Page 601 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

382 SAMAGRA TILAK- 2 • THE ARCTIC HOMJ!

Archooology, Linguistic Palooology, Comparative Mythology and
Astronomy. In fact, th.e idea of searching for the evidence of an
Arctic home in the Vedas may be said to have been stimulated,
if not suggested, by the recent advances made in these sciences,
and it will be seen that the method, adopted by us in working
it up, is as rigid as it ought to be. It is now several centuries since
the science of Vedic exegetics was founded by Indian Nairuktas;
and it may seem surprising that traces of an Arctic home in the
Vedas should remain undiscovered so long. But surprises like
these are out of place in investigations of this kind, where one must
be prepared to accept the results proved in the light of advanc-
ing knowledge, by the strictest rules of logic and scientific research.
It is these rules that we have taken for our guide, and if
the validity of our conclusions be tested by this standard, we
hope it will be found that we have succeeded in discovering the
true key to the interpretation of a number of Vedic texts and
legends hitherto given up as hopeless, ignored or misunderstood.
In these days of progress, when the question of the primitive
human culture and civilisation is approached and investigated
from so many different sides, the science of Vedic interpretation
cannot stand isolated or depend exclusively on linguistic or
grammatical analysis; and we have simply followed the spirit
of the time in seeking to bring about the co-ordination of the
latest scientific results with the traditions contained in the
oldest books of the Aryan race,- books which have been
deservedly held in the highest esteem and preserved by our
ancestors, amidst insurmountable difficulties, with religious
enthusiasm ever since the beginning of the present age.