Soma (Sanskrit: सोमः), or Haoma
(Avestan), from Proto-Indo-Iranian
*sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the
later Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is
frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, which contains many hymns praising its energizing
qualities. In the Avesta, Haoma has an entire Yasht dedicated to it.
It is described as prepared by pressing juice from the stalks of a certain mountain plant, which has been variously
hypothesized to be honey[1],
a psychedelic mushroom, cannabis,
Peganum harmala, Blue lotus[1], or
ephedra. In both Vedic and Zoroastrian tradition, the drink is identified with the plant, and
also personified as a divinity, the three forming a religious or mythological unity.
Etymology
Both Soma and the Avestan Haoma are derived from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-. The name of the Scythian
tribe Hauma-varga is related to the word, and probably connected with the ritual. The word is derived from an Indo-Iranian
root *sav- (Sanskrit sav-) "to press", i.e. *sav-ma- is the drink prepared by pressing the stalks of a plant
(cf. es-presso). The root is probably Proto-Indo-European (*sewh-), and also appears in son (from *suhnu-,
"pressed out" i.e. "newly born").
Vedic Soma
In the Vedas, Soma is portrayed as sacred and as a god (deva). The god, the drink and the plant probably referred to the same entity, or at least the
differentiation was ambiguous. In this aspect, Soma is similar to the Greek ambrosia (cognate
to amrita); it is what the gods drink, and what made them deities. Indra and Agni are portrayed as consuming Soma in copious quantities. The
consumption of Soma by human beings was probably under the belief that it bestowed divine qualities on them.
In the Rigveda
The Rigveda (8.48.3, tr. Griffith)
states,
- a ápāma sómam amŕtā abhūmâganma jyótir ávidāma devân
- c kíṃ nūnám asmân kṛṇavad árātiḥ kím u dhūrtír amṛta mártyasya
- We have drunk Soma and become immortal; we have attained the light, the Gods discovered.
- Now what may foeman's malice do to harm us? What, O Immortal, mortal man's deception?
The Ninth Mandala of the Rigveda is known as the Soma
Mandala. It consists entirely of hymns addressed to Soma Pavamana ("purified Soma"). The drink Soma was kept and
distributed by the Gandharvas. The Rigveda associates the Sushoma, Arjikiya and other regions with Soma (e.g. 8.7.29; 8.64.10-11).
Sharyanavat was possibly the name of a pond or lake on the banks of which Soma could be
found.
The plant is described as growing in the mountains (giristha, cf. Orestes), with long stalks, and of yellow or tawny (hari)
colour. The drink is prepared by priests pounding the stalks with stones, an occupation that creates tapas (literally "heat"). The juice so gathered is mixed with other ingredients (including milk) before
it is drunk.
Growing far away, in the mountains, Soma had to be purchased from travelling traders. The plant supposedly grew in the
Hindukush and thus it had to be imported to the Punjab
region.[citation needed] Later, knowledge of the plant was lost altogether, and Indian ritual
reflects this, in expiatory prayers apologizing to the gods for the use of a substitute plant (e.g. rhubarb) because Soma had become unavailable.
In Hinduism
- See also: Chandra
In Hindu art, the god Soma was depicted as a bull or bird, and sometimes as an embryo, but
rarely as an adult human. In Hinduism, the god Soma evolved into a lunar deity, and became associated with the underworld.
The moon is the cup from which the gods drink Soma, and so Soma became identified with the moon god
Chandra. A waxing moon meant Soma was recreating himself, ready to be drunk again.
Alternatively, Soma's twenty-seven wives were daughters of Daksha, who felt he paid too much
attention to just one of his wives, Rohini. He cursed him to wither and die, but the
wives intervened and the death became periodic and temporary, and is symbolized by the waxing and waning of the moon.
The famous ayurvedic scholar Sushruta wrote that the best
Soma is found in the upper Indus and Kashmir region
(Sushruta Samhita: 537-538, SS.CS. 29.28-31).
Avestan Haoma
-
The continuing of Haoma in Zoroastrianism may be glimpsed from the
Avesta (particularly in the Hōm Yast, Yasna 9.11), and Avestan language *hauma also survived as middle Persian
hōm. The plant Haoma yielded the essential ingredient for the ritual drink, parahaoma.
In the Hōm yašt of the Avesta, the Yazata
(divine) Haoma appears to Zoroaster "at the time of pressing" (havani ratu) in the form of a beautiful man. Yasna 9.1 and
9.2 exhort him to gather and press Haoma plants. Haoma's epitheta include "the Golden-Green One" (zairi-, Sanskrit
hari-), "righteous" (ašavan-), "furthering righteousness" (aša-vazah-), and "of good wisdom"
(hu.xratu-, Sanskrit sukratu-).
In Yasna 9.22, Haoma grants "speed and strength to warriors, excellent and righteous sons to those giving birth, spiritual
power and knowledge to those who apply themselves to the study of the nasks". As the religion's chief cult divinity he came to be
perceived as its divine priest. In Yasna 9.26, Ahura Mazda is said to have invested him with
the sacred girdle, and in Yasna 10.89, to have installed Haoma as the "swiftly sacrificing zaotar" (Sanskrit hotar)
for himself and the Amesha Spenta. Haoma services were celebrated until the 1960s in a
strongly conservative village near Yazd[citation needed].
Candidates for the Soma plant
-
There has been much speculation as to the original Proto-Indo-Iranian
Sauma plant. It was generally assumed to be hallucinogenic, based on RV 8.48 cited above. But note that this is the
only evidence of hallucinogenic properties, in a book full of hymns to Soma. The typical description of Soma is associated
with excitation and tapas. Soma is associated with the warrior-god Indra, and appears to have been drunk before battle.
For these reasons, there are energizing plants as well as hallucinogenic plants among the candidates that have been suggested,
including honey[2], ,
fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) which was widely used as a brew of sorts among
Siberian shamans for its hallucinogenic and 'religious experience'-inducing properties. Several
texts like the Atharvaveda extol the medicinal properties of Soma and he is regarded as the
king of medicinal herbs (and also of the Brahmana class).
Since the late 1700s, 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. Most of the proposals
concentrated on either linguistic evidence or comparative pharmacology or reflected ritual use. Rarely were all three considered
together, which usually resulted in such proposals being quickly rejected.
In the late 19th century, the highly conservative Zoroastrians of Yazd (Iran) were found to use
Ephedra (genus Ephedra), which was locally known
as hum or homa and which they exported to the Indian Zoroastrians. (Aitchison, 1888) The plant, as Falk also
established, requires a cool and dry climate, i.e. it does not grow in India (which is either too hot or too humid or both) but
thrives in central Asia. Later, it was discovered that a number of Iranian languages
and Persian dialects have hom or similar terms as the local name for some variant of Ephedra.
There are numerous mountain regions in the northwest Indian subcontinent which have cool and dry conditions where soma plant
can grow. In later vedic texts the mention of best soma plant coming from kashmir has been mentioned. This is also supported by
the presence of high concentration of vedic Brahmans in Kashmir up to the present day who setteled there in ancient times because
of the easy availability of soma plant.
From the late 1960s onwards, several studies attempted to establish soma as a psychoactive substance. A number of proposals were made, included an important one in 1968 by
R. Gordon Wasson, an amateur mycologist, who asserted that soma was an
inebriant, and suggested fly-agaric mushroom, Amanita muscaria, as the likely
candidate. 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. (Wasson, Robert
Gordon (1968). "Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality". Ethno-Mycological Studies 1. )
In Western culture
In Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel
Brave New World, Soma is the popular
dream-inducing drug which is employed by the government as a method of control through pleasure and immediate availability. It is
ordinary among the culture of the novel for everyone to use it for whatever various practices: sex, relaxation, concentration,
confidence. It is seemingly a single-chemical combination of many of today's drugs' effects, giving its patients the full
hedonistic spectrum.
Soma is the central theme of the poem The Brewing of the Soma by the American Quaker poet, John Whittier (1807-1892) from which the well-known Christian hymn "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" is derived. Whittier here portrays the drinking of soma
as distracting the mind from the proper worship of God.
Soma has also been frequently referenced in popular culture, see Soma
(disambiguation).
References
- Bakels, C.C. 2003. “The contents of ceramic vessels in the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, Turkmenistan.” in Electronic
Journal of Vedic Studies, Vol. 9. Issue 1c (May 5)
- Bhishagratna, Kunjalal (tr.) Susruta Samhita. Varanasi: Chowkhama Sanksrit Series, 1981.
- Frawley, David. The Rig Veda and the History of India. Aditya Prakashan, 2001.
ISBN 81-7742-039-9
- Jay, Mike. Blue Tide: The Search for Soma. Autonomedia, 1999.
- McDonald, A. "A botanical perspective on the identity of soma (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) based on scriptural and iconographic
records" in Economic Botany 2004;58:S147-S173
- Nyberg, Harri, The problem of the Aryans and the Soma: The botanical evidence, in: The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South
Asia ed. G. Erdosy, de Gruyter (1995), 382–406.
- Parpola, Asko, "The problem of the Aryans and the Soma: Textual-linguistic and archaeological evidence" in The Indo-Aryans
of Ancient South Asia ed. G. Erdosy, de Gruyter (1995), 353–381.
- PBS. Secrets of the Dead.
Day of the Zulu (pbs.org). Retrieved February 5, 2005.
- Rudgley, Richard. Soma article from The
Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances. Little, Brown and Company (1998) (huxley.net)
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