Page 110 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

1111! ANTELOPI!'S HEAD 91
indicating more stars than one and also PtlW'Y#fPi, the first. The
Parsis have preserved another interesting relic of the asterism of
Mrigashiras, but I reserve it for the next chapter.
Starting with the supposition that the vernal equinox was
in Orion, we have thus an easy and a simple explanation by
which the three principal deities in the Hindu mythology can be
traced to and located in this part of heavens. Vi,hpu repressenting
then happy times of Vasanta, Rudra presiding over storms and
PrajApati the deity of sacrifices beginning the year, were all com-
bined in one place. It was here that Vithl].u killed Varaha
(Rig. i. 61. 7 ); it was here that lndra killed Vritra, and it was
here that Rudra chased Prajapati, in the form of Yajna or that
he sacrificed himself. The celestial Ganges separating the upper
and the nether world was also in the same quarters and through
it lay the path to Yama's region. In a word the Trinity of the
Hindu Pantheon was fully represented in the constellation of
Orion, when the vernal equinox was there. Later writers describe
this trinity as represented by the three headed Dattatreya,follow-
ed by the Vedas in the form of dogs; and after what has been
said above, I think we can have no difficulty in identifying this
personified Trinity with Orion having three stars in the bead and
closely followed by the dog ( Canis ) at its foot. It will be difficult
to find another place in the heavens where all t)lese elements are
combined in such an interesting manner.

0. 7