Page 506 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

VEDIC MYTHS- THE MATUTINAL DEITIES 287
and darkness, or the conquest of spring over winter, or of the
storm-god over clouds. Thus we have not been able as yet to
explain why Vritra was killed once a year, why the waters and
the light were described as being released simultaneously by
killing Vritra, or why Indra's fight with Shambara was said
to have commenced on the 40th day of Sharad, or why the
fight was said to be conducted in the paravat regions, why
Dirghatamas was described as having grown old in the lOth
yuga, why Marta'!l9a was cast away as a dead son, why Trita,
or the Third, was said to have fallen into a pit, or again why
Vi~h'!lu's third stride was said to be invisible. We now find that
not only all these but many more incidents in the Vedic myths
are satisfactorily accounted for, and the legends in their turn
directly lead us to the Arctic theory. The legends of Indra and
Vritra, of Saptavadhri, of Aditi and her seven flourishing and
one still-born son, of Sftrya's wheel and of Dirghatamas, are
again found to contain express passages which indicate seven
or ten months' period of sunshine at the place, where these
legends originated; and unless we are prepared to say that all
these may be accidental coincidences, we cannot, I think, legi-
timately withhold our assent to a theory which explains so many
facts, and incidents, hitherto ignored, neglected or misunder-
stood, in an easy, natural and intelligible manner. I do not
mean to say that the Arctic theory would entirely dispense with
the necessity of the Dawn, the Storm or the Vernal theory. All
that I contend for is that the Arctic theory explains a number
of legendary or traditional facts hitherto hopelessly given up as
inexplicable and that in the interpretation of Vedic myths it
furnishes us with a weapon far more powerful and effective
than either the Dawn, the Storm or the Vernal theory. In short,
from a mythological point of view alone, there is ample ground
to recommend it to our acceptance side by side with, and in some
cases, even in substitution of the old theories. In addition to
this it has been already shown in previous chapters that the new
theory rests on direct and independent statements of facts
contained in the :{{ig-Veda, about the duration and nature of
the Dawn, days and nights, seasons, months and the year in
the home of the ancient fathers of the Vedic :{{i~his; and that
the Avestic and Roman traditions fully corroborate our conclu-
sion. We have further seen that the theory is perfectly consist-