The Arctic Home in the Vedas c10.44

Language: English

c10.44.1

An independent corroboration of the conclusion we have drawn from the legends of the Dashagvas and Dîrghatamas is furnished by the number of seasons mentioned in certain Vedic texts. A period of sunshine of ten months followed by a long night of two months can well be described as five seasons of two months each, followed by the sinking of the sun into the waters below the horizon; and as a matter of fact we find the year so described in I, 164,12, a verse, which occurs also in the Atharva Veda (IX, 9, 12) with a slight variation and in the Prashnopanishad, I, 11. It may be literally translated as follows:— "The five-footed (*pañcha-pâdam*) Father of twelve forms, they say, is full of watery vapours (*purîṣiṇam*) in the farther half (*pare ardhe*) of the heaven. These others again say (that) He the far-seeing (*vichakṣaṇam*) is placed on the six-spoked (*ṣaḍ-are*) and seven-wheeled (*car*), in the nearer (*upare*, scil. *ardhe*) half of the heaven." 1 The adjective 'far-seeing' is made to qualify 'seven-wheeled' instead of 'He' in the Atharva Veda, *vichakṣaṇe* being in the locative case; while Śaṅkarâchârya in his commentary on the Prashnopanishad splits *upare* into two words *u* and *pure*, taking *u* as an expletive. But these readings do not materially alter the meaning of the verse. The context everywhere clearly indicates that the year-god of twelve months (*âkṛiti*, X, 85, 5) is here described. The previous verse in the hymn (Rig.

c10.44.2

I, 164) mentions "The twelve-spoked wheel, in which 720 sons of Agni are established," a clear reference to a year of twelve months with 720 days and nights. There is, therefore, no doubt that the passage contains the description of the year, and the two halves of the verse, which are introduced by the phrases 'they say' and 'others say,' give us two opinions about the nature of the year-god of twelve forms. Let us now see what these opinions are. Some say that the year-god is five-footed (pañcha-pâdam), that is, divided into five seasons; and the others say that he has a six-spoked car, or six seasons. It is clear from this that the number of seasons was held to be five by some and six by others in early days. Why should there be this difference of opinion? The Aitareya Brâhmaṇa I, 1, (and the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ I, 6, 2, 3) explains that the two seasons of Hemanta and Shishira together made a joint season, thereby reducing the number of seasons from six to five. But this explanation seems to be an afterthought, for in the Shatapatha Brâhmaṇa, XIII, 6, 1, 10, Varṣhâ and Sharad are compounded for this purpose instead of Hemanta and Shishira. This shews that in the days of the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ and the Brâhmaṇas it was not definitely known or settled which two seasons out of six should be compounded to reduce the number to five;

c10.44.3

but as five seasons were sometimes mentioned in the Vedas, some explanation was felt to be necessary to account for the smaller number, and such explanation was devised by taking together any two consecutive seasons out of six and regarding them as one joint season of four months. But the explanation is too vague to be true; and we cannot believe that the system of compounding any two seasons according to one's choice was ever followed in practice. We must, therefore, give up the explanation as unsatisfactory, and see if the verse from the Ṛig-Veda, quoted above, enables us to find out a better explanation of the fact that the seasons were once held to be five. Now the first half of this verse describes the five-footed father as full of watery vapours in the farther part of heaven, while the year of six-spoked car is said to be far-seeing. In short, *purīṣiṇam* (full of, or dwelling in, waters) in the first line appears to be a counterpart of *vi-chakṣaṇam* (far-seeing) in the second line. This is made clear by the verses which follow. Thus the 13th verse in the hymn speaks of "the five-spoked wheel" as remaining entire and unbroken though ancient; and the next or the 14th verse says that "the unwasting wheel with its felly revolves; the ten draw (it) yoked over the expanse. The sun's eye goes covered with *rajas* (aerial vapour);

c10.44.4

all worlds are dependent on him."[1] Comparing this with the 11th verse first quoted, it may be easily seen that *purīṣiṇam* (full of watery vapours) and *rajasā āvṛitam* (covered with *rajas*) are almost synonymous phrases, and the only inference we can draw from them is that the five-footed year-god or the sun went to dwell in watery vapours *i. e.* became invisible, or covered with darkness (*rajas*), for some time in the farther part of the heaven. The expression that "The ten, yoked, draw his carriage," (also cf. Ṛig. IX, 63, 9) further shows that the five seasons were not made by combining any two consecutive seasons out of six as explained in the Brāhmaṇas (for in that case the number of horses could not be called ten), but that a real year of five seasons or ten months was here intended. When the number of seasons became increased to six, the year-god ceased to be *purīṣin* (full of waters), and became *vichakṣaṇam* or far-seeing. We have seen that the sun, as represented by Dīrghatamas, grew old in the tenth month, and riding on aerial waters went into the ocean. The same idea is expressed in the present verse which describes two different views about the nature of the year, one of five, and the other of six seasons, and contrasts their leading features with each other.