The ORION
Or research onto
The Antiquity of the Vedas
Chapter VII
Ribhus and Vrishakapi
Tilak explores various hymns of Rgved and interprets them to
show the amount of astronomical knowledge Vedic people possessed. Names of
nakshatras, planets, references to seasons, the intercalary months and other
zodiac phenomena have been mentioned in Rgvedas, though not in the form we know
them today. Tilak uses a hymn from Rigveda to show that an eclipse of the sun
was observed. He shows with the help of the hymn that Vedic priests were
tolerably well acquainted with elementary astronomical facts.
He thus claims that the Vedic rishis were not as ignorant of
the broad astronomical facts as they are sometimes represented to be. Even,
Prof Ludwig goes further and holds that the Rigveda mentions the inclination of
ecliptic with the equator.
He explains in detail the verses which led to the legend of
the dog that awakened the Ribhus, after 12 days of rest, (intercalary days) at
the end of the year. He further states that Ribhus did not merely represent the
rays of the sun but also the three seasons connected with them. But who is this
dog? He claims that it is nothing but a constellation of Dog Star which is
being referred to. The whole story of Ribhus, as recorded in Rigveda e
establishes the fact that when this legend was formed the year commenced with
the vernal equinox in Canis major/ dog star. If that be so, the winter solstice
would fall on the full moon in Phalguna and then Margashiras would lead the
list of nakshatra.
Tilak analyses the hymn of Vrishakapi in the 10th mandala of
the Rigveda. He says it is difficult to determine the nature of the deity.
Various conjectures have been made as to its character, personality, meaning
and origin. Prof. Max Muller compares it with Erikapaeos, an Orphic name of
Protogonos … of the Greek. Tilak claims that the identification of Vrishakapi
with the Sun is accepted by native and European scholars.
Vrishakapi is a Mriga, and his appearance and disappearance
mark the cessation and the recommencement of the sacrifices. The Indian
tradition identifies him with the Sun in one form or another and comparison
with Greek Erikapaeos points to the same conclusion.
He concludes that the hymn gives us not only a description of
the constellation of Orion and Canis (verses 4 and 5), but clearly and
expressly defines the position of the sun when he passed to the north of the
equator in old times (verse 22), and joined with the legend of the Ribhus we
have here unmistakeable and reliable internal evidence of the hymns of the
Rigveda to ascertain the period when the traditions incorporated in these hymns
were first framed and conceived.
Comments
Post a Comment