soma
1. so/ma m. ( fr. √ 3. su ) juice, extract, ( esp. ) the juice of the Soma plant, (also) the Soma plant itself (said to be the climbing plant Sarcostema Viminalis or Asclepias Acida , the stalks [ aMSu ] of which were pressed between stones [ adri ] by the priests, then sprinkled with water, and purified in a strainer [ pavitra ]; whence the acid juice trinkled into jars [ kalaSa ] or larger vessels [ droRa ]; after which it was mixed with clarified butter, flour &c., made to ferment, and then offered in libations to the gods [in this respect corresponding with the ritual of the Iranian Avesta] or was drunk by the Brāhmans , by both of whom its exhilarating effect was supposed to be prized; it was collected by moonlight on certain mountains [in RV. x, 34, 1 , the mountain Mūja-vat is mentioned]; it is sometimes described as having been brought from the sky by a falcon [ Syena ] and guarded by the Gandharva s; it is personified as one of the most important of Vedic gods, to whose praise all the 114 hymns of the 9th book of the RV. besides 6 in other books and the whole, SV. are dedicated; in post-Vedic mythology and even in a few of the latest hymns of the RV. [although not in the whole of the 9th book] as well as sometimes in the AV. and in the Br. , Soma is identified with the moon [as the receptacle of the other beverage of the gods called Amṛta , or as the lord of plants, cf. indu , ozaDi-pati ] and with the god of the moon, as well as with Viṣṇu , Śiva , Yama , and Kubera ; he is called rAjan , and appears among the 8 Vasu s and the 8 Loka-pāla s [ Mn. v, 96 ], and is the reputed author of RV. x, 124, 1 , 5 - 9 , of a law-book &c.; cf. below), RV. &c. &c.