A FEW DAYS BACK WHEN i WROTE ON SOMA, Mr SIVARAMAN RAISED A QUESTION;
AND HIS WORD WAS MALIGNED THE VEDAS AND THE BRAHMINS BY THE DRAVIDAS FROM
THEN TILL DATE; SOMA HAS A WIDE MEANINGS. SOME MAINLY MEANS THE MIND; HENCE
THE MOON; AND SO THE WORD IN ENGLISH SOMNAMBULISM; BRITISH YESTERDAY
INSULTED US; AND EVEN IN TODAY'S NEWS STALIN IS GOING TO BUILD A STATUE FOR
A DEVIL WHO WROTE WRONG. IN VEDAS, THEY MEAN AMRITHA ELIXIR AND VEDA
KNOWLEDGE ALONE. I DO NOT THINK ONE MONDALA RESERVED FOR SOMA IN RIG VEDA.
(9) , LETS TRAVEL INTO IT UNBIASEDLY. KR IRS 21 9 24
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*Soma Explained** {THE PROS AND CONS SIFTING}*
*Part 1 K Rajaram IRS 21 9 24 *
In the Vedic tradition, soma (Sanskrit: सोम, romanized: sóma) is a
ritual drink of importance among the early Vedic Indo-Aryans. The Rigveda
mentions it, particularly in the Soma Mandala. in chapter 9. The texts
describe the preparation of soma by means of extracting the juice from a
plant, the identity of which is now unknown and debated among scholars.
There has been much speculation about the most likely identity of the
original plant. Traditional Indian accounts, such as those from
practitioners of Ayurveda, Siddha medicine, and Somayajna called Somayajis,
identify the plant as "Somalata" (Cynanchum acidum). (Non-Indian
researchers have proposed candidates including Amanita muscaria, Psilocybin
mushrooms, Peganum harmala and Ephedra sinica.) Soma is a Vedic Sanskrit
word that literally means "distill, extract, sprinkle", often connected in
the context of rituals.??? According to Geldner (1951), the word is derived
from Indo-Iranian roots *sav- (Sanskrit sav-/su) "to press", i.e. *sau-ma-
is the drink prepared by pressing the stalks of a plant.
The Vedic religion was the religion of some of the Vedic Indo-Aryan
tribes, the aryas, who migrated into the Indus River valley region of the
Indian subcontinent. Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the
Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a
stimulant drug (perhaps derived from Ephedra).
Somayajna and Mandala 9
In the Vedas, the same word (soma) is used for the drink, the plant, and
its deity. Drinking soma produces immortality (Amrita, Rigveda 8.48.3).
Indra and Agni are portrayed as consuming soma in copious quantities. In
the vedic ideology, Indra drank large amounts of soma while fighting the
serpent demon Vritra. The consumption of soma by human beings is well
attested in Vedic ritual. The Soma Mandala of the Rigveda is completely
dedicated to Soma Pavamana, and is focused on a moment in the ritual when
the soma is pressed, strained, mixed with water and milk, and poured into
containers. These actions are described as a representation of a variety of
things, including a king conquering territory, the Sun's journey through
the cosmos, or a bull running to mate with cows (represented by the milk).
The most important myth about Soma is about his theft. In it, Soma was
originally held captive in a citadel in heaven by the archer Kṛśānu. A
falcon stole Soma, successfully escaping Kṛśānu, and delivered Soma to
Manu, the first sacrificer. Additionally, Soma is associated with the moon
in the late Rigveda and Middle Vedic period. Sūryā, the daughter of the
Sun, is sometimes stated to be the wife of Soma.
The Rigveda (8.48.3) says:
ápāma sómam amŕ̥tā abhūma
áganma jyótir ávidāma devā́n
kíṃ nūnám asmā́n kr̥ṇavad árātiḥ
kím u dhūrtír amr̥ta mártiyasya
We have drunk the soma; we have become immortal; we have gone to the light;
we have found the gods.
What can hostility do to us now, and what the malice of a mortal, o
immortal one?
In the Vedas, soma "is both a plant and a god."
Soma has been mentioned in Chapter 9, verse 20 of Bhagavad Gita:
Those who perform actions (as described in the three Vedas), desiring fruit
from these actions, and those who drink the juice of the pure Soma plant,
are cleansed and purified of their past sins.
Those who desire heaven, (the Abode of the Lord known as Indralok) attain
heaven and enjoy its divine pleasures by worshipping me through the
offering of sacrifices.
Thus, by performing good action (Karma, as outlined by the three Vedas),
one will always undoubtedly receive a place in heaven where they will enjoy
all of the divine pleasure that are enjoyed by the Deities.
Botanical identity of soma–haoma
There has been much speculation as to the original Sauma plant. Candidates
that have been suggested include honey, mushrooms, psychoactive and other
herbal plants.
When the ritual of somayajna is held today in South India by the
traditional Srautas called Somayajis, the plant used is the somalatha
(Sanskrit: soma creeper, Sarcostemma acidum) which is procured as a
leafless vine.
IRRELEVANT MATERIALS QUOTED BY THE WWEST TO TARNISH:
Since the late 18th century, when Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron and
others made portions of the Avesta available to western scholars, several
scholars have sought a representative botanical equivalent of the haoma as
described in the texts and as used in living Zoroastrian practice. In the
late 19th century, the highly conservative Zoroastrians of Yazd (Iran) were
found to use ephedra, which was locally known as hum or homa and which they
exported to the Indian Zoroastrians.
During the colonial British era scholarship, cannabis was proposed as the
soma candidate by Jogesh Chandra Ray, The Soma Plant (1939) and by B. L.
Mukherjee (1921).
{In the late 1960s, several studies attempted to establish soma as a
psychoactive substance. A number of proposals were made, including one in
1968 by the American banker R. Gordon Wasson, an amateur ethnomycologist,
who asserted that soma was an inebriant but not cannabis, and suggested
fly-agaric mushroom, Amanita muscaria, as the likely candidate. Since its
introduction in 1968, this theory has gained both detractors and followers
in the anthropological literature Wasson and his co-author, Wendy Doniger
O'Flaherty, drew parallels between Vedic descriptions and reports of
Siberian uses of the fly-agaric in shamanic ritual. In 1989 Harry Falk
noted that, in the texts, both haoma and soma were said to enhance
alertness and awareness, did not coincide with the consciousness altering
effects of an entheogen, and that "there is nothing shamanistic or
visionary either in early Vedic or in Old Iranian texts", Falk also
asserted that the three varieties of ephedra that yield ephedrine (Ephedra
gerardiana, E. major procera and E. intermedia) also have the properties
attributed to haoma by the texts of the Avesta.[full citation needed] At
the conclusion of the 1999 Haoma-Soma workshop in Leiden, Jan E. M. Houben
writes: "despite strong attempts to do away with ephedra by those who are
eager to see sauma as a hallucinogen, its status as a serious candidate for
the Rigvedic Soma and Avestan Haoma still stands". The Soviet archeologist
Viktor Sarianidi wrote that he had discovered vessels and mortars used to
prepare soma in Zoroastrian temples in the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological
Complex. He said that the vessels have revealed residues and seed
impressions left behind during the preparation of soma. This has not been
sustained by subsequent investigations. Alternatively, Mark Merlin, who
revisited the subject of the identity of soma more than thirty years after
originally writing about it stated that there is a need of further study on
links between soma and Papaver somniferum. According to Michael Wood, the
references to immortality and light are characteristics of an entheogenic
experience.}
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
II
*Bhanga *
Tbe Bhal1ga plant is an erect annual, grow111g to a height of three or four
feet or more preferring loamy soil and moderate rainfall and temperature.
Leaves are divided so as to rese! TIble the hand with three, five or seven
fingers. Flowers are without petals. Male an'd female Bowers are borne on
separate plants. The female plant prod'uces seed as small as Arhar seed (Ca
j an us). The seed is an article of diet and an useful oil is expressed
from it.
OUR HISTORIANS RADICALS WHO ADDED SALT TO INJURY:
Mr. Brajalal Mukherjee, M.A., M, R.A.S. for the suggestion that Soma· might
be Cannabis sativa. He wrote and published in Calcutta in 1922 a small
pamphlet on the Soma plant. The information collected is valLlable but
unfortunately incomplete and the evidence unconvincing. Besides the author
like others laboured under the confusion arising from the double denotation
of the word Soma. *The Soma Plant *bark of the plant yields a strong fibre,
fit for strings and ropes, and a coarse cloth, canvas, is woven. The green
leaves develop a narcotic principle for which they are used in preparing an
intoxicating drink called Bhang. The dried Bowering tops of cultivated
female plants form Ganja which intoxicates when smoked dry.
*Dhanvantartya Nighar:? t4, *the earliest dictionary of Indian medicine
compiled before 500 A.C., describes the drug as antiphlegmatic, heating,
exciting, intoxicating, bitter, constipating, digestive, causing appetite
and ta.lkativeness, and inducing sleep and halucination. Its names are
Vijaya, Bhang! Ganjikin! ete.
The original home of Bha11ga is believed to be Central Asia from which it
spread to the east, west and' south. Hooker included North-Western Him:
dayas in the habitat and Sir George\Vatt was inclined to this view. But
other botanists disputed it, and the Hemp Drugs Commission in their Report
(r893-94) were of the opinion that the plant is not indigenous to India.
But this fact does not affect our problem. For they say that the wild
growth is prevalent throughout the Himabyas from Kashmir to the extreme
east of Assam, disappearing at an altitude higher than IO, OOO feet.
*It *extends
down the southern slopes of the mountain into the Punjab and the Gangetic
plain to a limited extent. *(Report, *p. 33). The seed germinates at the
elevation of Simla in May and June and the plant ripens in six or seven
months.
The Bhallg leaves have to be collected just before the Aowering of the
plant, or the narcotic will be nearly absent. They also deteriorate with
age. The seeds lose the germinating power quickly. Further, every plant is
not capable of developing the narcotic, which is found in a class growing
in a particular climate and soil.
*Bhanga and Sana *
It is well-known that (I) one and the same plant may have more than one
name, and (2) one and the same name may denote 199 *The Soma Plant *
more than one plant. In Sanskrit each name is derived from some
particular character of the plant, and since the same character may
be present in more than one species the same name is applied to all.
This is a fruitful source of confusion. When the plant is common
enough, tradition ensures its identification. But it does not follow
that it is known by the same name everywhere. For instance, the
common tree F i c u s reI i g i 0 s a is ·known as Asvattha
in Bengal, but as Pipal in Northern India.
The *AmarakoJa, *the earliest Sanskrit lexicon extant (300 A.C.,
United Provinces) mentions Bhanga, and Matulani as its synonym.
In his commentary K~irasvami (1100 A.C. Central Provinces) ex
plains it by saying that it has no equal. This is not satisfactory.
The word 'Matula' denotes the Dhutura plant (D a t u r a) which
was known to be an intoxicant. It seems probable the word Matu
lani also meant an intoxicant, this being the female form of· the
word Iv1iitula. K~irasvami adds that Bhanga is ctlso a name of ~ar:a.
Sarvananda, another commentator (1200 A.C. Bengal) accepts
this synonym and remarks that Bhanga is well-known in Kashmir,
~ll1d that its fruit is like that of the field-pea. Hemacandra (1200
A.C. Deccan) removes the doubt by givingSa1!am as one of the three names of
Cannabis, the other two being Matulani and Bhanga.
In the *Ktijika Purar:a *(800 A.C. Assam) is enjoined the offer
ing of Bhanga. along with other food grains to Durga (70.2 I). There
is also mention of ~a1].a cloth , in the same Purar:a (69.6). Here
Bha11ga is the. seed and .$ar:a the fibre plant.
This distinction was not maintained everywhere as shovvn
. above. The name. $al]. a was used both for the seed and fibre plant under
cultivation. Thus the Vi~r:u P~t1"a'Y}a (1. 6.22) enumerates: a1]. a~
(masculine) as one of the seventeen food crops of villages. Ksirasvami also
mentions urlder the word Vrihi (summer rice) seventeen *dhanyas, *foodgrains,
one of which is $a1;a. The word also denoted the intoxicating Bhang. Thus
the *Matsya Pura1'}a *(I Sj7) forbids the offering of .$a1)a and Dhutura to
the Fathers, evidently because they are intoxicants.
In Caraka, the earliest medical work (1000 B.C. to 200 A.C., Punjab), the
flower of $al:a is said to be constipating (I. 27)8). Its seed is
prescribed in chronic diarrhcea (VI. I9'S4).
*In *Susruta, another standard medical work (500 B.C. to 500
A.C. Bihar) the leaf of.$al:a is said to be constipating (1. 46.259). Its
flower is also mentioned (1. 46.298). $a1)a thread is used as ligature
(1.25). To prevent aging one is advised to eat with milk the fruit of
.$al)a which has been cooked with milk (IV. 27. I I).
The fruits of Cannabis become agglutinated with the resinous narcotic which
becomes responsible for their intoxicating property. The seed is, however,
largely consumed in India in various forms on account of its oil just like
the poppy seed. In Persia the seed is called Shahdanah, 'Emperors' seed,'
by reason of its containing the narcotic. There is thus not the least doubt
that the *Sa1'}a *of Caraka and Susruta is Can nab i s.
In his *Arthasastra *Kau~ilya (400 B.C., Bihar) produced poisonous smoke in
warfare by burning many ingredients, one .of which was Bhali.ga (XIV. 2).
It is worth noticing that the word used is Bhali.ga, and not Bhanga.
Bhali.ga or Bhang is the vernacular form of Sanskrit Bhali.ga.
Kau~ilya mentions also .$a1)a as a fibre-yielding plant of forests
(11. I7)' Among other fibrous plants of forests Atasi (L i n u m) was one,
though it was largely cultivated for its fibre (flax) an'd seed (linseed).
The grammarian Pa1)ini (400 B.C., Punjab) gives rules for deriving words to
denote fields under .$a1)a an'd Uma (a name of Atasi). In the *A marakoJa *both
are denoted as cultivated plants. It is therefore certain that Kau~ilya
meant by .$al)a wild Can nab i s used for extracting fibre. Probably his
Bhali.ga was a cultivated plant. In the Pa!i Vinaya-pi~aka *(MahclVagga *8j.
I) 201 *The Soma Plant *are mentioned fabrics made of Sar:a and Bhaliga
fibres. Following Kau~ilya we have no hesitation in taking Sar:a as a form
of Can nab i s. Similarly the Sal)a thread and bbric mentioned by Manu (II.
4 I) were prepared from the fibres of the same plant.
In current language the word Sar:a0 (masculine) denotes the well-known
fibrous plant, C rot a I a r i a j u n c e a. But its seed is not edible
and its fibre is too stiff to be used in wearing cloth. Besides, the word
does not occur in this sense in the *A marakosa *and Dhanvantari. The plant
is believed to be indigenous to India, but IS net wildly grown. It was,
however, known to them. For they mention a plant named Sar:a-pu~pi, 'having
Rowers like those of Sal)a' which is undoubtedly er 0 t a I a r i a. It
seems certain that the name Sar:a was applied to C rot a I a r i a on
account of ItS possessmg fibre like that of Sana or Can nab is.
*Rajanighat:tt4,
*a late medical dictionary, mentions this Sal)a as an emetic.
*Sana and Soma *
The *Arthasastra *speaks of forests of Brahma-soma given to Brahmins and to
ascetics (11. 2), so it is evident that there were forests of such Soma in
400 B.C. They were not far away from villages (Ill. 9). The empire for
whose welfare the work was composed extended from the Punjab to Bihar. As
the Soma plant was usually found in mountainous regions the forests of Soma
might be in the sub-montane tracts of the Himalayas from the Punjab to
Bihar. Brahmins were forbidden from drinking any kind of alcoholic liquor.
There was no restriction to Soma. From Manu (Ill. 180) and Yajnavalkya (I.
223) it appears that there were Brahmin vendors of Soma drink. Bearing
these facts in mind it is inconceivable that forests of wild growth of Soma
disappeared altogether from their former situation. No cultivation was
necessary
to save the plant from extinction. The probability is that the plant has
been and is there under a different name.
The words bhanga and bhaligi are feminine forms of bhanga. It occurs
in the *!iV.
*(IX. 61. 13)' Prof. Macdonell takes it as an epithet of Soma, "presumably
in the sense of intoxicating." *(Vedic Index). *Hence, the word bha!i.ga
would be a synonym of Soma, and Soma Can nab is.
HE VEDIC VIEWS AND INTENTIONS:
*In *the *Sukla Yajurveda *(IV. ro) *mekhala, *the girdle, is described as
the tying front knot of Soma. The stuff is not mentioned. But the point is,
Soma cannot be made into a knot unless there was fibre in the plant. This
is an important question. In the *J(rsna Yajurveda *(VI. 1. I) Soma is said
to be the deity of the linen garment and its body. This shows that Soma'
yielded a textile fibre like that of K?auma (linen). In the *Atharvaveda *(11.
4) ~ar:a0 (masculine) is a fibrous plant as well as a remedy against
Vi?kandha, a kind of rheumatism. Whitney translates the passage: "Let both
the hemp (~ar:a~) and *jangida *defend me from the Vi?kandha: the one
brought from the forest, the other from the juices *(rasa) *of ploughing."
Here~ar:a is taken to be a forest plant. But.Sayar:a takes the opposite
view. According to him ~al!a was a cultivated plant and furnished the
string to tie jangida with as an amulet. He seems to be right. ~al!a was a
cultivated plant for fibre in the time of the *Atharvaveda. *It furnished
fibre for cloth in the *Satapatha Bl'ahmay}a. *
There is a passage in the *A tharvaveda *in which the words Soma and ~al!a
occur together. But we have seen that Kau~ilya had Brahma-Soma or Soma ,
~al:a and Bhallga, the names of the three forms of the same plan t.
*The word 'Soma' is derived from the root sit, to bring forth. Soma, the
moon, brings forth amrta, ambrosia for the gods. So does Soma the plant for
men. The process of production is abhi~ava, a word derived from the same
root. The word, bhanga, comes from the root bhanj, to break. Bhallga breaks
sameness. It is a wave, a *Row of speech, a WIt. But what is sana? Its
etymology is unknown. The *S.Br. *(III. 4-3. 13) says that "the body of
Soma is che same as the mountains and rocks; thereon grows that plant
called Usana, so said 5vetaketu-Auddalaki, that they bring hither and
press, and by means of consecration make into Soma." The words of Svetaketu
are repeated in IV. 2.5.
In Tibetan, Bh2.oga is known as *So-ma-ra-rtsa *which is undoubtedly
Soma-rasa of Sanskrit. It is a singular survival of an ancient name which
has been long forgotten in the mother country. It is, however, not an
isolated vvord.
*The Soma plant in Vedic Literature *
As has been already pointed out the word Soma in the *f!.V *has che double
denotation of the moon and the plant. In most of the hymns the ~~is begin
to praise the moon and end with the plant. One must therefore be careful in
discriminating the descriptive words applicable to a plant. It has been
distinctly stated that no one can drink the Soma whose praise is sung by
the poets (X. 8S-3r
Soma is o~adhi-pati, 'lord of o~adhis, ' annuals or medicinal herbs
(IX. I 14.2). I t is also *vanas-pati, *'lord of the wood' (IX. 127)' Soma
is therefore an erect plant. Saya1)a takes *vanaspati *111 this sense. In
one passage Soma is said to be a *vzrudh. *which generally means a climbing
plant. But the plant cannot be also a *vanaspati. *Tbe word *virtdh *is
used in the sense of o~adhi. It excludes large trees. In his *Vedic
Index *Prof.
Macdonell quotes the character *ndicasakha, *'having branches hanging
down.' This is a character of Bhal1ga also.
The plant has *arr"SU, *'hair' (IX. 95-4; 96.2). The word properly means
rays. The moon has rays and is thousand-eyed (IX.
60. I). Applied to the plant *aY'(lSu *may convey the sense of fibre as in
The figures in brackets without tht Il~llne of the text refer t~ the~gved((.
2 *The Soma Plant *
The presence of useful fibre is surmised from the passages in the *Yajur
Vedas. *In view of the vast period covered by the ~(v., it wouId not be
surprising if the Aryans spun threads of fibres of the plant and wove cloth
as they undoubtedly did of WJol. In the *f!..V. *the moon is invoked to
bestow all kinds of desirable things, including children. In IX. 62.2 he is
said to be giving wonderful clothes. In IX. 58-4, the priests are happy at
the fact that they received from two kings thirty thousand pieces of cloth.
This! TIay be an exaggeration, but the connection of this gift with the
preparation of the Soma drink may not be accidental. The allusion is likely
.to the plant.
The colour is frequently described as *hari, *green or greenish yellow.
(Prof. Macdonell renders the word as tawny and adds *babhru, *brown, *aruy!a,
*ruddy). There are a few other words of similar meaning. The plant has
strong smell (I. 2} I; *II. *44· 14)' 'which is also described as pleasant
(IX. 97. 19; 107.2). In *S.Br., *il is ill-smelling (IV. J. 3.6).
The plant grew on mountains, that growing on the Munjavat mountain being
renowned. The Munjavat nlountain lies in the North-west Himalaya. On the
other side is the abode of Rudra *(Sukla Yajurveda *Ill. 61). Traditionally
it is the Kailasa mountain. But the plant came to grow on the banks of the
Sarasvati ~1.l1d ArJikiya and in Kuruksetra (IX. 65.22-23; 113. 1-2). The
banks of rivers issuing from the Himalayas are exactly the situations of
the wild growth of Bhanga. The seeds are carried down by Boods and
germinate on the rich loamy seil of the banks . Kuruksetra was a famous
place lately inhabited by the f!..g *Vedie *Aryans who were instrumental in
the dispersal of the Soma seed. They had therefore two sources of supply,
one from the hills of the North-west Himalaya, and the other from the river
banks of the plain of the Punjab. But soil and climate inBuence the quality
of drugs. If Soma is Bhatiga, the twigs bearing leaves were cut before
Howering. There were no seeds brought to the plains. This was the reason
why Soma had to be procured from a distance. Parjanya is the father of Soma
(IX. 82-3; I13'5)' He increases it (IX. 113.3).
The method of preparing the Soma drink is exactly the same as that of
Bha11g. The leafy shoots of Soma whether procured from the Himalayan hills
or locally were necessarily dry, especially in summer when Soma sacrifice
for favour of Indra had to be performed. It is therefore absurd to speak of
Soma "juice" for Soma Clrink. In the *A .Br. *(1-3.) we are told that the
plant lost much of its potency on the way. The shoots beating leaves (IX.
82. 3) were first cleaneCl and next moistened with, or steeped in, water
when the stalks would swell
(IX. 31-4)' The mass was then crushed and ground between a pair of stones
(IX. 67.19)or in a mortar and pestle (1. 28.1). The ground paste was next
mixed with water in a jar and the mixture poured from one jar into another
causing so~nd (IX. 72.3). Then it was strained over sheep's wool (IX.
69'9)' Thus prepared it was 'pure' drink. Often it was mixed with milk
or *dadhi
*(IX. 71.8), sometimes with honey and barley meal (IX. 68-4).
The effects of the Soma drink are exactly the same as those of Bhat1g. Soma
used to be drunk between eating of food (IX. 51.3). It is nourishing when
taken with milk and food (IX. 52.1). It is exhilarating (VIII. 48),
exciting (II. 41. 40) and intoxicating (IX. 68. 3; 69· 3)· It stimulates
the voice and impels the Bow of words (IX. 95.2; '1Or .6), It awakens eager
thought (VI. 47-3), and excites poetic imagination (IX. 67· 13)· It induces
sleep (IX. 69-3), and desire for women (IX. 67' 10-12). *It *bestows
fertility (IX. 60-4; 74-5). It cures diseases (VIII. 48'5) and was believed
to prolong life (Vlll. 48.5). None but the strong can tolerate it (IX.
53-3; 8r.1). It is constipating (IX. 18. I). but sometimes causes bowel
complaints. It .vas drunk before military engagement (IX. 6r.r3; 85.2) and
after victory (IX. 10I.l), for which Indra's favour was prayed for.I t is
to be noted that Soma sacrifice was always accompanied with animal
sacrifice. It was a feast and the 'drink added hilarity. At first Indra was
the only god to whom Soma drink was offered. The reason is the belief that
Soma, the moon, is the controller of the celestial water and that Indra,
the rain-giver, is dependent upon Soma for supply. It was for Indra that
the moon was invoked to appear in the right phase. Prayerful appeals were
addressed to the moon for shedding rain. The Maruts and Vayu and friend
Vi?1!u and Mitra and VarUl:ta with U?a came in for their share but no
others. In course of time even the *Asvins *of winter and *Rudra *of spring
were offered Soma more as consolation than necessity. Three oblations were
made on the day of Indra sacrifice, the first being in the early morning.
There was therefore no possibility of fermentation. All the 120 Soma hymns
in the *f!.v. *(114 in the ninth book and 6 in other books) have double
meaning. Even the seven priests and ten sisters (IX . 8-4), the sheep's
wool , the vat and mountain are celestial. It was the moon, which Syena,
the eagle, brought from heaven to the horizon for Indra. This legend
supplied an answer to the question why the Soma plant grew in the mountains
and not in the plains. The metre Gayatri also flew up to heaven and fetched
Soma *(A .Br. *Ill. 13.2) . The number of syllables contained in it helped
in computing the age of the moon.
Soma, the variety of Bhanga prized for use in sacrifice, was not common
everywhe~e in Northern India. Its place had been slowly taken by *Sura *even
in the *K?TIJ,a Yajurveda. *There might be scarcity of supply and the
priests had to think of substitutes. It will be noticed that the question
of substitutes arose in later *BrahmarJas *when Aryan colonization had
spread far away from the Punjab. In a passage
(IV. 5. 10) *S.Br. *names some substitutes one of which is Durva grass,
another Kusa grass. A common substitute in many *Brahmar;as *is Putika. It
is therefore no wonder that Soma became a mythical plant to Caraka (VI.
1.67) and Susruta (IV . 29)' They thought that *The Soma Plant *
2°7
the plant gives fifteen leaves one by one during the bright half of the
lunar month and sheds them one by one during the dark half resembl~ ing the
waxing and waning of the moon. Susruta m entions twentyfour varieties, but
the majority of the names are of the moon, and some 'descriptive of the
Vedic plant. The Puraryas thought that *it *was *amrta, *ambrosia, obtained
by the churning of the milky sea. It was, however, the moon who rose in an
evening in the Milky way in the M!'ga nak~atra of which he became the
regent. The moon was confused with the plant.
To sum up. The Soma plant agrees with Bha,i.ga in the habitat in the
North-west Hirnalaya. Both are annuals coming up at the beginning of the
rainy season. Both have shining green leaves and the ends of the branches
hanging down. Nowhere in Vedic literature Soma is a climbing plant and a
leafless plant with milky sap. Indeed the word Soma is masculine, while *lata,
*a climber, is feminine. There is mention of milk and honey poured down by
Soma. These are figurative expressions of rain-water caused by the moon.
The method of preparation of Soma and Bhang is the same, and the effects of
the drink on the consumer remarkably agree. Soma 'drink was a part of the
ritual of certain Vedicsacrifices. Bha,i.g has been in use on similar
occasions.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx end of part 1 KR IRS 21924
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