Page 346 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

MONTHS AND SEASONS 131
Ailgiras, Atri and Kapva in I, 139, 9. Atharvan by his sacrifices
is elsewhere described, as having first extended the paths, whereupon
the sun was born ( I, 83, 5 ), and the Atharvans, in the plural, are
styled ' our fathers ' ( na!f pitaraf.J) along with Ailgirases, Navagvas
and Bhrigus in X, 14, 6. In II, 34, 12, Dashagvas are said to have
been the first to offer a sacrifice; while in X, 92, 10 Atharvan is
spoken of, as having established order by sacrifices, when the
Bhrigus showed themselves as gods by their skill. Philologically
the name of Atharvan appears as Athravan, meaning a fire-priest,
in the A vesta, and the word AJi.giras is said to be etymologically
connected with the Greek Aggilos, a 'messenger' and the Persian
Angara' a mounted courier.' In the Aitareya Brahmapa (III, 34)
Ailgirases are said to be the same as Angara~ 'burning coals or
fire,' ( Cf. ~ig. X, 62, 5. ). Whether we ac.:ept these etymologies as
absolutely correct or not, the resemblances between the different
words sufficiently warrants the assumption that Atharvan and
Ailgiras must have been the ancient sacrificers of the whole
Aryan race and not merely of the Vedic people. Therefore,
even though Manu, Atharvan;--Angiras be not the names of
particular individuals, still there ~n be little doubt that they
represented families of priests who conducted, if not originated the
sacrifices in primeval times, that is, before the Aryan separation,
and who, for this reason, seem to have attained almost divine
character in the eyes of the poets of the ~ig-Veda. They have
all been described as more or less connected with Y ama in X,
14, 3 -6; but it does not follow therefrom that they were all Yama' s
agents or beings without any human origin. For, as stated above,
there are a number of passages in which they are described as
being the first and the most ancient sacrificers of the race; and if
after their death they are said to have gone to Yama and become
his friends and companions, that does not, in any way, detract
from their human character. It is, therefore, very important in
the history of the sacrificial literature to determine if any traditions
are preserved in the ~ig-Veda regarding the duration of the sacrifices
performed by these ancient ancestors of the Vedic people ( na/.1
purve pitaraf.J, VI, 22, 2 ), in times before the separation of the
Aryan people, and see if they lend any support to the theory of an
early Circum-Polar home.
Now so far as my researches go, I have not been able to find
any Vedic evidence regarding the duration of the sacrifices performed