Page 164 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

J.!.IBHUS AND VR.I$HAKAPI 149
intelligibly explained by taking Vri~hlkapi to represent the sun a
the autumnal equinox, when the Dog-star or Orion commenced
the equinoctial year; and, above aH, we can now well understand
why Vrithikapi's house is said to be low in the south and how
his Mriga. disappears when he goes to the house of Indra-a point
which has been a hard knot for the commentators to solve. I~
therefore, conclude that the hymn gives us not only a description
of the constellation of Orion and Canis ( verses. 4 and 5) but
clearly and expressly defines the position of the sun when he passed
to the north of the equator in old times (verse 22 ); and joined
with the legend of the {tibhus we have here unmistakable and
reliable internal evidence of the hymns of the 'igveda to ascertain
the priod when the traditions incorporated in these hymns were
.
first framed ·and conceived. In the face of these facts it is impossible
.
to hold that the passages in the Taittirtya SaQJhitA and the
Bri~ do not record a real tradition about the older
beginnina of the year.