© Kamla-Raj 2004                                                                                 J. Hum. Ecol., 15(1): 19-26 (2004)

The Soma Drinker of Ancient India: An Ethno-Botanical

Retrospection

Sachidananda Padhy¹ and Santosh Kumar Dash²

1. Faculty of Botany, Govt. College (Lead), Chatrapur 761 020, Orissa, India

2. College of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Mohuda),  Berhampur 760 002, Orissa, India

KEYWORDS Vedic Soma Plant. Soma Rasa. Regime of Soma Drink. ICUSD.

ABSTRACT The juice of the plant Soma, was an uncommon drink, consumed by the Vedic people known as Soma Rasa. It was offered to Gods, considered as divine and contemplated with medicinal efficacy for restorative treatments; being neither hallucinogenic nor intoxicating. The paper presents a brief account of the Soma plant as described in Rig Veda and more research on it in Aayurveda along with search for the proper plant by modern man since the last two centuries. The regime of Soma drink was simple in Vedic description, while as per the Aayurvedic text, it required an intense care unit (ICUSD) for the Soma drinker to take care of the rejuvenating process. 

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