The Arctic Home in the Vedas c10.37

c10.37

But if *mânushâ yugâ* means ‘human ages’ and not ‘human generations,’ we have still to determine the exact duration of these ages. In the Atharva-Veda VIII, 2, 21, which says, “We allot to thee, a hundred, ten thousand years, two, three or four *yugas*,” the word *yuga* obviously stands for a period of time, not shorter than ten thousand years. But there are grounds to hold that in the early days of the Rig-Veda *yuga* must have denoted a shorter period of time, or, at least, that was one of its meanings in early days. The Rig-Veda often speaks of ‘the first’ (prathamâ) dawn, or ‘the first of the coming’ (âyatînâm prathamâ) dawns, (Rig. I, 113, 8 ; 123, 2 ; VII, 76, 6 ; X, 35, 4) ; while ‘the last’ (avamâ) dawn is mentioned in VII, 71, 3, and the dawn is said to have ‘the knowledge of the first day’ in I, 123, 9. Now, independently of what I have said before about the Vedic dawns, the ordinal numeral ‘first’ as applied to the dawn is intelligible only if we suppose it to refer to the first dawn of the year, or the dawn on the first day of the year, somewhat like the phrase ‘first night’ (prathamâ râtrih) used in the Brâhmanas (see Orion, p. 67). The ‘first’ (prathamâ) and the ‘last’ (avamâ) dawn must, therefore, be taken to signify the beginning and the end of the year in those days ; and in the light of what has been said about the nature of the Vedic dawns in the fifth chapter, we may safely conclude that the ‘first’ of the dawns was no other than the first of a set or group of dawns that appeared at the close of the long night and commenced the year. Now this ‘first dawn’ is described as “wearing out human ages” (praminatî manushyâ yugâni) in I, 124, 2, and I, 92, 11 ; while in I, 115, 2, we are told that “the pious or godly men extend the yugas” on the appearance of the dawn (yatrâ naro devayanto yugâni vitanvate). European scholars interpret yuga in the above passages to mean ‘generations of men.’ But apart from the fact that the phrase mânushâ yugâ must be understood to mean ‘human ages’ in at least two passages discussed above, the context in I, 124, 2 and I, 92, 11 is obviously in favour of interpreting the word yuga, occurring therein, as equivalent to a period of time. The dawn is here described as commencing a new course of heavenly ordinances, or holy sacrifices (daivyani vratâni), and setting in motion the manushyâ yugâni, obviously implying that with the first dawn came the sacrifices, as well as the cle of time known as ‘human ages,’ or that ‘the human ages’ were reckoned from the first dawn. This association of *mânushâ yugâ*, or ‘human ages,’ with the ‘first dawn’ at once enables us to definitely determine the length or duration of ‘human ages’; for if these ages (*yugas*) commenced with the first dawn of the year they must have ended on the last (*avamâ*) dawn of the year. In other words *mânushâ yugâ* collectively denoted the whole period of time between the first and the last dawn of the year, while a single *yuga* denoted a shorter division of this period.