Page 218 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

PREHISTORIC TIMES 5
the legends in this ancient book. But there are passages, which
in spite of their simple diction, are quite unintelligible on any of
these theories, and in such cases Native scholars, like Sayaf}a, are
either content with simply paraphrasing the words, or have
recourse to distortion of words and phrases in order to make the
passages yield a sense intelligible to them; while some of the
Western scholars are apt to regard such text as corrupt or
imperfect. In either case, however, it is an undoubted fact that
orne Vedic texts are yet unintelligible, and therefore, untransla-
table. Prof. M x Muller was fully alive to these difficulties. " A
translation of the ~ig-Veda, " he observes in his introduction to
the translation of the Vedic hymns in the Sacred Books of the
East series, " is a task for the next century, "* and the only duty
of the present scholars is to " reduce the untranslatable portion
to a narrower and narrower limit, " as has been done by Yaska
and other Native scholars. But if the scientific discoveries of the
last century have thrown a new light on the history and culture of
man in primitive times, we may as well expect to find in them a new
key to the interpretation of the Vedic myths and passages, which
admittedly preserve for us the oldest belief of the Aryan race. If
man existed before the last Glacial period and witnessed the
gigantic changes which brought on the Ice Age, it is not unnatural
to expect that a reference, howsoever concealed and distant, to
these events would be found in the oldest traditionary beliefs
and memories of mankind. Dr. Warren in his interesting and
highly suggestive work the Paradise found or the Cradle of the
Human Race at the North Pole has attempted to interpret ancient
myths and legends in the light of modern scientific discoveries,
and has come to the conclusion that the original home of the
whole human race must be sought for in regions near the North
Pole. My object is not so comprehensive. I intend to confine
myself only to the Vedic literature and show that if we read some
of the passages in the Vedas, which have hitherto been considered
incomprehensible, in the light of the new scientific discoveries
we are forced to the conclusion that the home of the ancestors
of the Vedic people was somewhere near the North Pole before
the last Glacial epoch. The task is not an easy one considering
the fact that the Vedic passages, on which I rely, had to be and

• See S. B. E. Series, Yo!. XXXII, p. xi.