The Arctic Home in the Vedas c8.28

c8.28

I have followed Sâyaṇa in splitting *jâra-iva* of the *Saṃhitâ* text into *jâre+iva*, and not *jâraḥ+iva* as Śâkala as done in the *Pada* text; for *jâre+iva* makes the simile more appropriate than if we were to compare *uṣhas* with *jâraḥ*. Literally rendered the verse, therefore, means, "Verily, many were those days, which were aforetime at the uprising of the sun, and about which, O Dawn! thou hast seen moving on, as towards a lover, and not like one (woman) who forsakes." I take *pari* with *yataḥ*, meaning that the dawn goes after the days. *Yataḥ pari*, thus construed, means 'after which,' or 'about which.' Sâyaṇa takes *pari* with *dadṛikṣhe*, and Griffith renders *yataḥ* by 'since.' But these constructions do not materially alter the meaning of the second half of the verse, though taking *pari* with *yataḥ* enables us to take the second line as an adjectival clause, rendering the meaning more plain. In IV, 52, 1, the Dawn is said to shine after her sister (*svasuḥ pari*), and *pari*, with an ablative, does not necessarily denote 'from' in every case, but is used in various senses, as, for instance, in III, 5, 10, where the phrase *Bhṛigubhyaḥ pari* occurs, and is rendered by Grassmann as equivalent to 'for the sake of Bhṛigus,' while Sâyaṇa paraphrases *pari* by *paritaḥ* 'round about.' In the verse under consideration we can, therefore, take *pari* with *yataḥ*, and understand the expression as meaning 'after, about or around which (days).' It must also be borne in mind that there must be an expression to correspond with *jâre* in the simile, and this we get only if we construe *yataḥ pari* in the way proposed above. If we now analyse the verse it will be found to be made up of three clauses, one principal and two adjectival. The principal statement asserts that those days were many. The demonstrative 'those' (*tâni*) is then followed by two relative clauses, *yâ prâchînam* &c., and *yataḥ pari* &c. The first of these states that the days referred to in the principal clause were those that 'preceded the rising of the sun.' But if the days preceded the rising of the sun, one might think that they were pervaded with darkness. The poet, therefore, further adds, in the second relative clause, that though these days were anterior to the rising of the sun, yet they were such that ‘the Dawn was seen to move after or about them as after a lover, and not like a woman who forsakes.’ In short, the verse states in unmistakable terms (1) that many days (*bahulâni ahâni*) passed between the appearance of the first morning beams and sunrise, and (2) that these days were faithfully attended by the Dawn, meaning that the whole period was one of continuous Dawn which never vanished during the time. The words as they stand convey no other meaning but this, and we have now to see how far it is intelligible to us.