Page 297 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

SAMAGRA TILAK - 2 • THE ARCTIC HOME
shat padani akramit ). * This statement has, as yet, remained un-
explained. ' A single dawn traversing thirty steps ' is but a
paraphrase of the statement that 'dawns are thirty sisters, keeping
to the same goal in their circuits. ' Another verse which has not
yet been satisfactorily explained is the :Rig-Veda I, 123, 8. It
says, " The dawns, alike to-day and alike to-morrow, dwell long
in the abode of Varu~a. Blameless, they forthwith go round
(pari yanti) thirty yojanas; each its destined course ( kratum ) ... t
The first half of the verse presents no difficulty. In the second we
are told that the dawns go round thirty yojanas, each following its
own ' plan,' which is the meaning of kratu, according to the Peters-
berg Lexicon. But the phrase ' thirty yojanas ' has not been as yet
satisfactorily explained. Griffith following M. Bergaine under-
stands it to mean thirty regions or spaces, indicating the whole
universe; but there is no authority for this meaning. S:l.ya~a. whom
Wilson follows, gives an elaborate astronomical explanation. He
says that the sun's rays precede his rising and are visible when the
sun is below the horizon by thirty yojanas, or, in other words, the
dawn is in advance of the sun by that distance. When dawns are,
therefore, said to traverse thiry yojanas, S:l.ya~a understands by
it the astronomical phenomenon of the dawn illumining a space
of thirty yojanas in advance of the sun, and, that when the dawn,
at one place, is over, it is to be found in another place, occupying
a space of thirty yojanas in that place. The explanation is very
ingenious; and S:l.yatla also adds that the dawns are spoken of in
the plural number in the verse under consideration, because the
dawns at different places on the surface of the earth, brought on
by the daily motion of the sun, are intended. But unfortunately
the explanation cannot stand scientific scrutiny. S:l.ya~a says that
the sun travels 5,059 yojanas round the Meru in 24 hours; and as
Meru means the earth and the circumference of the eanh is now
known to be about 24,877 miles, a yojana would be about 4·9, or
in round number, about 5 miles. Thirty such yojanas will, there-
fore, be 150 miles; while the first beams of the dawn greet us on

• l.t1g. VI, 59, 6,- ~l<J~I a{lf~ ~'l"i<rr~<=?i: I f~cfl mu T~llT
<ff~\~~;:~q_ II l,tig. X, r8g, 3 which speaks of thirty realms
( tri-ilshat dhama ) , refers very probably to the same fact.
t l.tlg. I, 123, 8,-~~ ~~ Jt{t ~ ~ ~ "WW' 1
ar.rcr::rrr~ llfiififf"it~'lil ~ qf{ l{~ 13;q : 11