Page 454 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

VEDIC MYTHS-THE CAPTIVE WATERS 235
flow upwards or udancha (II, IS, 6) and are said to be seven in
number (I, 32, 12;11, 12, 12). The theory of the cosmic circulation
of aerial waters explains why these waters are described as flowing
upwards simultaneously with the dawn, for as the sun was believed
to be carried in the sky by aerial currents, the light of the sun
appeared above the horizon when the aerial rivers began to flow
up from the nether world where they had been blocked before by
V~tra. The waters or the rivers were, therefore, aptly described
as flowing upwards and bringing the light of the sun with them.
But we have still to answer the question why the rivers or waters
are described as seven in number and it is alleged that the Storm
theory supplies us with a satisfactory reply to this question. Thus
it has been suggested by Western scholars that the seven rivers,
here referred to are the seven rivers of the Panjaub which are
flooded during the rainy season by waters released by Indra from
the clutches of the demon who confines them in the storm-cloud.
The rivers of Panjaub may therefore, it is urged be well-described
as being set free to flow ( sartave ) by Indra himself, and in support
of this explanation we are referred to :{{ig-Veda X, 75, and
to the phrase hapta hindu occurring in Fargard I of the Vendidad,
where it is said to denote the Panjaub or India. But the hypothesis,
howsoever tempting it may seem at the first sight, is quite inade-
quate to explain the seven-fold division of waters in a satisfactory
way. It has been pointed out above that the simultaneous release
of waters and light can be accounted for only on the theory of the
cosmic circulation of aerial waters; and if this is correct, we cannot
identify the seven rivers, set free to flow upwards ( udancha ) by
Indra, with any terrestrial rivers, whether in the Panjaub or else-
where. The Panjaub is, again, as its name indicates, a land of
five and not of seven rivers; and it is so described in the Vajasaneyi
Samhita. * The term paiichanada is therefore, more appropriate
in the case of the Panjaub, than sapta sindhaval; or the Hapta-
hindu of the Avesta. But we might get over the difficulty by suppos-
ing that Kubha and Sarasvatl, or any other two tributaries of
the Indus were included in the group by the Vedic bards when
they spoke of seven rivers. In the :{{ig-Veda (X, 75 ), about fifteen
different rivers are mentioned, including the Ganga, the Yamuna,
• See Vaj. Sam XXXIV, II-tR o:rq: ffi:~ll1flt l!'!~ ffi'TII'ffi: I t!~
~ tR"<lT ffi ~S~Cfe{, t~f{Q_ II Here ffi is equal to til and ~.