Page 25 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

12 SAMAGRA TILAK - 2 • THE OIUON

of the civil and the lunar months.* The year of 360 savana days
was thus practically reduced to a lunar year of 354 civil days or
360 tithis. But a: further correction was necessary to adjust the
lunar with the solar reckoning of time. The zodiac was not yet
divided into twelve equal parts, and the solar month, as we now
understand it, was unknown. The commencement of the cycle of
seasons was, therefore, the only means to correct the calendar, and
the ancient Aryas appeared to have early hit upon the device of the
intercalary days or month for that purpose. There are many passages
in the Taittirtya and Vijasaney~ SaQlhitis and also one in the ~g­
vedat wherein the intercalary month is mentioned, and though opi-
nions may differ as to when and how it was inserted, we may, for
the purpose of our present inquiry, regard it as undisputed that in
the old Vedic days means were devised and adopted to secure the
correspondence of the lunar with the solar year. The occurrence
of the twelve hallowed nights amongst the Teutons points t()
the same conclusion. Th~. were in fact the supplementary days
( 366-354=-12) required to balance the lunar with the solar
year,-a period when the :{{ibhus, or the genii of the seasons,
slackened their course and enjoyed the hospitality of the sun
after toiling for a whole year ( :{{ig. i. 33.7 ):j: and when Prajapati~
the God of sacrifices, after finishing the old year's sacrifice, prepar-
ed himself for the new year's work ( Atharva Veda iv. 11. 11. ).
The sacrificial literature of India still preserves ·the memory of
these days by ordaining that a person wishing to perform a yearly
sacrifice should devote 12 days ( dvadashdha) before its commence-
ment to the preparatory rites. These facts, in my opinion, conclu-
sively establish that the primitive Aryans had solved the problem
involved in balancing the solar with the lunar year. There may
be some doubt as to whether the concurrence of the two years

• ~~r- •If<~~~ ~,ilmt ~~~if: I Taitt. Sa~. vii. s. ;. 1.,
and Ta~~ya Br. v. IO. See also Kala-Madhava Chap. on Afunth. Cal. Ed_
p. 63.
t Taitt. Sa~. i. 4. 14: Vaj. SaJ!l. 7. 70; ~ig. i. 25. 8. As regards the
twelve hallowed (intercalary) nights Cf. ltig. iv. 33· 7; Atharva Veda
iv. II. u; Taitt. Br. i. 1. g. JO.
t See Zimmer's Li(e in Ancient India, p. 366; Kaegi's ~igYeda
(translation by Arrowsmith), pp. 20, 37'·