Page 329 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

114 SAMAGRA TILAK - 2 • THE ARCIIC HOME
parts of Ahan£ are, therefore, very correctly represented as form-
ing the right and the left side of the Year-God, in the Aranyaka,
and the passage thus materially supports the view about the
nature of Ahan£ mentioned above.
Lastly, we have express passages in the ~ig-Veda where a
long day is described. In V, 54, 5, an extended daily course
( dfrgham yojanam ) of the sun is mentioned and the Maruts are
said to have extended their strength and greatness in a imilar
way.* But the most explicit statement about the long day is
found in X, 138, 3. This hymn celebrates the exploits of lndra,
all of which are performed in aerial or heavenly regions. In the
first verse tbe killing of Vyitra and the releasing of the dawns and
the waters are mentioned· and in the second the sun is said to
have been made to shine by the same process. The third verse t
is as follows :-
Vi suryo madhye amuchad ratham divo
vidad ddsaya pratimanam arya~
Dri¢hani Pipror asurasya mayina!z
Jndro vyasyach chakriva'!f ~ijishvana

The fourth, fifth and the sixth verses all refer to the destruc-
tion of Vritra's forts, the chastisement of U~has and placing of
the moons in the heaven. But the third verse quoted above is
alone important for our purpose. The words are sirilple and easy
and the verse may be thus translated : " The sun unyoked his
car in the midst of heaven; the Arya found a counter-measure
( pratimanam ) for the Dasa. Indra, acting with Rijishvana, over-
threw the solid forts of Pipru, the conjuring Asura. " It is the
first half of the verse that is relevant to our purpose. The sun is
said to have unyoked his car, not at sunset, or on the horizon,
but in the midst of heaven, there to rest for some time. There
is no uncertainty about it; for the words are so clear; and the
commentators have found it difficult to explain this extraordinary
conduct of the sun in the midway of the heavens. Mr. Griffith
says that it is, perhaps, an allusion to an eclipse, or to the
detention of the sun to enable the Aryans to complete the over-

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