India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c11.s2.13

c11.s2.13

The drinking of Soma depended on the fulfilment of certain spiritual and material conditions. According to Pāṇini he who had the requisite qualification to drink Soma was called *somya* (*Somam arhati yaḥ*, IV.4.137). In the opinion of the *Yājñika* school as quoted by Patañjali, that person was entitled to drink Soma in whose family there was no social stigma in the ten preceding generations (*Evaṁ hi Yājñikāḥ paṭhanti, Daśapurushanūkaṁ yasya gṛihe śūdrā na vidyeran sa Somaṁ pibediti*, *Bhāshya*, IV.1.93; II.248). Manu looks at the problem from an economic point of view: 'He who owns food to last for three years or more so as to maintain his dependants, is entitled to drink Soma (*sa somaṁ pātum arhati*, *Manu*, XI.7; also *Kāśikā*, VII.3.16). 'He should lay by the minimum prescribed store lest his labour be wasted' (XI.8). In the Soma ceremony the priests (*yājakas*) might press the Soma plant, but the credit of performing the Soma *yajña* belonged to the actual *yajamāna* who was in reality the beneficiary (*pradhāna kartā*) of that sacrifice. A special expression was current to designate him as *sunvan* (*Suño yajña-saṁyoge*, III.2.132). On the other hand in a *sattra*, i.e. a Soma *yāga* lasting for more than twelve days, the number of priests ranges from 17 to 25 (*saptadaśāvarāḥ pañchaviṁśatiparamāḥ*), all of them enjoy the status of *yajamānas* (*sarve yajamānāḥ, sarve ṛitvijaḥ*), all are *āhitāgnis*, all sharing the fruits of the *yajña* equally, and since it is a corporate endeavour no one pays or expects any fee, and all of them perform the act of pressing the Soma juice. This arrangement is reflected in the phrase *sarve sunvantaḥ sarve yajamānāḥ sattriṇaḥ uchyante* (*Kāśikā* on III.2.132, *Suño yajña-saṁyoge*).