The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c17.s1.34

v1.c17.s1.34

A further question, however, arises as to the exact circumstances in which the clouds are won. Is it to be supposed that the legend is only another side of the winning of the light in the Vṛtra legend, which means, no doubt, the appearance of light after the thunderstorm? The answer to this question is usually given in the affirmative, but it seems much more likely that the myth is an independent one, the winning of the sun and the dawn from the dark mountains of the night, as is the view of Oldenberg. To suppose that this is a secondary development from the other myth is not necessary, nor very probable. But it is impossible to follow Oldenberg in the view that the winning of the light and the sun, which is connected with the Vṛtra myth, is not an expression of the recovery of the light after the storm, but a poetical embellishment of the theme.