Page 466 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

VEDIC MYTHS -THE MATUTINAL DEITIES 24 7
is sufficient for our purpose. It will be seen from it that the Ashvins
bear the general character of helping the lame, the blind, the dis-
tressed, or the afllicted; and in some places a reference to the decay-
ed powers of the sun is discernible on the face of the legends. Tak-
ing their clue from this indication, many scholars, and among
them Prof. Max Muller, have interpreted all the above legends as
referring to the sun in winter and the restoration of his power in
spring or summer. Thus Prof. Max Muller tells us that Chyavana
is nothing but the falling sun ( chyu, to fall ), of which it might
well be said that he had sunk in the fiery or dark abyss from which
the Ashvins are themselves said to come up in III, 39, 3. The Vedi~?
J.ljshis are again said to have betrayed the secret of the myth of
Vandana by comparing the treasure dug for him by the Ashvins
to the sun ' dwelling in darkness. ' Kali is similarly taken t!>
·represent the waning moon, and Vishpallt's iron leg, we are told,
is the first quarter or pada of the new moon, called ' iron ' on
account of his darkness as compared with the golden colour of
the full moon. The blindness of Rijrashva is explained on this
.theory as meaning the blindness of night or winter; and the blind
and the lame Parltvrij is taken to be the sun after sunset or near
the winter solstice. The setting sun thrown out of a boat into waters
is similarly understood to be the basis of the legend Bhujyu or
Rebha. Vadhrimati, the wife of the eunuch, to whom Hira~ya-hasta
or the gold-hand is said to be restored, is, we are further told,
nothing but the dawn under a different name. She is called the
wife of the eunuch because she was separated from the sun during
,the night. The cow of Shayu, ( derived from shi, to lie down ) is
again said to be the light of the morning sun, who may well be
described as sleeping in the darkness from which he was brought
forth by the Ashvins for the sake of Vandana. In short, each and
.every legend is said to be a story of the sun or the moon in distress.
The Ashvins were the saviours of the morning-light, or of the
annual sun in his exile and distress at the time of winter solstice;
and when the sun becomes bright and brisk in the morning every
'day, or vigorous and triumphant in the spring, the miracle, we are
told, was naturally attributed to the physicians of the gods.
This explanation of the different legends connected with the
Ashvins is no doubt an advance on that of Yaska, who has expla-
ined only one of these legends, viz., that of the quail, on the Dawn
theory. But still I do not think that aU the facts and incidents in