Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India, their Religion and Institutions v5.c49.45

v5.c49.45

In the post-vedic age the name Soma came to be commonly applied to the moon and its regent. Even in the Rig-veda, some traces of this application seem to be discoverable. Thus in x. 85, 2 ff. (which, however, Professor Roth regards as of comparatively modern date: Ill. of Nir. p. 147), there appears to be an allusion to the double sense of the word: 2. *Somenādityāḥ balinaḥ Somena pṛithivī mahī | atho nakshattrāṇām eshām upasthe Somaḥ āhitaḥ* | 3. *Somaṁ manyate papivān yat sampiṁshanti oshadhīm | Somaṁ yam brahmāṇo vidur na tasyāśnāti kaśchana* | 4. *Āchhadvidhānair gupito bārhataiḥ Soma rakshitaḥ | grāvnām it śṛinvan tishṭhasi na te aśnāti pārthivaḥ* | 5. *Yat tvā devāḥ prapibanti tataḥ āpyāyase punaḥ | Vāyuḥ Somasya rakshitā samānām māsaḥ ākṛitiḥ* | “2. By Soma the Ādityas are strong; by Soma the earth is great; and Soma is placed in the centre of these stars. 3. When they crush the plant, he who drinks regards it as Soma. Of him whom the priests regard as Soma (the moon) no one drinks. 4. Protected by those who shelter thee, and preserved by thy guardians,⁴⁰³ thou, Soma, hearest the sound of the crushing-stones; but no earthly being tastes thee. 5. When the gods drink thee, o god, thou increasest again. Vāyu is the guardian of Soma: the month is a part of the years.”⁴⁰⁴ In the Atharva-veda the following half-verse occurs, xi, 6, 7: *Somo mā devo munchatu yam āhuś chandramāḥ iti* | “May the god Soma free me, he whom they call the moon.” And in the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa, i. 6, 4, 5; xi. 1, 3, 2; xi. 1, 3, 4, and xi. 1, 4, 4, we have the words: *Esha vai Somo rājā devānām annaṁ yat chandramāḥ* | “This king Soma, who is the moon, is the food of the gods.” Similarly in xi. 1, 3, 5: *chandramāḥ vai Somo devānām annam* | “Soma is the moon, the food of the gods.” See also i. 6, 3, 24: *Sūryaḥ eva āgneyaḥ | chandramāḥ saumyaḥ* | “The sun has the nature of Agni, the moon of Soma;” and xii. 1, 1, 2: *Somo vai chandramāḥ* | “Soma is the moon.” In v. 3, 3, 12, and in ix. 4, 3, 16, Soma is said to be the king of the Brāhmans (*Somo ’smākam brāhmaṇānāṁ rājā*). In the Vishṇu Purāṇa (book i. chap. 22, p. 85 of Wilson’s translation, vol. 2, Dr. Hall’s ed.) the double character of Soma is indicated in these words: “Brahmā appointed Soma to be monarch of the stars and planets, of Brāhmans and of plants, of sacrifices and of austere devotions” (*nakshattra-graha-viprāṇāṁ vīrudhāṁ chāpy aśeshataḥ | Somaṁ rājye dadau Brahmā yajnānāṁ tapasām api*).