Traditions like these have been cited as indicating the fact the North Pole was inhabited in old days! Similar other traditions are said to indicate the existence of a pre glacial period. Is it not more probable to suppose that when uttarâyana and dakshinâyana came to be first distinguished, they were respectively named 'day' and 'night' with a qualifying word to mark their special nature? The history of languages shews that when people come across new ideas they try to name them in old words. The Uttarâyana and the Dakshinâyana may have been thus conceived as God's day and night. See infra, Chap. V.