Lordship of Soma in the context of ŖgVeda
Sri Koushik Roy
Abstract:
Soma is the most mystical and magical riddle of the Vedas. The Ŗgveda is essentially a book on the praises of the Gods, in which many deities such as Agni, Indra are glorified and praised. In the Rik Samhita ‘Soma’ is a deity and one of the principal God. The entire Ninth Mandala of the Rig Veda is devoted to this magical Soma. It inspires great creativity and deep mystical insights. It moves the tongue to song. Soma made the Vedic seers creative and prolific in their output of mystical verse. Soma is also said to lengthen out the human life spans. It is the elixir of immortality – the fabled fountain of eternal youth. The Soma juice is configured as Soma, King and God, making a royal progress across the filter to his rendezvous with the Gods. Or he is a powerful charging bull or a swift racehorse or a bird in flight. The fleece filter is a ewe; the milk is regularly conceived of as a herd of cows, eager to mate with the bull Soma. These ritual elements are also given cosmic dimensions. The fire bursts of Soma give incredible courage and heroism to the warriors in the battle fields. They take all fear of death and pain. So again ‘Soma’ is best paid to the Gods. In the Samhita there are two forms of Soma – one mortal and the other divine. Different thinkers discuss these two forms of Soma. But just as there is a lack of certainty about the substance of mortal Soma, there is also uncertainty about Soma. The appearance of this Soma is still unknown. Again, what does Dibya Soma mean is it Gandharvaloka, Vayuloka, Indraloka, Suryaloka, Somloka or Parama-byoma, in which Soma actually has room for discussion? Many characteristics of this Soma deity can be observed in the entire Rik Samhita mainly in the Ninth mandala. Sometimes he is seen as a God, sometimes as a bestower of wealth, sometimes as a delighter of the universe, sometimes as the master of all Gods, and sometimes as a servant. In this article we will discuss about all the divinity and lordship of Soma.
Keywords: Vedic Soma, Deity Soma, Divya Soma, Pavamāna Soma, Bestower, Lordship
DOI link – https://doi.org/10.69758/GIMRJ/2505S01V13P010
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