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Soma (Sanskrit: सोम), 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. Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is an umbrella term for a wide variety of related religious traditions native to India. Within Hinduism a large number of personalities or 'forms' are worshiped as Murtis. Hinduism comprises numerous Sects or denominations The main divisions in current Hinduism are Shaivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism Hindu mythology is the large body of Mythology related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and Hindu philosophy is divided into six Sanskrit ''{{IAST|āstika}}'') schools of thought or darshanas (literally "views" Sankhya The Sanskrit term ( Devanāgarī: धर्म Pali transliteration dhamma) is an Indian spiritual and religious Artha ( Devanagari: अर्थ is a Sanskrit term meaning "purpose cause motive meaning notion" In Indian religions, Moksha ( Sanskrit: sa मोक्ष mokṣa) or Mukti ( Sanskrit: sa मुक्ति literally "release" Karma is a concept in Hinduism which explains Causality through a system where beneficial effects are derived from past beneficial actions Yoga ( Sanskrit: योग, IAST: yóga, joːgə refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India, to the Bhakti ( Devanāgarī: भक्ति) is a word of Sanskrit origin meaning devotion. Maya ( Sanskrit sa माया māyā) in Indian religions, has multiple meanings This article is about Hinduism. Puja or "pooja" may also refer to certain devotional practices performed by Balmikis Buddhists (see A Hindu temple or Mandir ( Sanskrit: मंदिर is a house of worship for Hindus followers of Hinduism. Literature regarded as central to the Hindu literary tradition was predominantly composed in Sanskrit, Indeed much of the morphology and linguistic "Veda" redirects here For other uses see Veda (disambiguation. The Upanishads ( Devanagari: उपनिषद् IAST: upaniṣad also spelled "Upanisad" are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings The Rāmāyaṇa ( Devanāgarī: sa रामायण is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the Hindu sage ( Maharishi) Valmiki For other meanings see Purana (disambiguation. The Puranas ( Sanskrit: sa पुराण purāṇa, "of ancient times" The following is a bibliography of Hindu scriptures and texts. The percentage of Hindu population of each country was taken from the US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2006. These are some of the most noteworthy Gurus and Saints of Hinduism (in alphabetical order A Hinduism is going through a phase of regeneration and reform through the vehicle of several contemporary movements collectively termed as Hindu reform movements. Ayurveda ( Devanāgarī: आयुर्वॆद the 'science of life' is a system of Traditional medicine native to India, and practiced in other The Hindu calendar used in ancient times has undergone many changes in the process of regionalization and today there are several regional Indian Calendars, as This article deals with social and cultural criticism of Hinduism The following is a glossary of terms and concepts in Hinduism. Jyotiṣa ( Sanskrit jyotiṣa, from jyótis- "light heavenly body" also spelled Jyotish and Jyotisha in English Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Haoma is the Avestan language name of a plant and its divinity both of which play a role in Zoroastrian doctrine and in later Persian culture and mythology Avestan is an Eastern Old Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrian Avesta. Proto-Indo-Iranian, is the reconstructed Proto-language of the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European. Indo-Iranian peoples consist of the Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Dardic and Nuristani peoples that is speakers of Indo-Iranian languages The Vedic Period (or Vedic Age) is the period in the History of India during which the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, were being Greater Iran (in Irān-e Bozorg, or fa ایران‌زمین Irān-zamīn; the Encyclopedia Iranica uses the term It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, which contains many hymns praising its energizing qualities. The Rigveda ( Sanskrit sa ऋग्वेद ṛgveda, a compound of ṛc "praise verse" and veda "knowledge" In the Avesta, Haoma has an entire Yasht dedicated to it. The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.

It is described as prepared by pressing juice from the stalks of a certain mountain plant, which has been variously hypothesized to be water, honey, alcohol, mead, a psychedelic mushroom, cannabis, Peganum harmala, pomegranate, Blue lotus[1], or ephedra. Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. In Chemistry, an alcohol is any Organic compound in which a Hydroxyl group ( - O[[hydrogen H]]) is bound to a Carbon Mead (ˈmiːd is a fermented Alcoholic beverage made of Honey, Water, and Yeast. Cannabis ( Cán-na-bis) is a Genus of Flowering plants that includes three putative species Cannabis sativa subsp Harmal ( Peganum harmala) is a Plant of the family Nitrariaceae, native from the eastern Mediterranean region east to The pomegranate ( Punica granatum) is a Fruit -bearing Deciduous Shrub or small Tree growing to between five and eight metres tall Nelumbo nucifera is known by a number of common names including Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, and sacred water-lily Ephedra refers to the plant Ephedra sinica. E sinica, known in Chinese as ma huang ( has been used in Traditional Chinese medicine 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. It is considered by some to be the symbolic representation of the Supreme Truth. See also Western philosophy, Eastern religions, Eastern philosophy The

Etymology

Both Soma and the Avestan Haoma are derived from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-. Haoma is the Avestan language name of a plant and its divinity both of which play a role in Zoroastrian doctrine and in later Persian culture and mythology Proto-Indo-Iranian, is the reconstructed Proto-language of the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European. The name of the Scythian tribe Hauma-varga is related to the word, and probably connected with the ritual. In Classical Antiquity, Scythia ( Greek Skuthia) was the area in Eurasia inhabited by the Scythians, from the 8th 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). Espresso or caffè espresso ( often mispronounced as expresso) is a concentrated Coffee beverage brewed by forcing very hot water 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). "Veda" redirects here For other uses see Veda (disambiguation. Deva (देव in Devanagari script pronounced as /'d̪evə/ is the Sanskrit word for "god Deity " 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. In ancient Greek mythology, ambrosia is sometimes the food sometimes the drink of the gods, often depicted as conferring ageless Immortality Amrita or Amrit (अमृत ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ಅಮೃತ అమృతము is a Sanskrit word that literally means "without death" and is often Indra and Agni are portrayed as consuming Soma in copious quantities. Indra ( Sanskrit: इन्द्र or इंद्र Indra, Malay: Indera, Thai: พระอินทร์ Phra-Intra Agni is a Hindu and Vedic deity. The word agni is Sanskrit for "fire" (noun cognate with Latin ignis 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. The Rigveda ( Sanskrit sa ऋग्वेद ṛgveda, a compound of ṛc "praise verse" and veda "knowledge" 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. Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith (1826-1906 scholar of Indology, B

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. Mandala ( Sanskrit maṇḍala मंड "essence" + ल "having" or "containing" The Rigveda ( Sanskrit sa ऋग्वेद ṛgveda, a compound of ṛc "praise verse" and veda "knowledge" It consists entirely of hymns addressed to Soma Pavamana ("purified Soma"). The drink Soma was kept and distributed by the Gandharvas. In Hinduism In Hinduism, the Gandharvas ( Sanskrit: गंधर्व gandharva) are male nature spirits husbands of the Apsaras The Rigveda associates the Sushoma, Arjikiya and other regions with Soma (e. The Sohan is a river of northern Pakistan located in Punjab province Haro is the name of a river and its valley in Abbottabad District in the North West Frontier Province of northern Pakistan, identified with the Rigvedic 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"). Tapas ( tápas) in Sanskrit means "heat" In Vedic religion and Hinduism, it is used figuratively denoting spiritual suffering 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. The Hindu Kush is a Mountain range located between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Punjab ( ਪੰਜਾਬ پنجاب, पंजाब پنجاب also Panjab (پنجاب meaning "Land of the Five Rivers") (c 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. Rheum is a genus of Perennial plants that grows from thick short Rhizomes The genus is in the family Polygonaceae, and includes the vegetable

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, Chandra (lit "shining is a Lunar deity and a Graha. A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical In Hinduism, the god Soma evolved into a lunar deity, and became associated with the underworld. Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. In Mythology, a lunar deity is a God or Goddess associated with or symbolizing the moon see Moon (mythology. In the study of Mythology and Religion, the underworld (gr κάτω κόσμος) is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term Afterlife The moon is the cup from which the gods drink Soma, and so Soma became identified with the moon god Chandra. In Hinduism, Chandra (lit "shining is a Lunar deity and a Graha. A waxing moon meant Soma was recreating himself, ready to be drunk again. Alternatively, Soma's twenty-seven wives were the star goddesses, the Nakshatras - daughters of the cosmic progenitor Daksha - who told their father that he paid too much attention to just one of them, Rohini. A nakshatra ( Devanagari: नक्षत्र or lunar mansion is one of the 27 or 28 divisions of the sky identified by the prominent star(s in them that the In Hinduism, Daksha, "the skilled one" is an ancient creator god one of the Prajapatis ref> Narada said Rohini is a Nakshatra in Indian astronomy corresponding to Aldebaran. Daksha subsequently cursed Soma 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. Ayurveda ( Devanāgarī: आयुर्वॆद the 'science of life' is a system of Traditional medicine native to India, and practiced in other Sushruta was a surgeon and teacher of Ayurveda who flourished in the Indian city of Kashi by the 6th century BCE The Indus River { Sanskrit: सिन्धु Sindhu; Urdu: urd {{Nastaliq سندھ}} Sindh; Sindhi: snd This article is about the geographical region of greater Kashmir CS. 29. 28-31).

Avestan Haoma

Main article: Haoma

The continuing of Haoma in Zoroastrianism may be glimpsed from the Avesta (particularly in the Hōm Yast, Yasna 9. Haoma is the Avestan language name of a plant and its divinity both of which play a role in Zoroastrian doctrine and in later Persian culture and mythology Zoroastrianism (ˌzɔroʊˈæstriəˌnɪzəm is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. 11), and Avestan language *hauma also survived as middle Persian hōm. Avestan is an Eastern Old Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrian Avesta. Middle Persian is the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times (224-654 CE became a Prestige dialect 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. The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. Yazata is the Avestan language word for a Zoroastrian concept 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. Ahura Mazda ( ae Ahura Mazdā) is the Avestan language name for a divinity exalted by Zoroaster as the one uncreated Creator 89, to have installed Haoma as the "swiftly sacrificing zaotar" (Sanskrit hotar) for himself and the Amesha Spenta. ae Amesha Spenta ( ae Aməša Spənta) is an Avestan language term for a class of divinity/divine concepts in Zoroastrianism, and literally means "Bounteous Haoma services were celebrated until the 1960s in a strongly conservative village near Yazd. Yazd (pronounced /jæzd/ (In Persian: یزد is the capital of Yazd province, "the second most ancient and historic city in the world" and a centre

Candidates for the Soma plant

Main article: Botanical identity of Soma-Haoma

There has been much speculation as to the original Proto-Indo-Iranian Sauma plant. There has been much speculation as to the original Rigvedic Soma plant (and of the Proto-Indo-Iranian *Sauma which besides Soma is Proto-Indo-Iranian, is the reconstructed Proto-language of the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European. It was generally assumed to be hallucinogenic, based on RV 8. The general group of pharmacological agents commonly known as hallucinogens can be divided into three broad categories Psychedelics, Dissociatives 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^[1], , fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) which was widely used as a brew of sorts among Siberian shamans for its hallucinogenic and entheogenic properties. Honey is a sweet and Viscous fluid produced by Honey bees (and some other species and derived from the nectar of Flowers According to the Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly Amanita is a poisonous and Psychoactive Basidiomycete Fungus, 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). The Atharvaveda ( Sanskrit: अथर्ववेद atharvaveda, a Tatpurusha compound of {{IAST|atharvan}}, an ancient Rishi The Brāhmaṇa s ( Devanagari: sa ब्राह्मणं are part of the Hindu śruti literature

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. Abraham-Hyacinthe Anquetil Du Perron ( 7 December 1731 &ndash 17 January 1805) French Orientalist, brother of 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. Yazd (pronounced /jæzd/ (In Persian: یزد is the capital of Yazd province, "the second most ancient and historic city in the world" and a centre Ephedra refers to the plant Ephedra sinica. E sinica, known in Chinese as ma huang ( has been used in Traditional Chinese medicine Ephedra is a Genus of Gymnosperm Shrubs the only genus in the family Ephedraceae and order Ephedrales. (Aitchison, 1888) The plant, as Falk also established, requires a cool and dry climate. 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. The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and its subfamily Indo-Iranian.

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 psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a Chemical substance that acts primarily upon the Central nervous system where it alters Brain A number of proposals were made, including 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. Robert Gordon Wasson ( September 22, 1898 &ndash December 23, 1986) was an Author, amateur researcher and banker Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly Amanita is a poisonous and Psychoactive Basidiomycete Fungus, 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 Western culture Soma always refer to some form of intoxicating drug. 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. Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 &ndash 22 November 1963 was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος alternatively cacotopia, kakotopia, cackotopia, or anti-utopia) is the vision of a society Brave New World is a 1932 Novel by Aldous Huxley. Set in the London of AD 2540 (632 A Brave New World is a 1932 Novel by Aldous Huxley. Set in the London of AD 2540 (632 A 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. John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17 1807 &ndash September 7 1892 was an influential American Quaker Poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of Slavery Dear Lord and Father of Mankind is a Hymn with words taken from a prayer contained in the poem The Brewing of Soma by Quaker Poet John Greenleaf Whittier Whittier here portrays the drinking of soma as distracting the mind from the proper worship of God.

In the book Junky, author William S. Burroughs refers to soma as a non-addictive, high-quality form of opium said to exist in ancient India. William Seward Burroughs II ( – ˈbʌroʊz was an American Novelist, Essayist, Social critic, painter and Spoken word He hypothesizes that, were such a drug to exist, drug dealers would be quick to seize on the opportunity and cut the drug until it became generic "junk. "

Soma has also been frequently referenced in popular culture, see Soma (disambiguation).

References

1. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=uKeubCiBOPQC&pg=PA205&lpg=PA205&dq=soma+honey&source=web&ots=yilmZXkJrz&sig=FFfHCzPRCpSzO95Kz-iNL_kBm_4

• 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. David Frawley (or Vāmadeva Śāstrī वामदेव शास्त्री is an author on Hinduism, Yoga and Ayurveda, and the founder 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.
• Lamborn Wilson, Peter. Ploughing the clouds:The search for Irish Soma, City Lights,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