The Arctic Home in the Vedas (Wikipedia)
The Arctic Home in the Vedas is a book on the origin of Aryans by Lokmanya Bâl Gangâdhar Tilak, a mathematician turned astronomer, historian, journalist, philosopher and political leader of India during 1880 to 1920. It propounded the theory that the North Pole was the original home of Aryans during pre-glacial period which they had to leave due to the ice deluge around 8000 B.C. and had to migrate to the Northern parts of Europe and Asia in search of lands for new settlements. In support to his theory Tilak has presented certain Vedic hymns, Avestic passages, Vedic chronology and Vedic calendars with interpretations of the contents in detail.
The book was written at the end of 1898, but was first published in March 1903 in Pune.
Background
Man was believed to be post-Glacial and the theory of Asiatic Home of Aryans prevailed. The age of the oldest Vedic period, however, was carried back to 4500 BC by scholars including the author himself after scientific astronomical research in correlation with the evidence found in the Vedic hymns.
The Author held the view that further study of Vedic hymns and Avestic passages might reveal the long vista of primitive Aryan antiquity.
Summary of Tilak’s polar theory
* Neolithic Aryan race in Europe cannot be regarded as autochthonous, nor European Aryans descended from the Paleolithic man. Hence, question of the original Aryan home is still unsettled.
* In the early geological ages, the Alps were low, the Himalayas not yet upheaved, Asia and Africa were represented only by a group of islands and an equable and uniform climate prevailed over the whole surface of the globe. In those days, however, a warm climate prevailed in the Arctic region.
* The close of the Pliocene and the whole of the Pleistocene period were marked by violent changes of climate bringing on what is called the Glacial and Inter-Glacial epochs. A succession of cold and warm climates must have characterized these Glacial and Inter-Glacial periods which were also accompanied by extensive movements of depression and elevation of land, the depression taking place after the land was weighed down with the enormous mass of ice.
* Thus a period of glaciations was marked by elevation, extreme cold and the invasion of the ice-caps over regions of the present Temperate zone; while an inter-glacial period was accompanied by depression of land and milder and congenial climate which made even the Arctic regions habitable.
* According to the latest geological evidence, the last Glacial period must have closed and Post-Glacial must have commenced at about 10,000 years ago or 8,000 BC. There were at least two Glacial and one Inter-Glacial period, and the geographical distribution of land and water on the earth during the Inter-Glacial period was quite different from what it is at present. It was the coming on of the Glacial age that destroyed this genial climate and rendered the regions unsuited for the habitation of tropical plants and animals.
* At the North Pole, one sees the heavenly dome above seems to revolve around one like a potter's wheel. The stars will not rise and set but move round and round in horizontal planes during the long night of six months. The Sun, when it is above the horizon for six months; would also appear to revolve in the same way but with some difference. The Northern celestial hemisphere will alone be visible spinning round and round and the Southern half remain invisible. The Sun going into the Northern hemisphere in his annual course will appear as coming up from the South. Living in the temperate and tropical zones, however, one sees all heavenly objects rise in the East and set in the West, some passing over the head, others traveling obliquely.
* The long dawn of two months is a special and important characteristic of the North Pole. As we descend southward, the splendor and the duration of the dawn will be witnessed on a less and less magnificent scale. But the dawn occurring at the end of the long night of two, three or more months will still be unusually long, often of several days duration.
* All these characteristics of an Arctic home are clearly recorded in several Vedic hymns and Avestic passages and they come to us sometimes as the description of the prevailing conditions or the day-to-day experience or stories told by the earlier generation and sometimes as myths.
Chronology of the post-glacial period
* 10,000 to 8000 BC – The destruction of the original Arctic home by the last Ice Age and the commencement of the post-Glacial period.
* 8000 to 5000 BC – The age of migration from the original home. The survivors of the Aryan race roamed over the northern parts of Europe and Asia in search of lands suitable for new settlements. Tilak calls it as ‘Pre-Orion Period’.
* 5000 to 3000 BC. - The Orion period, when the vernal equinox was in Orion. Many Vedic hymns can be traced to the early part of this period and the bards of the race seem to have not yet forgotten the real importance of the traditions of the Arctic home inherited by them. It was at this time that first attempts to reform the calendar and the sacrificial system appear to have been systematically made.
* 3000 to 1400 BC – The Krittika period, when the Vernal equinox was in Pleiades. The traditions about the original Arctic home had grown dim by this time and very often misunderstood, making the Vedic hymns more and more unintelligible.
* 1400 to 500 BC – The Pre-Buddhistic period, when the Sutras and the Philosophical systems made their appearance.
Contents
The book has about 500 pages containing a Preface by the Author and thirteen chapters.
1. ‘Prehistoric Times’
2. The Glacial Period
3. The Arctic Regions
4. The Night of the Gods
5. The Vedic Dawns
6. Long Day and Long Night
7. Months and Seasons
8. The Cow’s Walk
9. Vedic Myths— The Captive Waters
10. Vedic Myths— The Matutinal Deities
11. The Avestic Evidence
12. Comparative Mythology.
13. The Bearing of our Results on the History of Primitive Aryan
Culture and Religion.
* At the end, a General Index and Index of Vedic and Avestic
Passages are given.
Evidence in support of the theory
1) Vedic Evidences
* Particulars of Hymns and Verses in ten Mandalas of Rigveda are given.
For example Hymn 1, Verse 2, Page 459.
* Particulars of Passages in Taittiriya Samhita are given.
For example Passage I, 3, 9, 2, Page 91.
* Particulars of Hymns in Vajasaneyi Samhita are given.
* Particulars of Sama Veda Samhita are given.
* Particulars of Atharva Veda Samhita are given.
* Particulars of Aitareya Brahmana are given.
* Particulars of Kaushitaki Brahmana are given.
* Particulars of Taittiriya Brahmana are given.
* Particulars of Shatapatha Brahmana are given.
* Particulars of Tandya Brahmana are given.
* Particulars of Shadvimsha Brahmana are given.
* Particulars of Taittiriya Aranyaka are given.
* Particulars of Upanishads are given.
2) Avestic Evidences
* Particulars of Vendidad passages are given.
* Particulars of Yashts passages are given.
* Particulars of Yasna passages are given.
Influence
The Arctic Home in the Vedas has been cited in the works of Julius Evola and Savitri Devi.
References
The Arctic Home in the Vedas by B.G. Tilak, edition 1925.
External links
Text of The Arctic Home in the Vedas
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"As we have already shown, the symbol of the zero is likewise derived from the holy-sign of the circle, which symbolizes the unrevealed God, and also the other numerical symbols--falsely called "Arabic--were developed from the circle combined with the sign of multiplication, the gibor-rune: X which resulted in this matrix...... The series of these holy number-runes which appear in the following manner in a 13th century manuscript in the Royal Imperial Library in Vienna, the so-called Imperial Chronicle...... whence the old linear formations can still rather closely be made out. That these numerical signs have been referred to as "Arabic-Indian numerals" in more recent times, proves that belief in Aryanism is finally beginning to break through. Certainly the same thing is true for Sanskrit, but it should not be thought that Sanskrit is the root, but rather it is but one of the older branches of the Aryan World-tree, which was derived from the proto-Aryan, like our Germanic languages. Therefore, it shares a common origin and is of the same age as our Germanic languages in which Old Aryan still lives." --Guido von List, 'The Religion of the Aryo-Germanic Folk'
World tree
From Wikipedia:
The world tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European religions, Siberian religions, and Native American religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereby connecting the heavens, the world, and, through its roots, the underworld. It may also be strongly connected to the motif of the tree of life.
Specific world trees include világfa in Hungarian mythology, Ağaç Ana in Turkic mythology, Modun in Mongolian mythology, Yggdrasil (or Irminsul) in Germanic (including Norse) mythology, the Oak in Slavic and Finnish mythology, and in Hindu mythology the Ashvattha (a Sacred Fig).
Norse mythology
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the world tree. Yggdrasil is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, Yggdrasil is an immense ash tree that is central and considered very holy. The Æsir go to Yggdrasil daily to hold their courts. The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations; one to the well Urðarbrunnr in the heavens, one to the spring Hvergelmir, and another to the well Mímisbrunnr. Creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the harts Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór, an unnamed eagle, the squirrel Ratatoskr and the wyrm Níðhöggr. Scholarly theories have been proposed about the etymology of the name Yggdrasil, the potential relation to the trees Mímameiðr and Læraðr, and the sacred tree at Uppsala.
Other cultures
Remnants are also evident in the Kalpavriksha or "wish-fulfilling tree" of the South Asian religions.
In Brahma Kumaris religion, the World Tree is portrayed as the "Kalpa Vriksha Tree", or "Tree of Humanity", in which the founder Brahma Baba (Dada Lekhraj) and his Brahma Kumaris followers are shown as the roots of the humanity who enjoy 2,500 years of paradise as living deities before trunk of humanity splits and the founders of other religions incarnate. Each creates their own branch and brings with them their own followers, until they too decline and splits. Twig like schisms, cults and sects appear at the end of the Iron Age.
A reoccurring daydream
For as long as I can remember, I have had a daydream--maybe a night dream as well--of being at low elevation and traveling in a straight line towards a very high point far in the distance. As I travel along, I keep climbing towards higher and higher elevation. From grassy lowlands, I travel through rocky highland forests, with the sun still beating down from a clear sky. Soon it becomes cloudier as I start to see sparse pockets of snow, and I can no longer see where I started from. I picture myself in an automobile, because that makes it easier to imagine. Eventually it's overcast and windy, with less tree cover as I climb up steep mountains in a slow ascent. Finally, usually after a blizzardy phase, it's somewhat clear again, and I just keep climbing upward towards a peak that I never reach. I don't want to look back. I know that this road leads to the "roof of the world." THE top of the earth.
Perhaps it's the result from the genetic memory of possibly thousands of years of living in the pre-Alps, and always seeing the endless ascent to the sky. Maybe it could be from some ancient memory from Teutonic ancestors who lived in a strange, harsh, very far off unrecognizable place, with strange animals abound, many thousands of years ago. Perhaps it was within view of an ominous, mile high sheet of ice. Some of my ancestors were known as the "Winnili," which is similar to the word "Wihinei"--a word which List used for esoteric religion. Sometimes I imagine the location of my reoccurring daydream; Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, the Sierra Nevadas, the Rocky Mountains, the Alps... but maybe somewhere very deep in my genetic memory... maybe it could be the Himalayas, "the roof of the world." I feel the same as I do during winter hikes when I reach a peak or high point, and feel invigorated by the cold wind.
The republication of 'The Arctic Home in the Vedas' (2011)
'The Arctic Home in the Vedas' was written by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and first published in India in 1903. Ironically, his biography sounds similar to Guido von List. The only difference was that Tilak was knee-deep in revolutionary resistance, while List merely knew nationalists as he was not directly "political."
Book Description
The idea of a lost ancient civilization located at the North Pole at a time when its climate was friendlier to human habitation is suggested in many of the world's oldest myths and sacred scriptures. Drawing upon his vast knowledge of the Hindu Vedas and the Zoroastrian Avesta, Tilak makes a painstakingly detailed analysis of the texts and compares them with the geological, astronomical and archaeological evidence to show the plausibility of the Arctic having been the primordial cradle of the Aryan race before changing conditions forced the Aryans southward into present-day Europe, Iran and India. Although this theory has never gained widespread acceptance among mainstream scholars since it was first published in 1903, Tilak has made a compelling case which is not easily refuted.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920), who was given the honorary title Lokmanya ("chosen leader of the people"), was one of the fathers of India's independence movement in opposition to British colonial rule. He was imprisoned several times for his vocal advocacy of violent revolt against the colonial authorities on the basis of Vedic scripture. His time in prison gave him time to work on his more scholarly projects, such as the present book. Although he did not live to see the ultimate victory of the movement he had helped to establish, he is widely acknowledged as having been one of the main driving forces behind it due to his influence on Gandhi and the other leaders who saw his mission through to its end in 1947.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Lokmanya Tilak, born as Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), was an Indian nationalist, journalist, teacher, social reformer, lawyer and independence activist who was the first popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement. The British colonial authorities derogatorily called him "Father of the Indian unrest". He was also conferred with the honorary title of "Lokmanya", which literally means "Accepted by the people(as their leader)".
Tilak was one of the first and strongest advocates of "Swaraj" (self-rule) and a strong radical in Indian consciousness. His famous quote, "Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it!" is well-remembered in India even today.
One more look at climate, timeline, demographics, and geography
Actually, the 45 degree latitude for the northern ice sheet was accurate in some places, such as North America. However, in Europe, the ice sheet covered the British Isles, Belgium, the Netherlands, northern Germany, before taking a slight southernly direction at Poland and through eastern Europe; then a sharp northeastern direction in Asia. The Alps were covered in ice, and there seemed to be a harsh region north of it, likely preventing northern passage for a long period. What this all boils down to is that the region of ancient Iran was probably more like modern British Columbia in terms of climate, while India was perhaps something similar to Oregon and California.
Also, the last ice age seemed to end about 12,000 to 13,000 years ago, which fits perfectly into this "Ice Age Iran/proto-Norse" theory. I would guess that there were proto-Norse tribes living north of the mountains of Iran, probably all around the Caspian Sea at this time. Remember, this was long before Semitic, Turkic, and Mongol expansion. These more northern tribes were more than likely the ones who migrated across northern Europe, and they would explain the mummies of the Tarim Basin in what is today far western China. They were the ones who remained. Archeologists just assumed that they migrated from northern Europe. In other words, psychologically, they can't seem to geographically divorce "Nordics" from northern Europe.
I would theorize that at the end of the last Ice Age twelve thousand years ago, Europe was about 60% of its current habitable land, and was populated by Alpine peoples of which the Basques are a modern survival. Smaller early bands of proto-Norse, probably over thousands of years, migrated across northern Europe and most of Spain and intermingled with the native Alpine peoples. This cultural fusion formed the various Celtic cultures over a large area. When the bulk of the proto-Norse finally did arrive later on, they swarmed over Scandinavia and northern Germany, but were checked at Gaul and southern Germany. Only much later did they finally overrun south Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, driving many Celtic tribes into Italy.
The original Mediterranean peoples stayed in the Middle East and founded the earliest civilizations. They also migrated across southern Europe and north Africa, up into France, and into the British Isles, and fused with the various Alpine and Celtic peoples. I'm oversimplifying it. The earlier westward proto-Norse migrations into Europe probably overlapped the westward Mediterranean migrations. I'm only considering the time frame from approximately 13,000 to 5,000 years ago.
The ancestors of the people who we today call "Arabs" were true Semites who lived at the southern part of the Saudi peninsula and perhaps the horn of Africa. At this time, they would have looked very different than the ancient Middle Easterners. This was the Ice Age. Everything in the world would have been pushed south! The contact we're looking at is between these Mediterranean/proto-Norse "Aryans," and the dark skinned Dravidian race in India. I don't see any other explanation for this "Aryan and Indo-European language" quagmire that so many people have pondered and deliberated about for so long.
Before the Aryan culture, could the "Arctic Home in the Vedas" have been the Ice Age proto-Norse who lived around the Caspian Sea; a region which would have been "Arctic" prior to 13,000 years ago? Some could have migrated over the mountains to the south and settled in a warmer climate and merged with the very ancient Persian Mediterraneans, whose homogenized descendants were the Aryans! You need to force your mind to see the world at it existed then... not now. It's possible that the early proto-Norse occupied a larger region north of the Himalayas.
According to Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the last post-glacial period occurred between eight and ten thousand years ago, which easily fits the above hypothesis. In part six, you can see that Tilak was presenting a theory which was largely different than this one. However, it's not entirely impossible that the two ideas could tie-in closely. In other words, these proto-Norse may have migrated southward into the region around the Caspian Sea from far northern stretches at an earlier time; and then some eventually moving southward over the mountains of northern Iran, and settling in the high interior plateau, which may be more-or-less be the same basic theory. It should be added that the bulk of the proto-Norse migrated across most of northern Europe, which again would be fairly consistent with Tilak's book.
It would seem that the ancient Mediterraneans--in a world with only a tiny fraction of todays population--would have remained in the lowlands of the Near East, which would have been green and comfortable then. It's not likely they would have been especially interested in living in the harsher mountainous conditions of ancient Iran until well after the weather cooled down. When they eventually did, it probably then resembled modern Colorado.
12-14-12 ADDITION: All individual storehouses of knowledge and solutions to problems (not mere dead memorized data!) are thus evaluated. Such storehouses are not lost upon death, but rather they are preserved in death and once more brought back to the world of men upon the next reincarnation. People call these spiritual storehouses that the reborn individuals bring to the earth "natural abilities," "talent" or "innate genius," which has already been established and discussed above. But just as the unrevealed God is only able to reveal himself in matter and become the world-spirit (First Logos), and just as the revealed God has to activate himself in creation generatively (Second Logos), in order to come to a vision and knowledge of himself, and finally just as the human spirit (Third Logos) had to attain this through an apparent descent from divinity for the sake of awareness of divinity itself, i.e. his own selfhood, so too the human being can only rediscover the divinity within himself (the divine inwardness) after he has lost it, after he has searched for God unseccessfully outside himself "up there in heaven," in temples and churches, finally only to rediscover his God within his own heart on the painful detour through atheism--and this time he does so in a way that God will never again be lost. And here we recognize in the world-ash, Yggdrasil--the imagematic tree of knowledge--the holy tree Zampuh of Tibetan myth, the Assyrian tree of life, and the other similar tree in Indian, Persian and other mythologies. Thus we find our way back to Yggdrasil again. --Guido von List, 'The Religion of the Aryo-Germanic Folk', from pages 45 and 46 of the Runa-Raven Press translation.
List was explaining what he called the "Garma" of the soul, and it's ascent over many incarnations. He mentions here "The Tree of Life," and it's existence in Germanic, Tibetan, Assyrian, Indian, and Persian spiritual traditions. Although so much of the technology from the "cradle of civilization" came from ancient true-Mediterraneans, the spirituality seemed to come from the proto-Norse people migrating south from their trans-Himalayan homeland... and ultimately from their very ancient Arctic homeland. It sounds like just a fanciful notion until you really look at the evidence. Aside from ancient Persia and later the Indus Valley, some of these proto-Germanic people may have migrated to other locations--like ancient Assyria--where they spread those spiritual traditions... such as "The Tree of Life."
In Greater Tibet, I would guess that the migrating proto-Norse were small in number, and their characteristics disappeared with later expansion from the Far East. Only their spirituality remained, and could be symbolized by the triskelion motif, a symbol they left behind, which is still popular in the region today. The triskelion probably went all the way back to the Arctic homeland. It was brought by very early migrating proto-Norse into Europe, where it manifested into the Celtic cultures. Today, the same symbol is present on the flags of the Isle of Man, Sicily, and places that I couldn't pronounce in the Caucasus, and far east into the Russian administrative territories; as well as in symbolism and arms from Greece, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, etc.
It probably should be pointed out again--despite the genuine and fascinating lore of the early proto-Norse migrations--they were not "the Aryans." The Aryan civilization was the result of east-migrating true-Mediterraneans and south-migrating proto-Norse, culturally and genetically merging together in ancient Persia. Technology from true-Mediterraneans merged with deep spiritual traditions of the proto-Norse, which developed into one of the great civilizations of the ancient world. This spirituality was not exactly the same as what later became known as Odinism or Asatru. These spiritual traditions were constantly evolving, mainly due to contact with other peoples. For example, Odinism may have been influenced by earlier Alpine peoples.
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Just to give some background--part fact, part theory--the proto-Norse during the last Ice Age, lived approximately in what is today Iran. That land looked very different 25,000 years ago. There was an ice cap a mile high above the 45 or 50 degree latitude in the northern hemisphere. Now if you look on a map, that would make "ancient Iran" and the surrounding territory into something of an Alaska! A totally different environment: dim, cold, mountainous, wooded. A harsh land of wood and snow, with whoolly rhronoceros, mammoth, and lion. These proto-Norse were not specifically "European" then; although this is part of "the Indo-European story."
"Apparently the belief (earth-based/month-birth classification system) is mainly a Norse conception, since it was the Nordic peoples, of all the ancients, who most clearly expressed their ideas in Nature. Some authorities assert that it comes from the East, whence comes all mystical lore. But since modern scholars now prove the Norse tribes to have migrated from Asia, originally, there may easily be a common origin of ideas. Certain it is that, far away in the dim ages of our nation's (UK) dawning, when wandering Aryan tribes, said to have come originally from the plain of Iran, in Central Asia, swarmed over and settled in Northern Europe, they found their ideas of God in Nature."
--Margaret Baillie-Sanders (UK), 'Your Birthday Month and You', 1932
Numerous authors and researchers--including Guido von List--who studied and wrote about subject matter basically dealing with Odinic-type spiritual traditions, eventually drifted off to other cultures to the south and east, and to India. It's as if there's a loose concept that the roads to all pre-Christian spiritual traditions, of the "earth island" and beyond, lead to ancient India. Some people believe that there once existed "mystery schools" which once tied together ancient wisdom from England to India. I don't believe that; but I think there could have been geographically smaller spiritual tie-ins between east and west, and which vibrated outward over thousands of years.
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