If you think that only humans are attracted to intoxicants, you are wrong.
Even the Devas of the Vedas have a weakness for drinks. They come running all the way to have a taste of the great drink prepared specially for them by the sages who perform the Vedic rituals and invite them by means of fire signals!
But these are not alcoholic drinks. They are all the same invigorating and the Devas love them. It is said that the Devas derive great strength by imbibing these drinks and it is one of their great favorites. This drink is the Soma – a beverage prepared by crushing a creeper. Vedas go into great details about how this Soma originated.
Apparently, this Soma was originally in the heavens where these Devas reside. Later, on the request of humans these creepers were exported to earth and they started growing in the Himalayas. It was not that a smooth affair. In the transit, some wicked beings stole it. There were fights to acquire the plant and finally the Vedic sages managed to bring it to earth. So, Soma forms an important part of the Menu offered to the Devas when they visit earth. That is why the ritual I am narrating is called Soma Yaga – a ritual involving Soma drinking.
But unfortunately, today no one knows what this Soma creeper is! Different people use different creepers and call it Soma. Even in the southern states of India where these rituals are still practiced, there is lot of confusion about the exact identification of these creepers. I was told that the Brahmins of Kerala – a South Indian state, still grow this Soma creeper in their back yard and use it in Soma rituals.
I was curious to see how that creeper looks like. So, I contacted my friend in Kerala who himself is a Brahmin from a rather orthodox family, and asked him to send me a picture of this plant. I thought it was quite easy for him to do that. But even after trying his best, he could not get me any image of the plant nor was he aware of this plant in the beginning. That is how modernized India is today 😉
Different people give different interpretation of this word Soma. Some say that the word Soma is derived from the root verb ‘Su’ which means ‘to extract’. Since the drink is extracted by crushing this creeper, the creeper itself is called Soma. This is not a very convincing explanation nor is it descriptive enough to help in identification of the plant.
There is another explanation of the word Soma. Apparently, this creeper follows the phases of the moon. On a new moon day this creeper is devoid of any leaves. But as the moon grows in size, new leaves start appearing on this creeper and on the full moon day, the creeper would have all the leaves. The day after the full moon, the creeper enters another phase where it starts losing its leaves each day and finally on the new moon day it will be back to where it started. That is why it is said to follow the phases of the moon. Since moon is called Soma, this creeper is also called the Soma creeper.
That is some description indeed. But is there any such plant anywhere in the world? Or is it just some imaginary creeper? There have been many debates on the identification of the actual Soma creeper. Some even conjecture that it is actually some kind of mushroom that has hallucinating properties!
Whatever it is, Soma is an essential thing to be had during a Soma ritual.
One of the priests namely the Adhvaryu, along with the Yajamana sets forth in search of Soma creeper. They travel on a bullock cart. A cow leads them the way. There is a long story, with lot of symbolism, why a cow is used to lead the Soma seekers. I will skip that story.
Finally, the duo reaches a person who has Soma piled on ground ready to be sold. After lot of bargaining, the duo buys the Soma and return back to the ritual place with much fanfare. The Soma creeper is treated like a King and is finally placed on a royal seat. Offerings are made to it. Obviously, it is the most important thing in a Soma ritual. It is for this Soma that the Devas come running from the heavens.
Today, a typical Soma ritual re-enacts this entire drama of Soma purchase. Even though bullock carts have almost become a thing of the past, they specifically design one for the purpose of this drama. Selling the Soma, bargaining for the price, paying the seller, bringing the bought Soma back to the ritual place, and so on, are all dramatized exactly the way they were done in the yore.
Later, as the ritual progresses, these Soma creepers are crushed using stone pestles. They are squeezed and finally filtered through fine cloth to extract the fresh juice from them. That juice is the well-known Soma drink, favorite of the Devas.
Let us continue our discussion and see what else goes on in this interesting divine drama.
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A series discussing the most ancient of the Indian scriptures, nay the world scriptures namely the Vedas. © Dr. King, Swami Satyapriya 2021
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