The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c8.60

c8.60

important inasmuch as we are here dealing with periods of antiquity when the Indian, the Iranian, and Hellenic Aryas must have lived together, and if our theory is correct it is sure to be corroborated by the customs, practices, and traditions of the other two sections of the Aryan race. I shall in the next two chapters show that there is ample independent evidence of this kind confirmatory of the theory that Mriga-shiras commenced the equinoctial year in those early days. At present I shall only refer to the conclusions of Dr. Geiger as to the nature of what he calls the primitive or the oldest Avesta calendar. He takes *madhyaryo*—which literally means not 'mid-winter,' but 'mid-year'—as his basis and concludes that in the primitive Avesta calendar the year commenced with the summer solstice.∗ This is just what we should expect. The Indian Aryans commenced their year from the winter solstice or the beginning of the Uttarayana and the Iranians, who in such matters always took a diametrically opposite view, naturally commenced it with the summer solstice the beginning of the Dakshinayana, thus bringing the *Bruma* (or the winter solstice) in the middle of the year. But the coincidence does not stop here; and in the light of the old Indian calendar we are in a position to explain some difficult points in the primitive Avesta calendar. The Hindu *pitri-paksha* or the fortnight of the manes commenced with the summer solstice, while the Iranians celebrated their feasts to the manes just at the same time. The first month in their calendar was called *Fravashinam* or the month of the manes, and, according to the primitive calendar determined by Dr. Geiger, this first month, whem the feasts to the manes were celebrated, * began with the summer solstice. Again the fourth month of the Avesta calendar was Tishtryehe or the month of Tistrya, which has been identified with the star Sirius. Counting with Bhâdrapada in the summer solstice, the fourth month in the Hindu calendar would be Mârgashîrsha or the month of Mrigashiras, which Nakshatra is quite near Sirius. We can now also easily explain why Dathusho should have been dedicated to the Creator. Beginning with Fravashinam in the summer solstice, Dathusho begins exactly at the vernal equinox, and as marking the revival of nature it was properly dedicated to the Creator. Roth again was partially correct when he imagined that Dathusho must have once commenced the year inasmuch as it was dedicated to the Creator Ahuramazda. For from the old Hindu calendar we see that the vernal equinox was also a beginning of the year. In the primitive Avesta calendar we can thus discover the traces of the year, beginning with the vernal equinox and also from the summer solstice (in opposition to the Hindu winter solstice) in Bhâdrapada, the month of the manes. These coincidences, especially about the month of the manes, cannot be said to be merely accidental. The worshippers of Ahuramazda changed the commencement of the year from the winter to the summer solstice, but as observed by Roth “a sacred and solemn feast could not be removed from its place in the year,”* and this affords therefore a comparatively reliable ground to identify the Avesta and the Vedic year. We find nothing in the Avesta to explain why the first month of the year should have been devoted to the manes; but, as observed by Dr. Geiger in respect of the legend of Yama, the knowledge of it might in course of time have been lost to the worshippers of Ahuramazda. We can, however, now easily explain it from the statement in the Vedic works that Phālgunī full-moon was once the new year’s night at the winter solstice. I know that such analogies taken singly are of no great practical value, but when from a consideration of the Vedic literature, we arrive at results, which we then find so similar to those arrived at independently by Zend scholars, we may certainly be led to believe that they are not merely accidental.