The Arctic Home in the Vedas c12.58

Language: English

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day”; and another is said to be inscribed “On the tenth day, in the sixth fortnight of Grîshma, in the eighth year of king Mâdhariputta, the lord Sîrisena.” ¹ Dr. Bhândârkar, in his *Early History of the Deccan*, has ascertained that Mâdhariputta reigned in the Mahârâshtra from about A. D. 190 to 197, and Puḷumâyi was on the throne of the Mahârâshtra about 60 years earlier, that is, from A. D. 130 to 154. All the inscriptions noted above, therefore, belong to the 2nd century of the Christian era, that is, a long time before the date of Ârya Bhaṭṭa or Varâhamihira, whose works seem to have established, if not introduced, the present system of measuring time by seasons, months, fortnights and days. It is, therefore, clear that eighteen hundred years ago, dates of events were recorded and ascertained by mentioning only the season, the fortnight and the day of the fortnight, without any reference to the month of the year; and we might very well suppose that several centuries before this period these dates were given by a still more simple method, namely, by mentioning only the season and the day of that season. And, as a matter of fact, we do find this method of measuring time, *viz.*, by seasons and days, adopted in the Avesta to mark the particular days of the year.

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Thus in the Âfrigân Gâhanbâr (I, 7-12), as written in some manuscripts mentioned by Westergaard in his notes on the Âfrigân, there is a statement of the different rewards which a Mazdayasnian receives in the next life for what he gives as present in this to the Ratu (religious head); and we have therein such expressions as "On the 45th (day) of Maidhyô-Zaremya, *i. e.*, on (the day) Dae of (the month) Ardibehest;" or "On the 60th (day) of Maidhyôshma, *i. e.*, on (the day) Dae of (the month) Tîr;" and so on. Here each date is given in two different ways: *first*, by mentioning the Gâhanbâr or the season (the year being divided into six Gâhanbârs), and the day of that season; and *secondly*, by mentioning the month and the day of that month. Strictly speaking there is no necessity to adopt this double method of marking the days of the year, for either of them is enough to accurately define the day required. It is, therefore, highly probable, as remarked by Mr.

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Ervad Jamshedji Dadabhai Nadershah, that the method of counting by seasons and days is the older of the two, and the phrases containing the names of months and days are later interpolations, made at a time when the older method was superseded by the latter.¹ But even supposing that the double phrases were used originally, we can, so far as our present purpose is concerned, safely infer from these passages that the method of marking the days of the year by mentioning the season and the day thereof was in vogue at the time when the Âfrigân was written; and if the method is so old, it fully warrants us in interpreting *chatvârimshyâm sharadi* to mean "On the 40th (day) in *Sharad* (autumn)." There can be little doubt that the Vedic bards have recorded in this passage the exact date of the commencement of Indra's fight with Shambara, but in the absence of the true key to its meaning the passage has been so long unfortunately misunderstood and misinterpreted both by Eastern and Western scholars. The grammatical possibility of connecting *chatvârimshyâm*, as an adjective, with *sharadi* helped on this misconception; and though Vedic scholars were unable to explain why Shambara, according to their interpretation, should be described as having been found in the 40th year, yet they seemed to have accepted the interpretation because no other meaning appeared possible to them. The alternative construction proposed by me above is very simple.

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Instead of taking *chatvârimshyâm* as an adjective qualifying *sharadi*, I take the two words as independent locatives, but the change in the meaning caused thereby is very striking and important; and so long as the Arctic theory was unknown, the attention of scholars was not likely to be drawn to this alternative construction.¹ But now we can very well understand why Indra is said to have found Shambara on the 40th (day) of *Sharad*, and why the forts, which gave shelter to the demon, are described as *shâradîḥ*, as well as why Arbuda or the watery demon is said to be killed by ice (*hima*). I have stated before that the forts (*puraḥ*) of Shambara must be understood to mean ‘days,’ and the adjective *shâradîḥ* only serves to strengthen the same view. The disappearance of the sun below the horizon in the beginning of the 8th month in autumn, followed by a long twilight, a continuous dark night of about 100 days, and a long dawn of 30 days in the Arctic regions, is the basis of the legend, and every incident therein can be naturally and intelligibly explained only on this theory.