What is Soma?
In the Vedic era, the plant of Soma was considered a sacred plant and was personified as a divinity. The deity Soma was considered as the master of plants, the healer of diseases and bestower of riches
Linguistic Hints
The following play of linguistic would make it clear that Soma is same as Bhang. It need not be emphasized that the words in Sanskrit have been framed by our ancestors with a clear logic and application of mind
Linguistic Hint I
BHAGWAN= BHUMI (earth) + GAGAN (Space) + VAYU (air) + AGNI (fire )+ NEER (water)
BHANG= BHUMI (earth) + AGNI (fire) +Neer (water)+ Gagan (space)
Notice the similarity between two words. Only missing element in Bhang as compared to Bhagwan is ‘Vayu’. Our ancestors perhaps wanted to hint that one need to consume Bhang and be high on it to attain the state of Bhagwan.
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Linguistic Hint II
In the later parts of Rig Veda and other Vedas, Moon God is also referred to as ‘Soma’. This is not a sheer co-incidence. This becomes clear from the following:
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Both Somas were considered to have cooling effect. Soma/Bhang creates cooling effect for its users. Moon creates cooling effect for earth.
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Both are powerless on their own. Moon has no light of its own and reflects sun’s light on earth. Similarly, Soma plant is powerless on its own and becomes powerful for the human/animal consuming it.
Both Somas are closely associated with Lord Shiva, who is also referred as Lord Somnath (i.e. Lord of Soma).
Linguistic Hint III
One need not emphasize on links between Sanskit and Latin. For example, fire is agni in Sanskrit and ignis in Latin. Similary, man is referred as ‘Vira’ in Sanskrit and ‘Vir’ in English.
Bhang is referred as Sativa in Latin or Cannabis Sativa in Science. Sativa is a Latin botanical adjective which mean ‘cultivated’ as opposed to a plant grown in wild.
Let’s delve into connection of the word ‘Sativa’ with India culture. Remember the story of Sati and Shiva. The story is about the first marriage/domestication of Lord Shiva. Unmarried Lord Shiva was considered as a wild ascetic before marriage with Sati/Parvati.
Sativa seems to be a combination of Sati and Shiva. This makes perfect sense as ‘Soma’ or ‘Sativa’ may have been the first plant to be cultivated/domesticated. All the praise for Soma in Rig Veda point to this, i.e. Soma may have been the first plant to be cultivated by human beings.
Therefore, it becomes important to revive the usage of the plant and realise its various potentials.
Soma for Worship
The drinks/edibles made from the Soma plant was offered to the Gods and deities by sages/priests. In exchange of such offerings, sages/priests would seek the blessings of Gods and deities.
Haoma is the Avestan form of the Sanskrit Soma. Similar to worship and usage of Soma in Hinduism, Haoma was worshipped and used in Zoroastrianism. This is suggestive of shared beliefs and shared language/words among the ancient India, Iran and Europe.
In the later Vedic era and post Vedic era, there are less number of references to Soma plant in Indian texts. This has led to many theories. A few Indian writings of the latter era identify the plant as “Somalata” (Cynanchum acidum). As drinks made from Somalata don’t make its users high, it is evident that the Soma plant and Somalata are different plants.
In the last two centuries, various western scholars have propagated a theory that Ephedra plant was worshipped as a Soma or Haoma plant. This seems to be wrong as Ephedra does not have consciousness alternating effect of Soma or Haoma. Simiarly, certain western scholars have wrongly equated mushrooms with Soma. As Indian culture does not have any history of usage of mushrooms, mushrooms were not referred as Soma in the Vedas.
The method of preparation of Soma drink is similar to the method of preparation of drinks from Bhang or Sativa. Considering this, many Indian scholars have equated Bhang with Soma. More so as Bhang as well as Soma have medicinal values and their usage create consciousness alternating effects. In other words, both seeks to unify humans with nature.
Soma Sutra believes that Soma is same as Bhang. This becomes clear from the careful analysis of various words of Sanskrit and various names of Soma. Soma Sutra believes that our ancestors choose to maintain secrecy regarding Soma as they may have been fearful that widespread usage of Soma may not be in the interest of humanity.
