Page 557 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

338 SAMAGRA TILAK- 2 • THE ARCTIC HOME
Ashvins as dwelling or labouring in darkness. Prof. Rhys is
more cautious in this respect, and is anxious to account for all
the incidents in the legends if they could possibly be accounted
for on any theory. The result is that he has been gradually led,
or we might even say forced, to adopt the theory of the ancient
Arctic home of the Aryan people inasmuch as all the different
incidents in the legends under consideration can be accounted
for only by this theory. In short, Prof. Rhys has done for the
Celtic and Teutonic myths what we have endeavoured to do in
this book in regard to the Vedic and A vestic traditions. This
has considerably lightened our labour in regard to the examina-
tion of Celtic and Teutonic myths from our point of view, and
our thanks are due to Prof. Rhys for the same. But we feel sure
that if the Vedic evidence and facts stated and discussed in the
foregoing chapters had been known to the learned Professor
before he wrote his work, he would have expressed himself
still more confidently regarding the inference to be drawn from
the traces of Arctic origin discernible in Teutonic myths; but
even as it is, the value of his testimony stands very high in the
decision of the question before us. It is the testimony of an expert
given after a critical and careful examination of all Celtic and
Teutonic Myths, and after comparing them with similar Greek
traditions; and when this testimony falls in so completely with
the conclusions we have drawn from an independent considera-
tion of the Vedic and Avestic myths, our results may, so to say,
be regarded as doubly proved. It has already been shown that
the results of comparative philology also support, or, at any rate
are not inconsistent with our conclusions. The theory of the
Asiatic home may be said to have been now abandoned on
linguistic or etymological grounds, but it has not yet been
proved that the neolithic Aryan races of Europe were autoch-
thonus in the countries where their remains are now found.
Therefore the question of the original home of the Aryan
people is still an open question, and we are free to draw any
conclusion regarding the ancient home from a legitimate con-
sideration of the traditional evidence before us. Prof. Rhys, has
well described the situation by observing that the teachings of
evolution may force us to look for the original home still far-
ther north in the Arctic regions. In fact we have to go to a latitude
Mhich will give us seven mon!hs' sunshine, or a hundred nights'