Page 163 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

148 SAMAGRA TILAK - 2 • THE ORION
birth to the yellow antelope and several other stars that are supposed
to be either killed or swallowed by Indra in this hymn. But I cannot
speak with certainty on the point and must leave the verse as it is.

·Now Jet us see what are the leading features of the story of
Vri!Jhakapi and what they signify. We have seen that scholars differ
in assigning the verses of the hymn to the different speakers, and
here and there we meet with expressions and words which cannot
be said to be yet satisfactorily explained. Some of the interpreta-
tions 1 have proposed may not again be acceptable to all. But
these difficulties do not prevent us from determining the leading
incidents in the legend, which may therefore be summarised some-
what as follows. Vriflhakapi is a Mriga, and sacrifices are stopped
where he revels. He is, however, a favourite of Indra, and con-
sequently the latter, instead of punishing, follows him. IndriQi,
who has herself been offended by the Kapi, now reproaches lndra
for his everfondness for the animal and threatens to punish the
beast by cutting off his head and letting loose a dog at his ear,;
lndra intercedes and lndra~i assures him that the punishment has
not b~en inflicted on his favourite beast, but on someone else.
Vri~hakapi is now going down to his house and Indra, in bidding
farewell to his friend, asks him to come up again to his (Indra's)
house, so that the sacrifices may be recommenced; and, strange
to say, that when Vri~hakapi returns, in his upward march to the
house of Indra, the impertinent Mriga is no longer to be seen I
Vrithakapi, Indra and Indra~i thus finally meet in the same house,
without the offensive beast, and the hymn therefore concludes
with a benedictory verse.
There can be little doubt that the hymn gives a legend current
in old Vedic days. But no explanation has yet been suggested,
·which accounts for all the incidents in the story or explains how it
.originated. Vri~Jhakapi is a Mriga, and his appearance and dis-
appearance mark the cessation and the recommencement of the
acrifices. The Jndian tradition identifies rum with the sun in one
form or another and comparison with Greek Erikapaeos points
·to the same conclusion. Our Vriflbakapi or Mriga must again be
such as is liable to be conceived in the form of a head cut off
from the body, and closely followed by a dog as its ear, unless we
:are prepared to tr~at the very specific threat of Indrapi as meaning-
.! ess except .a general threat. All these incidents are plainly and
I