Page 99 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

86 SAMAGilA TILAK - 2 • THE ORION

name for the Dog-star, and with its .derivative Sairya would give
us the etymon of Seirios !* In. ~ig. vii. 55. 2 the Vastothpati,
' the guardian of the house, ' in the form of a dog, is invoked and
described as bright and red Sarameya on whose jaws spears seem
to glitter ; a description which answers so well with the appearance
of Sirius, that with what has been said above we may at once
identify the Sirameya with the Dog-star: I may-here refer to the
Shatapatha Brahmai}a ii. 1. 2. 9, where speaking of Mrigasbiras,
the PrajApati's body pierced by Rudra is described at his vastu.
May not V&sto,hpati be regarded as guardian of this ? If so, it
may be a further proof that V&stothpati represents the star Sirius,
which, as it were, guards the head of PrajApati in the form of
Orion or the antelope's head. But, apart from this suggestion,. I
would finally quote ~g. i. 161. 13, where it is expressly stated tiiat
' the dog awakened ' the Ribhus, the genii . of the seasons, at
the ' end of _the year.!' SAyat;ta proposes. to interpret shvanam
in the original by 'wind', but it is evidently an error. In the
Shatapatha BrAhmai}a xiii. 5. 1. 8, vrika and shva are mentioned
together, and the former is known to be a name for a wild dog.
If so, Sayai}a's explanation of ~ig. i. 105. 11 appears to be more
probable than that of YAska. It is in fact a description of the dog
( star ) appearing in the east after crossing ' the eternal waters '
of Yamaloka, and then being immediately lost in the rays of the
sun, which rising after it, had to push the wild dog out of his way.
The mention of the 'eternal waters' of the Yamaloka indicates
that the heliacal rising of the Dog-star, here referred to occurred
at the end of the PitriyAna or at the vernal equinox, thus further
confirming the statement that the dog commenced the year. There
are other passages of similar import, but as I wish to avoid, for the
present, any disputed passages, I do not mention them here. If
the time, I am contending to establish for the hymns of the ~igveda,
comes to be accepted, it is S\lre to furnish an unerring clue to the
interpretation of many other passages and legends in that sacred
book, but the work must be left to be done hereafter.
Putting all these passages together, we find that in the ~igveda,
dogs are described as dark and brown, bright and red, posess-
ins four eyes, guarding the house and the way to Yama's

• See Max M!lller's Lectures on the Science of Language, Vol. I I,
p. 526.