The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c18.s3.41

v1.c18.s3.41

Oldenberg, however, does not accept the view that the legend of the descent of Soma can be explained in this simple and satisfactory way, and he does not, therefore, adopt the same view as is here taken of the process by which the Soma came to be sacred. He would seem to hold that the rise of the Soma cult was independent at first of the older belief in the mead, and it is true that the Avesta does not actually apply the term mead to Haoma ; it seems, however, much simpler to adopt the view that the mead was an Indo-European view, and that the identification of Soma with it, and, therefore the application to it of the Soma legend, were the immediate outcome of the discovery of the intoxicating drink.