Page 361 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

146 SAMAGRA TILAK- 2 • THE ARCTIC HOME

in motion is already quoted above; and if we compare this
statement with Rig. X, 138, 6, where Indra after killing Vptra
and producing the dawn and the sun, is said "to have set the order-
ing of the months in the sky ", it will be further evident that the
cycle of the time which began with the first dawn was a cycle of
months. We may, therefore, safely conclude that mdnuslui yugd
represented, in early days, a cycle of months during which the sun
was above the horizon, or rather that period of sunshine and action
when the ancestors of the Aryan race held their sacrifical sessions
or performed other religious and social ceremonies.
There are many other passages in the Rig-Veda which support
the same view. But mdnusha yugd being everywhere interpreted by
Western scholars to mean 'human generations or tribes, ' the real
meaning of these passages has become obscure and unintelligible.
Thus in VIII, 46, 12, we have" All ( sacrificers ), with ladles lifted
invoke that mighty Indra for manusha yuga "; and the meaning evi-
dently is that Soma libations were offered to Indra during the period
of human ages. But taking mdnu~hd yuga to denote 'human tribes, •
Griffith translates " All races of mankind invoke etc." a rendering
which, though intelligible, does not convey the spirit of the original.
Similarly, Agni is said to shine during ' human ages ' in VII, 9, 4.
But there too the meaning ' human tribes ' is unnecessarily foisted
upon the phrase. The most striking illustration of the impropriety
of interprettng yuga to mean "a generation " i , however, furnished
by Rig. ' II, 2, 2. Here Agni is said to shine for mdnu.yhd yugd and
k~vhapa!z. Now ks_hapa!z means 'nights' and the most natural
interpretation would be to take mdn~hd yugd and k~hapa!z as allied
expressions denoting a period of time. The verse will then mean :
" 0 Agni ! thou shin est during human ages and nights. " It is neces-
sary to mention ' nights' because though mdnu~hd yuga is a period
of sunshine, including a long day and a succession of ordinary days
and nights, yet the long or the continuous night which followed
mam1~hd yugd could not have been included in the latter phrase.
Therefore, when the whole period of the solar year was intended, a
compound expression like " mdnu~hd yuga and the continuous
nights " was necessary and that is the meaning of the phrase in
11, 2, 2. But Prof. Olden berg,* following Max Muller, translates
as follows, " 0 Agni ! thou shinest on human tribes, on continuous

• SeeS. B. E. Series Vol. XLVI, pp. 193, rgs.