Artic Home of the Aryans by Lokamanya Bal ... - Mandhata Global

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in former days (purâ) and here the word purâ does not mean the
foregone days of this kalpa, but rather refers to a by-gone age, or
purâ kalpa as in the passage from the Taittirîya Samhitâ (I, 5, 7, 5 ),
quoted and discussed in the next chapter. The word prathamâ, in the
Taittirîya Samhitâ, IV, 3, 11, 1 and the Taittirîya Brâhmana, II, 5, 6, 5,
does not again mean simply “first in order,” but refers to “ancient
times,” as when Indra’s “first” or “oldest” exploits are mentioned in 1,
32, 1, or when certain practices are said to be “first” or “old” in X, 90,
16. It is probable that it was this import of the word prathamâ that led
Sâyana to propose that the first dawn, mentioned in the Taittirîya
Samhitâ IV, 3, 11, represented the dawn at the beginning of the
creation. The Vedic poets could not but have been conscious that the
Mantras they used to lay down the dawn-bricks were inapplicable to
the dawn as they saw it, and the Taittirîya Samhitâ (V, 3, 4, 7), which
explains the Mantras, clearly states that this story or the description
of the dawns is a tradition of old times when the Gods perceived the
thirty dawns. It is not, therefore, correct to say that there are no
references in the Vedic hymns to the time when these long dawns
were visible. We shall revert to the point later on, when further
evidence on the subject will be noticed and discussed. The object of
the present chapter was to examine the duration of the Vedic dawn,
the Goddess of the morning, the subject of so many beautiful hymns
in the يig-Veda, and to show that the deity is invested with Polar
characteristics. The evidence in support of this view has been fully
discussed; and we shall, therefore, now take up the other Polar and
Circum-Polar tests previously mentioned, anti see whether we can
find out further evidence from the يig-Veda to strengthen our
conclusions.
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