The Vedic fathers of geology

91061647; Resrancues ov-THE West. 89

the reasoning powers of man, | may here observe in passing, that the Man-Lion was, in all likelihood, supposed to be one of th: Jost types of the anthropoid primates; or, it might te, that the geological knowledge of our ancestors was imperfect. But, in all probability, the fossi/s of such an anthropoid primate were found by our older ancestors, as some details appear to have been given in respect of the powers and qualities of the Man-Lion. For, there is extant the Upanishad, known as Nri-Simha-Pirva-Tapani, and the text of the same, be it noted, runs as follows :—

अथ कस्मादुच्यते नृसिंहमिति यस्मात्सर्वषां भूतानां ना वीर्यतमः घ्रष्ठतमश्च । सिंहो वीर्यतमः श्रेष्ठतमश्च तस्मान्नासिह आसीत्परमेश्वरो जगद्धितं वा एतद्रूपमक्षरं भवति ( चसिहपूवैतापनी, २३० खं० ५).

This may be rendered into English as under :-—‘‘ Why is Man-Lion so called? Because, man is superior to, and is the most powers ful of all creatures. So is lion. Therefore, the Man-Lion has been supposed to be the highest god, a blessing to the world, and an _ever-lasting manifestation. ” ( Nri. Pirva-T. Up. I. 5)

In the absence of evidence, however, the Western geologists would probably ridicule the idea of the intermediate link being the ManLion, as they have been accustomed to think