Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.317

v1.c3.317

Adhi-ṣavaṇa.—The two Adhiṣavaṇas¹ are usually understood, as by Roth² and Zimmer,³ to designate the two boards between which the Soma was pressed. Hillebrandt,⁴ however, shows from the ritual that the boards were not placed one over the other, but were placed one behind the other, the two serving as a foundation upon which the Soma was pressed by a stone. This theory seems to account best for the etymological sense of the name ‘over-press,’ as well as for the use of the word as an adjective (‘used for pressing upon’). But according to the procedure as witnessed by Haug⁵ in the Deccan, the shoots of the plant are first placed on the skin, one of the boards being then laid over them and pounded with a stone. The shoots are then taken out and placed upon the board, the second board being then laid over them.