Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

The Arctic Home in the Vedas c8.s1: Appendix to Chapter V

The Arctic Home in the Vedas c8.s1

Language
English

Appendix to Chapter V

c8.s1.1

THE THIRTY DAWNS.

c8.s1.2

The following are the passages from the Taittirîya Saṃhitâ referred to on page 98:—

c8.s1.3

TAITTIRÎYA SAṂHITÂ, KÂṆḌA IV, PRAPÂTHAKA 3, ANUVÂKA, 11.

c8.s1.4

iyam eva sâ yâ prathamâ vyauchchhad antarasyâṃ charati praviṣṭâ | vadhûrjân navagajjanitrî trayî enâṃ mahimânah sachante || 1 ||

c8.s1.5

chhandasvatî uṣasâ pepishâne samânaṃ yonim anu sañcharantî | sûryapatnî vi charatah prajânatî ketuṃ kṛṇvâne ajare bhûri-retasâ || 2 ||

c8.s1.6

ṛtasya panthâm anu tisra âgu strayo dharmâso anu jyotiṣâ sguḥ | prajâm ekâ rakṣaty ûrjam ekâ vratam ekâ rakṣati devayûnâm || 3 ||

c8.s1.7

chatuṣṭomo abhavad vai turîyâ yajñasya pakṣâv ṛṣayo bhavanti | gâyatrîṃ triṣṭubhaṃ jagatîm anuṣṭubhaṃ bṛhadarkaṃ yuñjânâh suvar âbharanti idam || 4 ||

c8.s1.8

pañchabhir dhâtâ vidadhâti vidvân yat tâ svasṛr ajanayata pañcha pañcha | tâsâm yanti prayaveṇa pañcha nânâ rûpâṇi kṛtavo vasânâh || 5 ||

c8.s1.9

VERSE 1,—This verse, with slight modifications, occurs twice in the Atharva-Veda Saṃhitâ (III, 10, 4; VIII, 9, 11). It runs thus:—

c8.s1.10

iyam eva sâ yâ prathamâ vyauchchhad âsvitarâsu charati praviṣṭâ | mahânto asyâṃ mahimâno antarbhûrjîgâya navagajjanitrî ||

c8.s1.11

VERSES 2, 3, and 4,—The Atharva-Veda reading (VIII, 9, 12—14) is slightly different:—

c8.s1.12

chhandahpakṣe uṣasâ pepishâne samânaṃ yonim anu sañcharete | sûryapatnî sañcharatah prajânatî ketumatî ajare bhûri-retasâ || ṛtasya panthâm anu tisra âgu strayo dharmâ anu ret âguḥ | prajâm ekâ jinvaty ûrjam ekâ râṣṭram ekâ rakṣati devayûnâm || agnîṣomâv adhuṣyâ turiyâsîd yajñasya pakṣâv ṛṣayah kalpayantah | gâyatrîṃ triṣṭubhaṃ jagatîm anuṣṭubhaṃ bṛhadarkîṃ yajamânâya svar âbharantîm ||

c8.s1.13

त्रिंशत्स्वसार उप यन्ति निष्कृतः समानं केतुं प्रतिमुञ्चमानाः । ऋतस्यर्तन्वते कवयः प्रजानतीर्मध्येछन्दसः परि यन्ति भास्वतीः ॥ ६ ॥

c8.s1.14

ज्योतिष्मती प्रति मुञ्चते नभो रात्री देवी सूर्यस्य व्रतानि । वि पश्यन्ति पशवो जायमाना नानारूपा मातुस्या उपस्थे ॥ ७ ॥

c8.s1.15

एकाष्टका तपसा तप्यमाना जजान गर्भं महिमानमिन्द्रम् । तेन दस्यून् व्यसहन्त देवा हन्तासुराणामभवच्छचीभिः ॥ ८ ॥

c8.s1.16

अनानुजामनुजां मार्मकर्त सत्यं वदन्त्यन्विच्छ एतत् । भुयार्समस्य सुमतौ यथा यूयमन्या वो अन्यामति मा प्र यु क्त ॥ ९ ॥

c8.s1.17

अभून्मम सुमतौ विश्ववेदा आष्ट प्रतिष्ठामविद्वद्भि गाधम् । भुयार्समस्य सुमतौ यथा यूयमन्या वो अन्यामति मा प्र यु क्त ॥ १० ॥

c8.s1.18

पञ्च व्युष्टीरनु पञ्च दोहा गां पञ्चनाम्नीमृतवोऽनु पञ्च । पञ्च दिशः पञ्चदशेन क्लृप्ताः समानमूर्ध्नीभि लोकमेकम् ॥ ११ ॥

c8.s1.19

ऋतस्य गर्भः प्रथमा व्युष्युष्पामेकां महिमानं बिभर्ति । सूर्यस्यैका चरति निष्कृतेषु घर्मस्यैका सवितैकां नि यच्छति ॥ १२ ॥

c8.s1.20

या प्रथमा व्यौच्छत् सा धेनुरभवद्यमे । सा नः पर्यस्वती धुक्ष्वोत्तरामुत्तरां समाम् ॥ १३ ॥

c8.s1.21

शुक्रर्षभा नभसा ज्योतिषाऽगाद् विश्वरूपा शबलीरग्निकेतुः । समानमर्थं स्वपस्यमाना बिभ्रती जरमजर उष आगाः ॥ १४ ॥

c8.s1.22

VERSE 8,—This verse is also found in the Atharva-Veda (III, 10, 12); but the reading of the second half is as follows :—
तेन देवा व्यर्षहन्त शत्रून् हन्ता दस्यूनामभवच्छचीपतिः ।

c8.s1.23

VERSE 11,—Compare A. V. VIII. 9, 15. For समानमूर्ध्नीः A. V. reads ता एकमूर्ध्नीः । The rest is the same in both.

c8.s1.24

VERSE 13,—Compare A. V. III, 10, 1. For या प्रथमा व्यौच्छत् A. V. reads प्रथमा ह व्युवास । And for धुक्ष्व A. V. has दुहाम् । Compare also Rig. IV, 57, 7, where the second line is found as in A. V.

c8.s1.25

ऋतूनां पत्नी प्रथमेयागादन्हां नेत्री जनित्री प्रजानाम् । एका सती बहुधोषो व्युच्छस्यजीर्णा त्वं जरयसि सर्वमन्यत् ॥ १५ ॥

c8.s1.26

TAITTIRÎYA SAṀHITÂ, KÂṆḌA V, PRAPÂTHAKA 3, ANUVÂKA 4, SECTION 7.

c8.s1.27

न वा इदं दिवा न नक्तमासीद् व्यावृत्तं ते देवा एता व्युष्टीरपश्यन् ता उपाधधत ततो वा इदं व्यौच्छद्यस्यैता उपधीयन्ते व्येवास्मा उच्छत्यथो यमेवाप हते ।

c8.s1.28

TRANSLATION AND NOTES.

c8.s1.29

Taitt. Saṁhitâ IV. 3, 11.

c8.s1.30

1. This, verily, is *She that dawned first*; (she) moves entered into her (*i.e.* above the horizon). The bride, the new-come mother, is born. The three great ones follow her.

c8.s1.31

1. *She that dawned first*: evidently meaning the first of a series of thirty dawns, mentioned in the following verses. In verse 13 we are told that it is the dawn which commences the year. The thirty dawns are, therefore, the dawns at the beginning of the year, and the first of them is mentioned in the first verse. Sâyaṇa, however, says—आदि- हिकाले प्रथमो यः प्रभातकालस्तद्रूपेयम्, meaning that the dawn at the beginning of the creation is here intended. But the explanation does not suit the context, and Sâyaṇa has himself given different explanations afterwards.

c8.s1.32

*Entered into her*: according to Sâyaṇa *asyâm* (into her) means "into the earth;" compare Ṛig. III, 61, 7, where the sun, the speeder of the dawns, is said to have 'entered into the mighty earth and heaven.' According to A. V. reading the meaning would be "entered into the other (dawns)," shewing that the first dawn is a member of a larger group.

c8.s1.33

*The three great ones*: Sûrya, Vâyu and Agni according to Sâyaṇa. The three typical deities or Devatâs mentioned by Yâska (VII, 5) are Agni, Vâyu or Indra, and Sûrya. In Ṛig. VII, 33, 7, the three Gharmas (fires) are said to attend the dawn, (*trayo Gharmâsa uṣhasam sachante*); and in VII, 78, 3, the Dawns are said to have created Sûrya, Yajña (Sacrifice) and Agni. Also compare A. V. IX, 1, 8, and Bloomfield's note thereon in S. B. E. Series, Vol. XLII, p. 590. Though the three may be variously named, the reference is evidently to the rise of the sun and the commencement of sacrifices or the kindling of sacrificial fires after the first dawn, (Cf. Ṛig. I, 113, 9).

c8.s1.34

2. Possessed of songs, decorating (themselves), and moving together in a common abode, the Two Dawns, the (two) wives of the sun, unwasting, rich in seed, move about displaying their banner and knowing well (their way).

c8.s1.35

3. The Three Maidens have come along the path of Ṛita; the three fires (Gharmas), with light, have followed. One (of these Maidens) protects the progeny, one the vigour, and one the ordinance of the pious.

c8.s1.36

4. That, which (was) the Fourth, acting as Ṛiṣhis, the

c8.s1.37

2. Possessed of songs: Sāyaṇa thus interprets chchandas-vatī; but the Pet. Lex. translates the word by ‘lovely.’ I have followed Sāyaṇa because the A. V. reading chchandas-pakṣhe, ‘having chchandas for the two wings,’ supports Sāyaṇa’s meaning. That the morning atmosphere resounded with the recitation of hymns and songs may be seen, amongst others, from Ṛig. III, 61, 1 and 6. The phrase madye-chchandasaḥ, in verse 6 below, denotes the same idea. But the word chchandas may perhaps be understood to mean ‘shine’ in all these places; Cf. Ṛig. VIII, 7, 36, where the phrase, chchando na sûro archiṣhā is translated by Max Muller to mean “like the shine by the splendour of the sun,” (See S. B. E. Series, Vol. XXXII, pp. 393, 399.)

c8.s1.38

Decorating, moving together in the same place, wives of the sun, un-wasting &c: These and others are the usual epithets of the Dawn found in the Ṛig-Veda, Cf. Ṛig I, 92, 4; VII, 76, 5; IV, 5, 13; I, 113, 13.

c8.s1.39

The Two Dawns: Uṣhasā does not here mean Uṣhasā-naktā or ‘Day and Night,’ as supposed by Mr. Griffith, but denotes two dawns, as such, the third, the fourth &c. being mentioned in the following verses. Sāyaṇa says द्वे ह्युषसौ, एका सृष्टिकालिना ‘प्रथमा’ इतिपूर्वमंत्रोक्ता, अपरा प्रतिदिनसंचारिणी, meaning that the first dawn is the dawn which appeared at the beginning of the creation and the second the diurnal one, as we see it. But Sāyaṇa had to abandon this explanation later on. The couple of Dawns obviously includes the first Dawn mentioned in the first verse, which, with its successor, now forms a couple. Since groups of two, three, five or thirty dawns are mentioned as moving together, they cannot be the dawns of consecutive days, that is, separated by sunlight, as with us in the tropical or the temperate zone.

c8.s1.40

3. The Three Maidens: the number of Dawns is now increased to three; but Sāyaṇa gives no explanation of the number.

c8.s1.41

4. The Fourth: Sāyaṇa now says यद्यप्येकैव उषा तथापि जगद्रक्षणाय यौगैश्वर्यादनेकशरीरस्वीकारे सति बहव उषसो भवन्ति, meaning that the single Deity of Dawn appears as many different dawns through yogic powers!

c8.s1.42

two wings of the sacrifice, has become the four-fold Stoma (Chatu-ṣṭoma). Using Gâyatrî, Triṣṭup, Jagatî, Anuṣṭup the great song, they brought this light.

c8.s1.43

5. The creator did it with the Five, that he creat-ed five-and-five sisters to them (each). Their five courses (kratavaḥ), assuming various forms, move on in combina-tion (prayaveṇa).

c8.s1.44

6. The Thirty Sisters, bearing the same banner, move on to the appointed place (niṣ-kṛtam). They, the wise, create the seasons. Refulgent, knowing (their way), they go round (pari yanti) amidst-songs (madye-cchandasaḥ).

c8.s1.45

Acting as Ṛishis ... four-fold Stoma: The group of four Dawns appears to be here compared to the Chatu-ṣṭoma or the four-fold song. For a description of the four-fold Stoma see Ait. Br. III, 42, Haug's trans. p. 237). Gâyatrî &c. are the metres used. The light brought on by the Dawns is the reward of this Stoma. Sâyaṇa interprets suvas to mean 'heaven,' but compare Ṛig. III, 61, 4, where the adjective, svar janantî, 'creating light,' is applied to the Dawn.

c8.s1.46

5. Did it with the Five: after the number of Dawns was increased to five, the creation proceeded by fives; compare verse 11 below.

c8.s1.47

Their five courses: I construe tâsâm pañcha kratavaḥ prayaveṇa yanti. Sâyaṇa understands kratavaḥ to mean sacrificial rites performed on the appearance of the dawn; but compare Ṛig. I, 123, 8, which says "The blameless Dawns (plu.) go round thirty yojanas, each her own kratu (destined course)," (supra p. 103). Kratavaḥ in the present verse must be similarly interpreted.

c8.s1.48

In combination: We have thirty Dawns divided into five groups of six each; compare Taitt. Br. II, 5, 6, 5, quoted above (p. 100), which says tâ devyaḥ kurvate pañcha rûpâ, "the Goddesses (Dawns) make five forms." Five groups of thirty Dawns, each group having its own destined course, are here described; but as each group is made of six Dawns, the five courses are again said to assume different forms, meaning that the members of each group have again their own courses within the larger course chalked out for the group.

c8.s1.49

6. Thirty Sisters: Sâyaṇa, in his commentary on the preceding verse says पञ्चसंख्याका ज्येष्ठा उषसः तासां स्वसारः पञ्चविंशतिसंख्याका इत्यस्मिन् मासि प्रतिपदादिरूपास्त्रिंशदुषसः संपद्यन्ते, meaning that the thirty Dawns mentioned are the thirty dawns of a month. But Sâyaṇa does not explain why one month out of twelve, or only 30 out of 360 dawns should be thus selected. The explanation is again unsuited to the context, (See supra p. 101, and 7. Through the sky, the illumined Goddess of Night accepts the ordinances of the sun. The cattle, of various forms, (begin to) look up as they rise on the lap of the mother.

c8.s1.50

8. The Ekâshṭakâ, glowing with holy fervour (tapas), gave birth to a child, the great Indra. Through him the

c8.s1.51

T. S. V, 3, 4, 7, quoted below.) The Dawns are called sisters also in the Ṛigveda, (Cf. I, 124, 8 and 9).

c8.s1.52

Appointed place : niṣh-kṛitam, (Nir. XII, 7), used in reference to the course of the Dawns also in Ṛig. I, 123, 9. It is appropriate only if the Dawns returned to the same point in their daily rounds, (See supra p. 106).

c8.s1.53

Go round amidst-songs : pari yanti, ‘go round’ is also the phrase used in Ṛig. I, 123, 8. Madye-chchandasaḥ is interpreted by Sâyaṇa to mean “about the sun, which is always surrounded by songs.” But we need not go so far, for madye-chchandasaḥ may be more simply taken to mean ‘amidst-songs,’ that are usually sung at the dawn, (Ṛig. VII, 80, 1).

c8.s1.54

7. Through the sky : I take nabhas as an accusative of space. Sâyaṇa appears to take it as an adjective equivalent to nabhasthasya and qualifying sûryasya. In either case the meaning is the same, viz., that the night was grâdually changing into day-light.

c8.s1.55

The cattle : morning rays or splendours usually spoken of as cows. In Ṛig. I, 92, 12, the Dawn is described as spreading cattle (pashûn) before her; and in I, 124, 5, we are told that she fills the lap of both parents, heaven and earth. I construe, with Sâyaṇa, nânâ-rûpa pashavaḥ vi pashyanti, taking vi pashyanti intransitively, and nânâ-rûpa as an adjective. The same phrase is found used in reference to a woman's children in the Atharva-Veda, XIV, 2, 25. For the intransitive use of vi pashyanti, see Ṛig. X, 125, 4.

c8.s1.56

⁸ The Ekâshṭakâ : The birth of Indra is evidently the birth of the sun after the expiry of thirty dawns. Sâyaṇa, quoting Âpastamba Gṛihya Sûtra (VIII, 21, 10), interpretes Ekâshṭakâ to mean the 8th day of the dark half of the month of Mâgha (January-February); and in the Taittirîya Saṁhitâ, VII, 4, 8, quoted and explained by me in Chapter III of Orion, it seems to have same meaning, (See Orion p. 44 ff.). Ekâshṭakâ was the first day, or the consort, of the Year, when the sun turned towards the north from the winter solstice; and the commencement of all annual sattras is, therefore, directed to be made on the Ekâshṭakâ day. This meaning was, however, settled when the vernal equinox had receded from the asterism of Mriga (Orion) to that of the Krittikâs (Pleiades). But in earlier days Ekâshṭakâ seems to have meant the last of the dawns which preceded the rise of the sun after the long darkness, and thus com-

c8.s1.57

Gods have subdued their enemies; by his powers (he) has become the slayer of the Asuras.

c8.s1.58

9. You have made a companion (lit. the after-born) for me, who was (before) without a companion. Truth-teller (as thou art), I desire this, that I may have his good will, just as you do not transgress each other.

c8.s1.59

10. The All-knowing has my good will, has got a hold (on it), has secured a place (therein). May I have his good will, just as you do not transgress each other.

c8.s1.60

11. Five milkings answer to the five dawns; the five seasons to the five-named cow. The five sky-regions, made by

c8.s1.61

menced the year, which began with the period of sunshine. The word ca in Ekâshṭakâ perhaps denotes the first month, the last dawn probably falling on the 8th day of the first lunar month of the year.

c8.s1.62

9. A companion for me: that is, Indra or the sun, whose birth is mentioned in the previous verse; and the poet now prays that his new friend, the after-born follower or companion, should be favourable to him. It should be noted that the birth of the sun is described after the lapse of thirty dawns, during which the poet had no companion.

c8.s1.63

Truth-teller: Sâyaṇa seems to take satyam vadantî as a vocative plural; but it is not in strict accordance with grammar. In the pada text, it is evidently a feminine form of nom. sing., and I have translated accordingly, though not without some difficulty. In Rig. III, 61, 2, the Dawn is called sûnṛitâ îrayantî which expresses the same idea.

c8.s1.64

Just as you do not trangress each other: compare the Rig-Veda, II, 76, 5, where we are told that the Dawns, though collected in the same place, do not strive against or quarrel with each other.

c8.s1.65

10. The All-knowing: Sâyaṇa takes vishva-vedâḥ to mean the Dawn; but it obviously refers to the companion (anujâm) mentioned in the preceding verse. The worshipper asks for a reciprocity of good will. The All-knowing (Indra) has his good will; let him, he prays, have now the All-knowing's good will. The adjective vishva-vedâḥ is applied in the Rig-veda to Indra or Agni several times, Cf. Rig. VI, 47, 12; I, 147, 3.

c8.s1.66

11. Five milkings: Sâyaṇa refers to Taitt. Brâh. II, 2, 9, 6-9, where darkness, light, the two twilights, and day are said to be the five milkings (dohâḥ) of Prajâpati. The idea seems to be that all the five-fold groups in the creation proceeded from the five-fold dawn-groups.

c8.s1.67

Five-named Cow: the earth, according to Sâyaṇa, who says that the earth has five different names in the five seasons, e. g., pushpathe fifteen, have a common head, directed to one world.

c8.s1.68

12. The first dawn (is) the child of Rita, one upholds the greatness of Waters, one moves in the regions of Sûrya, one (in those) of Gharma (fire), and Savitṛi rules one.

c8.s1.69

13. That, which dawned first, has become a cow in Yama's realm. Rich in milk, may she milk for us each succeeding year.

c8.s1.70

14. The chief of the bright, the omniform, the brindled, the fire-bannered has come, with light, in the sky. Working well towards a common goal, bearing (signs of) old age, (yet) O un-wasting! O Dawn! thou hast come.

c8.s1.71

15. The wife of the seasons, this first has come, the leader of days, the mother of children. Though one, O Dawn! thou shinest manifoldly; though un-wasting, thou causest all the rest to grow old (decay).

c8.s1.72

vati (blossomy) in Vasanta (Spring), tâpa-vatî (heated) in Grîshma (Summer), vṛishti-vatî (showery) in Varshâ (Rains), jala-prasâda-vatî (clear-watered) in Sharad (Autumn), and shaitya-vatî (cold) in Hemanta-Shishira (Winter). The seasons are taken as five by combining Hemanta and Shishira into one.

c8.s1.73

The fifteen: The fifteen-fold Stoma, called pañcha-dasha, (See Haug's Trans. Ait. Br. p. 238).

c8.s1.74

13. Each succeeding year: This shows that the Dawn here described is the first dawn of the year. In Rig. I, 33, 10, light (cows) is said to be milked from darkness.

c8.s1.75

14. Working well towards a common goal: compare Rig. III, 61, 3, where, the Dawn "wending to one and the same goal" is asked to "turn on like a wheel."

c8.s1.76

Bearing (signs of) old age: I construe jarâm bibhratî and yet ajare. Sâyaṇa takes svapasya-mânâ (working well) as an independent adjective; and connects bibhratî with artham, and jarâm with âgâh. The meaning would then be "Working well, having a common end, O unwasting Dawn! thou hast reached old age." But it does not make any appreciable change in the general sense of the verse.

c8.s1.77

15. Though one.. shinest manifoldly: shews that only one continuous dawn, though made up of many parts, is described in this hymn.

c8.s1.78

Leader of days, mother of children.—the epithets ahnâm netrî and gavâm mâtâ are also found used in the Rig-Veda, VII, 77, 2.

c8.s1.79

*Taitt. Saṃhitâ V, 3, 4, 7.*

c8.s1.80

It was *un-distinguished*,¹ neither day nor night. The gods perceived these dawn-bricks (for the laying of which the verses given above are to be used). They laid them. Then it shone forth.² Therefore for whom these are laid, it shines forth to him, destroys (his) darkness.

c8.s1.81

¹ *It was undistinguished*: This paragraph, which is found later on in the Saṃhitâ, explains how the dawn-bricks came to be laid with the fifteen verses given above. The portions of the Taittirîya Saṃhitâ, which contain such explanations are called *Brâhmaṇa*.

c8.s1.82

² *Then it shone forth*: This shews that all the thirty Dawns were understood to have preceded the rise of the sun. I have already quoted (supra p. 100) a passage from Taitt. Brâh. (II, 5, 6, 5), which says that these dawns were continuous and unseparated.

c8.s1.83

REMARKS.

c8.s1.84

It has been previously mentioned that the fifteen verses, quoted above, are used or recited as Mantras at the time of laying down certain emblematical bricks, called *yuṣṭi-iṣṭakâs*, or dawn-bricks, on the sacrificial altar. But as the Mantras, or verses, used for sacrificial purposes are often taken from different Vedic hymns, these verses are likely to be regarded as unconnected with each other. The account of the thirty dawns, contained therein, however, shews that these verses must have originally formed an entire or one homogeneous hymn. Again if the Mantras had been selected from different hymns, one for each dawn-brick, there would naturally be 16 verses in all, as 16 dawn-bricks are to be laid on the altar. The very fact, that the *Anuvâka* contains only 15 verses (leaving the sacrificer to select the 16th from elsewhere), therefore, further supports the same view. It is true that some of these verses are found in the Atharva-Veda, either detached or in connection with other subjects. But that does not prevent us from treating the passage in the Taittirîya Saṃ- hitâ, as containing a connected account of thirty dawns divided into five groups of six each. The question is not, however, very material, inasmuch as verses 5 and 6, whether they formed part of an entire hymn or not, are by themselves sufficient to prove the point at issue, viz., that the Vedic Goddess of Dawn constituted a group of thirty sisters. The Rig-Veda speaks of "thirty steps" traversed by the Dawn, (VI, 59, 6), or of Dawns going round "thirty yojanas" (I, 123, 8); but both these statements have, as yet, remained totally unexplained, or have been but imperfectly explained by Indian and Western scholars alike. But now that we know that the Vedic Dawns were thirty in number, both the aforesaid statements become at once easily comprehensible. The only other point necessary to be decided, so far as the subject in hand is concerned, is whether these thirty dawns were the dawns of thirty consecutive days, or whether they formed a 'closely-gathered band' of thirty continuous dawns; and on reading the two aforesaid passages from the Taittirîya Samhitâ, the one from the Taittirîya Brâhmaṇa, II, 5, 6, 5, and other authorities cited in the foregoing chapter, I do not think, there can be any doubt that the Goddess of Dawn, worshipped by the Vedic bards, was originally a group of thirty continuous dawns. It is not contended that the ancestors of the Vedic bards were unacquainted with ordinary dawns, for, even in the circumpolar regions there are, during certain parts of the year, successions of ordinary days and nights and with them of ordinary dawns. But so far as the Vedic Goddess of morning is concerned, there is enough evidence to shew that it was no other than the continuous and revolving Dawn at the end of the long night in those regions, the Dawn that lasted for thirty periods of 24 hours each, which is possible only within a few degrees roundabout the North Pole.

Linked texts (7)