Page 399 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

184 SAMAGRA TILAK- 2 • THE ARCTIC HOME
but " the master of a hundred deeds or sacrifices." There is thus
a very close correspondence between the Vedic and the Avestic
ideas on this subject, and this strengthens the conclusion that the
night sacrifices in the Vedic literature had their origin in the exis-
tence of a long continuous night of varying durations in the original
home of the Vedic people. We can now also satisfactorily explain
why Tishtrya is described (Yt. VIII, 36, vide Spiegel's Translation)
as "bringing hither the circling years of men." It is the A vestic paral-
lel ofthe Vedic story of the Dawn setting in motion " the ages of
men, or manu~hd yugd, " discussed in the last chapter, and shews
that when Tishtrya's fight with Apaosha, or lndra's war with Vala,
was over, the new year commenced with the long dawn, followed
by the months of sunshine varying from seven to eleven in number,
according to the latitude of the place.*
In the light of what has been stated above, we can now better
understand the original nature and meaning of the Ati-ratra sacrifice.
It is a nightly sacrifice, performed during the night, even at present,
and the Mtmari:J.sakas have not succeeded in converting it into a
day-sacrifice. So far it is all right; but the question is why should
the sacrifice be called Ati-ratra ? The prefix ati (corresponding with
Latin trans ) ordinarily denotes ' something beyond,' ' something

• The passage about Tish try a's connection with the year is noticed
by Mr. Meherjibhai Nosherwanj1 Kuka, ~r. A., in his essay "On the
order of Parsi months," published in the Cama Memorial Volume (p. 58),
and of which he was kind enough to send me a separate copy.
The passage is in the Tir Yasht, § 36 :- 'Tishtrim stanm ran1antem
kharmanghuantem yazamaide, yim Yare-.hare1ho ma~hyehe Ahuracha RMatu-gtito
.unmacha gairi, h~ho sizdaracha 1·avascharf1to uziyoi1entem llisjlosmtem huy[Wy :Jicha
d~~ngkoe uziasmtem duzy(iir;·(iicha, kata AiryJo danghavo lmyai,ylio havaonti '.
Spiegel translates it thus, 'We praise the star Tishtrya, the shining, the
majestic, 'llJho h1ings here the cirding years of mm." Darmesteter takes y{Ue-
chate§ho maJhyehe etc., with the words following, viz., uziyoirmtem hi,posmtem,
and translates, "We praise Tishtrya etc., whose rising is watched by
men, who live on the fruits of the year. " According to Dastur Erachji
Meherjirana (see his Yasht !Jf1mf1eni) the meaning of the whole paragraph
in which this passage occurs, is:- We praise Tishtrya, etc. who
maketh the year revolve in accordance with the nolions of the
mountaineers and the nomads. He riseth and is visible towards the
regions where there is no correct calculation of the year."
But whatever the difficulties of interpretation may be, one thin