Page 169 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

154 SAMAGRA TILAK - 2 • THE ORION

two termini of the sacrifices, which began and ended with Aditi,
are the two heads here alluded to. These traditions are further
corroborated by the sacrificial ceremonies. According to the
sacrificial terminology the 4th day before Vi~Mvan or the central
day of the yearly satra is called the Abhijit day. " In the sixth
month, " observes Dr. Haug, * " there are three Abhiplava,
~ha!,ahas ( six days's periods ) and one Prishthya ~ha!.aha. " ThiS
makes up the first 24 days of the sixth month. The following dayS
are thus enumerated ; the Abhijit day, the three svarasaman days
and the VithUvan, or the central day which stands quite apart. "
Thus if we exclude the Vi~htivan day, as standing apart by itself,
this gives us four days, and with the two days-Atiratra and
Chaturvinsha-which are taken by the initial ceremonies of
the satra, we make up the ~ha{aha wanted to complete the six
months. The Abhijit day thus falls on the fourth day before the
Vitht\van. Now if Abhijit day be supposed to be named after
the Nakthatra of that name ( i. e. when the sun is in Abhijit)
then the Vithtivan, or the autumnal equinox must fall four days-
or as the sun travels over about 1° of the ecliptic each day, 4°-
after the asterism of Abhijit; and it can be shown by astronomical
calculation that, with Aditi or Punarvasti at the vernal equinox
to commence the sacrifice, we get nearly the same result. In the
Surya SiddhAnta ( viii. 3 table ) the longitude of Punarvasu is
said to be 93°, while that of Abhijit is 266° 40 , that is in other
1
words, Abhijit would be about 6~ behind the autumnal equinox
or Vi .htivan, if we suppose the vernal equinox to exactly coincide
with Punarvasu. With the vernal equinox in Punarvasu there is
again no other Nak~hatra nearer to or at the autumnal equinox
to make the Vi~htivan day. We can, therefore, now Ul).derstand
why Abhijit, which is so far away from the ecliptic, should have
been included in the old list of the Nak~hatras. It marked the
approach of the Vi~hv1lvan in the primitive sacrificial calendar,
-mrt ~n it ceased to be used for that purpose owing to the fall-
ing back of"sea~ons, it was naturally dropped from the list of the
Nak~hatras, as n was far away from the Zodiac. If Bentley's
suggestion about Mt1la and Jyesh~ha be correct, this must have
been done at the time when the vernal equinox was in Orion.

t See Dr. Haug's translation of the Aitareya BrlhmaQ.a iv. 12, p.
279, note.