Page 335 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

120 SAMAGRA TJLAK-2 • THE ARCTIC HOME
That ecliptic lies to the south of the constellation is plain enough,
but it cannot be said to be below the constellation, unless the zenith
of the observer is in the constellation, or between it and the North
Pole, a position, possible only in the case of an observer in the
Arctic region. I have already quoted a passage from the Rig-Veda,
which speaks of the Seven Bears ( .f?.ik~ha~ ), as being placed
on high in the heavens ( uchchaf:z ). But I have not been able to find
out any Vedic authority for the tradition that the sun's path lies
below the constellation of the Seven Bears. It has also been stated
previously that mere southerly direction of the sun, even if comple-
tely established, is not a sure indication of the observer being within
the Circum-Polar region as the sun will appear to move always to
the south of the observer even in the temparate zone. It is, there-
fore, not necessary to pursue this point further. It has been
shown that the Rig-Veda mentions the long night and the long day
and we shall see in the next chapter that the months and the
seasons mentioned in this Old Book fully accord with the theory we
have formed from the evidence hitherto discussed.