The Arctic Home in the Vedas c12.35

c12.35

There are other passages in the Rig-Veda which fully support the same view. Thus corresponding to the *rajasi*, or the two *rajas*, we have another expression in the dual, namely, *ubhau ardhau*, which literally denotes ‘the two halves,’ and when applied to heaven, ‘the two celestial hemispheres.’ The expression *ardhau* occures in II, 27, 15, and the two halves are there asked to be propitious to the sacrificer. Wallis, however, interprets *ubhau ardhau* to mean ‘heaven and earth’. But this is a mistake for there is a passage in the Rig-Veda where we have the phrases *pare ardhe* (in the farther half) and *upare ardhe* (in the nearer half) of heaven (*divaḥ*), showing that the heaven alone (and not heaven and earth) was conceived as divided into two halves (I, 164, 12). A few verses later on (I, 164, 17), the cow with her calf (the dawn with the sun) is described as having appeared below the upper and above the lower realm, *i. e.*, between heaven and earth, and a question is then asked “To what half (*ardham*) has she departed?” which again shows that the *ardham* here referred to is quite distinct from heaven and earth. In the Atharva Veda, X, 8, 7 and 13, the ‘two halves’ are referred to, and the poet asks, “Prajâpati with one half (*ardham*) engendered all creation; what sign is there to tell us of the other half?” Here the other half cannot mean the earth; and Griffith accordingly explains it as referring to the sun at night. Another expression used to denote the upper and the lower world is *samudrau*, or the two oceans, (X, 136, 5). These two oceans are said to be one on this side (*avara*) and one on the other (*para*) side in VII, 6, 7; and a yonder ocean (*parâvati samudre*) is mentioned in VIII, 12, 17. I have already quoted above the passages which speak of the bright *arṇaḥ* or ocean (V, 45, 10), and of *arṇava* or an ocean pervaded with darkness (I, 23, 18). The two words *parastât* and *avastât* are also employed to convey the same idea. They denote a region on the nearer side and a region on the farther side. Thus in VIII, 8, 14, *parâvat* region is contrasted with *ambara* or the heaven above, and in III, 55, 6, the sun is described as sleeping in the *parâvat* region. We have seen above that Savitṛi is said to come up from the *parâvat* region, and that he moves through the dark region before ascending the sky. The two words *parâvat* and *arvâvat* thus separately denote the same regions that are jointly denoted by the dual words *rajasî*, *ardhau* or *samudrau*; and when both the upper and the lower hemispheres were intended the word *ubhayataḥ* was employed. Thus in III, 53, 5, we read, “O Maghavan! O brother Indra! go beyond (*parâ*) and come hither (*â*), you are wanted in both places, (*ubhayatra*).” The passages where Savitṛi is described as going round the night on both sides is already referred to above.