somā (ā), f. the Soma plant, L.

N. of an Apsaras, MBh.

of a river, MārkP.

of a queen, Inscr.

soman m. one who presses or prepares Soma, RV.; Naigh.; Nir.

a S˚ sacrificer, MW.

1. soma m. (fr. √ 3. su) juice, extract, (esp.) the juice of the Soma plant, (also) the Soma plant itself (said to be the climbing plant Sarcostema Viminalis or Asclepias Acida, the stalks [aṃśu] of which were pressed between stones [adri] by the priests, then sprinkled with water, and purified in a strainer [pavitra]; whence the acid juice trinkled into jars [kalaśa] or larger vessels [droṇa]; after which it was mixed with clarified butter, flour &c., made to ferment, and then offered in libations to the gods [in this respect corresponding with the ritual of the Iranian Avesta] or was drunk by the Brāhmans, by both of whom its exhilarating effect was supposed to be prized; it was collected by moonlight on certain mountains [in RV. x, 34, 1, the mountain Mūja-vat is mentioned]; it is sometimes described as having been brought from the sky by a falcon [śyena] and guarded by the Gandharvas; it is personified as one of the most important of Vedic gods, to whose praise all the 114 hymns of the 9th book of the RV. besides 6 in other books and the whole, SV. are dedicated; in post-Vedic mythology and even in a few of the latest hymns of the RV. [although not in the whole of the 9th book] as well as sometimes in the AV. and in the Br., Soma is identified with the moon [as the receptacle of the other beverage of the gods called Amṛta, or as the lord of plants, cf. indu, oṣadhi-pati] and with the god of the moon, as well as with Viṣṇu, Śiva, Yama, and Kubera; he is called rājan, and appears among the 8 Vasus and the 8 Loka-pālas [Mn. v, 96], and is the reputed author of RV. x, 124, 1, 5-9, of a law-book &c.; cf. below), RV. &c. &c.

the moon or moon-god (see above)