History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c51.107

v3.c51.107

It would not be out of place to remark here that according to the Ait. Br. 35. 2-4 (referred to on p. 140 above) a kṣatriya sacrificer was not to drink soma, but if he desired he might drink the liquid obtained by pounding the young sprouts of the banyan tree and the fruits of that tree and of the udumbara and of other holy trees mixing them with curds.²⁶⁰⁰ It is however to be noted that in classical Sanskrit literature sometimes kings are described as 'somapāḥ'. The sūtras (e. g. Sat. VIII. 7. p. 882, Āp. XII. 24. 5) say the same. Jai. (III. 5. 47-51) refers to this practice and says that the liquid so prepared and poured into a cup is called *phala-camasa* and is really an offering made on a coal taken from the āhavanīya to its north, and not a mere substitute for some eatable. Vide also Jai. III. 6. 36.