Here we encounter again
the three-headed Orthros under the identical title of Vritra,
"he who shrouds or envelops," called also Cushna, "he who
parches," Pani, "the robber," and Ahi, "the strangler." In
many hymns of the Rig-Veda the story is told over and over,
like a musical theme arranged with variations. Indra, the god
of light, is a herdsman who tends a herd of bright golden or
violet-coloured cattle. Vritra, a snake-like monster with
three heads, steals them and hides them in a cavern, but Indra
slays him as Jupiter slew Caecius, and the cows are recovered.
The language of the myth is so significant, that the Hindu
commentators of tile Veda have themselves given explanations
of it similar to those proposed by modern philologists. To
them the legend never became devoid of sense, as the myth of
Geryon appeared to Greek scholars like Apollodoros.[112]
[112] Burnouf, Bhagavata-Purana, III. p. lxxxvi; Breal, op.
cit. p. 98.
These celestial cattle, with their resplendent coats of purple
and gold, are the clouds lit up by the solar rays; but the
demon who steals them is not always the fiend of the storm,
acting in that capacity. They are stolen every night by Vritra
the concealer, and Caecius the darkener, and Indra is obliged
to spend hours in looking for them, sending Sarama, the
inconstant twilight, to negotiate for their recovery.
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