Vedic Mythology c5.s3.t4.16

c5.s3.t4.16

When Soma is said to roar he is commonly compared with or directly called a bull. 'As a bull he bellows in the wood' (9, 7³); 'the tawny bull bellows and shines with the Sun' (9, 2⁶). As the waters, added with or without milk,²⁹ are figuratively called cows, the relation of Soma to them is usually that of a bull to cows. He is a bull among the cows (9, 16⁶. 69⁴. 96⁷) or is lord of the cows (9, 72⁴). He bellows like a bull traversing the cows (9, 71⁹) or like a bull towards the cows (9, 71⁷), the cows also bellowing towards him (9, 80² &c.). He is the bull of heaven as well as of the earth and the streams (6, 44²¹). The impetuosity of Soma is also several times illustrated by comparison with a buffalo (*mahiṣa*). Thus he even comes to be called an animal (*paśu*: 9, 86⁴³). Being a bull among the cow-waters, Soma is the fertilizer of the waters (10, 36⁸, cp. 9, 19⁵). He is also (9, 86³⁹) an impregnator (*retodhā*), an epithet especially applied to the moon in the YV. (e. g. MS. 1, 6⁹). Hence he is a bestower of fertility (9, 60⁴. 74⁵). Soma being so frequently called a bull (*ukṣan*, *vṛṣan*, *vṛṣabha*) is sharp-horned (*tigmaśṛṅga*), an epithet which in five of its six occurrences in the RV. is accompanied by a word meaning 'bull'. Thus the brewed drink (*mantha*) of Indra is like a sharp-horned bull (10, 86¹⁵). Soma is also said (like Agni) to sharpen his horns (9, 15⁴. 70⁷) ³⁰.