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

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have been included in the latter phrase. Therefore, when the whole
period of the solar year was intended, a compound expression like
“mânusha yugâ and the continuous nights” was necessary and that is
the meaning of the phrase in II, 2, 2. But Prof. Oldenberg,* following
Max Müller, translates as follows “O Agni! thou shinest on human
tribes, on continuous nights.” Here, in the first place, it is difficult to
understand what “shining on human tribes” means and secondly if
kshapah means “continuous nights,” it could mean nothing except
“the long continuous night,” and if so, why not take mânusha yugâ to
represent the period of the solar year, which remains after the long
night is excluded from it? As observed by me before, Prof. Max Müller
has correctly translated kshapah by “continuous nights,” but has
missed the true meaning of the expression mânusha yugâ in this
place. A similar mistake has been committed with respect to IV, 16,
19, where the expression is kshapah madema sharadas cha pûrvîh.
Here, in spite of the accent, Max Müller takes kshapah as accusative
and so does Sâyana. But Sâyana correctly interprets the expression
as “May we rejoice for many autumns (seasons) and nights.”
“Seasons and nights” is a compound phrase, and the particle cha
becomes unmeaning if we split it up and take nights (kshapah) with
one verb, and seasons (sharadah) with another. Of course so long as
the Arctic theory was unknown the phrase “seasons and nights” or
“mânusha yugâ and nights” was unintelligible inasmuch as nights
were included in the seasons or the yugas. But Prof. Max Müller has
himself suggested the solution of the difficulty by interpreting kshapah
as “continuous nights” in II, 2, 2; and adopting this rendering, we can,
with greater propriety, take seasons and nights together, as indicated
by the particle cha and understand the expression to mean a
complete solar year including the long night. The addition of kshapah
to mânusha yugâ, therefore, further supports the conclusion that the
phrase indicated a period of sunshine as stated above. There
* See S. B. E. Series Vol. XLVI, pp. 193, 195.