NO. I THE DARKER SIDE OF DAWN- — COOMARASWAMY 3 



For many readers the ontological principles outlined above will be 

 of interest and value, not so much by first intention as " traces " of 

 the Way, but rather and only as providing a logical explanation for 

 certain typical forms of the creation myth that is a common property 

 of all cultures. Regarded, however, even from this purely " scientific " 

 point of view, the student of mythology, folklore, and fairy tale will 

 find in these principles a valuable means of recognizing and corre- 

 lating the varying forms that the world myth assumes. The story is 

 not only of a time before history began, but was already told in a time 

 before history was recorded. We may be sure that the pseudo-histor- 

 ical aspects that the story has assumed, for example in the Volsunga 

 Saga, in Beowulf, or the Mahiibharata, are later developments and 

 partial rationalizations. Fragments of the story will be recognized in 

 the dogmatic life of every Messiah ; in the miracles, for example, at- 

 tributed to Cuchullain, Buddha, Moses, and Christ. Other fragments 

 survive in fairy tales and even in nursery rhymes ; in the story, for ex- 

 ample of the human hero who crosses water or climbs a tree and thus 

 returns to the magical otherworld, where he rescues or carries off 

 the imprisoned daughter of a giant or magician ; and in the stories 

 of mermaids or Undines, who fall in love with a mortal, acquire a 

 soul, and feet in place of their scaly tails. 



The author trusts that the foregoing remarks will serve to introduce, 

 however inadequately, the theme of the Darker Side of Dawn, the 

 real sense of which may not be immediately apparent to the general 

 reader. For the professed student of the Rg Veda the actual evidences 

 of the texts are assembled in the accustomed and more technical man- 

 ner ; the thesis, although it might have been expanded at much greater 

 length, may be taken to be complete in itself. 



THE DARKER SIDE OF DAWN 



In an article due to appear in the Journal of the American Oriental 

 Society, but of which the pubUcation has been delayed for lack of 

 space, I have discussed the relation of the masculine Angels (devuh) 

 on the one hand with the Titans (asumh) and Serpents (sarpuh) 

 on the other, showing that the former are to be regarded as sacrificial 

 conversions or transformations of the latter. By way of introduction 

 to what follows, and for the sake of the parallel wordings, the gen- 

 eral nature of the evidence for the transformation of the Serpents 

 in this sense may be indicated. The evidence is primarily Rg Vedic, 

 but is conveniently resumed in Pancaviiiisa BrdJimana, XXV, 15, 

 where the Serpents, by means of a sacrificial session, are enabled to 



