The Arctic Home in the Vedas c9.35

Language: English

c9.35.1

I shall close this chapter with a short discussion of another Circum-Polar characteristic, I mean the southern course of the sun. It is previously stated, that the sun can never appear over-head at any station in the temperate or the frigid zone, and that an observer stationed within these zones in the northern hemisphere will see the sun to his right hand or towards the south, while at the North Pole the sun will seem to rise from the south. Now the word dakshina in Vedic Sanskrit denotes both the ‘right hand’ and the ‘south,’ as it does in other Aryan languages; for, as observed by Prof. Sayce, these people had to face the rising sun with their right hands to the south, in addressing their gods, and hence “Sanskrit dakshina, Welsh dehau and Old Irish des all mean at once ‘right hand’ and ‘south.’”¹ With this explanation before us, we can now understand how in a number of passages in the Rig-Veda Western scholars translate dakshina by ‘right side,’ where Indian scholars take the word to mean ‘the southern direction.’ There is a third meaning of dakshinâ, viz., ‘largess’ or ‘guerdon,’ and in some places the claims of rich largesses seem to have been pushed too far. Thus when the suns are said to be only for dakshinâvats in I, 125, 6, it looks very probable that originally the expression had some reference to the southern direction rather than to the gifts given at sacrifices.

c9.35.2

In III, 58, 1, Sûrya is called the son of Dakshinâ, and even if Dakshinâ be here taken to mean the Dawn, yet the question why the Dawn was called *Dakṣiṇā* remains, and the only explanation at present suggested is that *Dakṣiṇā* means ‘skilful’ or ‘expert.’ A better way to explain these phrases is to make them refer to the southerly direction; and after what has been said above such an explanation will seem to be highly probable. It is, of course, necessary to be critical in the interpretation of the Vedic hymns, but I think that we shall be carrying our critical spirit too far, if we say that in no passage in the Rig-Veda *dakṣiṇā* or its derivatives are used to denote the southerly direction (I, 95, 6; II, 42, 3). Herodotus informs us (IV, 42) that certain Phœnician mariners were commanded by Pharoah Neco, king of Egypt, to sail round Lybia (Africa) and return by the Pillars of Hercules (Straits of Gibraltar). The mariners accomplished the voyage and returned in the third year. But Herodotus disbelieves them, because, on their return, they told such (to him incredible) stories, that in rounding Lybia they saw the sun to their right. Herodotus could not believe that the sun would ever appear in the north; but he little thought that what was incredible to him would itself be regarded as indisputable evidence of the authenticity of the account in later days.

c9.35.3

Let us take a lesson from this story, and not interpret *dakṣiṇā*, either by ‘right-hand side’ or by ‘largess,’ in every passage in the Rig-Veda. There may not be distinct passages to show that the sun, or the dawn, came from the south. But the very fact that Uṣas is called *Dakṣiṇā* (I, 123, 1; X, 107, 1), and the sun, the son of *Dakṣiṇā* (III, 58, 1), is itself very suggestive, and possibly we have here phrases which the Vedic bards employed because in their days these were old and recognised expressions in the language. Words, like fossils, very often preserve the oldest ideas or facts in a language; and though Vedic poets may have forgotten the original meaning of these phrases, that is no reason why we should refuse to draw from the history of these words such conclusions may legitimately follow from it. The fact that the north is designated by the word *ut-tara*, meaning ‘upper,’ and the south by *adha-ra*, meaning ‘lower,’ also points to the same conclusion; for the north cannot be over-head or ‘upper’ except to an observer at or near the North Pole.

c9.35.4

In later literature, we find a tradition that the path of the sun lies through regions which are lower (*adhah*) than the abode of the Seven Ṛiṣhis, or the constellation of Ursa Major.¹ That the ecliptic lies to the south of the constellation is plain enough, but it cannot be said to be below the constellation, unless the zenith of the observer is in the constellation, or between it and the North Pole, a position, possible only in the case of an observer in the Arctic region. I have already quoted a passage from the Ṛig-Veda, which speaks of the Seven Bears (*Ṛikṣhāḥ*), as being placed on high in the heavens (*uchchhāḥ*). But I have not been able to find out any Vedic authority for the tradition that the sun’s path lies below the constellation of the Seven Bears. It has also been stated previously that mere southerly direction of the sun, even if completely established, is not a sure indication of the observer being within the circum-polar region, as the sun will appear to move always to the south of the observer even in the temperate zone. It is, therefore, not necessary to pursue this point further. It has been shown that the Ṛig-Veda mentions the long night and the long day, and we shall see in the next chapter that the months and the seasons mentioned in this Old Book fully accord with the theory we have formed from the evidence hitherto discussed.