The Arctic Home in the Vedas c16.42.3

c16.42.3

thus, in I, 32, 1, the poet opens his song with a clear statement that he is going to sing those exploits of Indra which were achieved at first (prathamâni) or in early times, and the adjectives pûrvyâni and pûrvih are applied to Indra's exploits in I, 11, 3, and I, 61, 13. The achievements of the Ashvins are similarly said to be pûrvyâni in I, 117, 25; and the long list of the exploits given in this hymn clearly shows that the poet is here rather summarising the exploits traditionally known to him than enumerating events witnessed by himself or by his forefathers in the near past. This is also evident from the fact that the ancient Rishis mentioned in the hymns, like the Angirases or Vasishtha, are believed to have been invested with supernatural powers (VII, 33, 7-13), or to have lived and conversed with (I, 179, 2), or shared in the enjoyments of the gods (Devânâm sadhamâdah, VII, 76, 4). They are also said to be the earliest guides (pathikrit, X, 14, 15) for future generations. It is impossible to suppose that Vedic poets could have ascribed such superhuman character to their ancestors in the near past; and we are, therefore, led to the conclusion that the ancestors here spoken of were the ante-diluvian ancestors (nah pûrve pitarah) who completed their sacrifices in the Arctic year of 7 or 10 months. And what is true of the ancestors applies as well to the ancient deities mentioned in the hymns.