Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1It was truly stupendous, and I shall never cease to remember it to the latest moment of my existence.’ 1 The Academy, Oct. 25, 1884—Feb. 14, 1885. 3 Ibid., Jan. 31, 1885. INTRODUCTION. XXV as the Haoma of the Avesta. The Him shrub, according to this description, grows to the height of four feet, and consists of circular fleshy stalks (the thickest being about a. finger thick) of whitish colour, with light brown streaks. The juice was milky, of a greenish white colour, and had a sweetish taste. Mr. Schindler was, however, told that, after being kept for a few days, it turned sour and, like the stalks, became yellowish brown. The stalks break easily at the joints, and then form small cylindrical pieces. They had lost their leaves, which are said to be small and formed like those of the jessamine. This description, according to the above naturalists, would seem to agree tolerably well with the Sarcostemma (akin to the common milk-weed), or some other group of Asclepiads, such as the Periploca aphylla which, as Mr. Baker states, has been traced by Dr. Haussknecht to 3000 feet in the mountains of Persia, and, according to Dr. Aitchison, is common also in Afghanistan. A quotation from a medical Sanskrit work, to which attention was drawn by Prof. Max Miiller many years ago, states that, ‘the creeper, called Soma, is dark, sour, without leaves, milky, fleshy on the surface; it destroys (or causes) phlegm, produces vomiting,and is eaten by goats.’ The foul, sour smell of the Soma-juice is also alluded to in our Brahmama (see the present volume, p. 266). According to Prof. Spiegel!, the Parsis of Bombay obtain their Homa from Kerman, whither they send their priests from time to time to get it. The plant at present used by the Hindu priests of the Dekhan, on the other hand, according to Haug, is not the Soma of the Vedas, but appears to belong to the same order. ‘It grows (he informs us, Ait. Br. II, 489) on hills in the neighbourhood of Poona to the height of about four to five feet, and forms a kind of bush, consisting of a certain number of shoots, all coming from the same root ; their stem is solid like wood ; the bark grayish ; they are without leaves ; the sap appears whitish, has a very stringent taste, is bitter, but not sour: it is a very nasty drink, and has some intoxicating effect. I tasted it several times, but 1 Eranische Alterthumskunde, III, p. 572. XXvi SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA.
2I tasted it several times, but 1 Eranische Alterthumskunde, III, p. 572. XXvi SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA. it was impossible for me to drink more than some teaspoonfuls.’ In fact, several varieties of Sarcostemma or Asclepiads', somewhat different from those of Persia and Afghanistan, which are not to be found so far south, seem to have been, and indeed seem still to be, made use of for the Soma-sacrifice. And notwithstanding the objections raised by Dr. G. Watt, in his useful ‘Notes,’ appended to the translation of Professor Roth’s papers, every probability seems to me to be in favour of the identity of the original Soma-plant with the shrub, the stalks of which are used by the P4arsis in preparing their Hfm juice, or with some other plant of the same genus. It certainly would seem to have been a plant with soft, succulent stems. Dr. Watt remarks, ‘We know of no instance of a succulent plant retaining, for weeks or months, its sap within isolated twigs, and, indeed, we can recall but few plants which could withstand, even for a day or two, the dry climate of India, so as to retain the sap within their isolated and cut twigs.’ But, though at the time of the Vedic hymns fresh and juicy plants were probably used for the preparation of the sacred drink, in later times, when the plants had to be conveyed some considerable distance into India, the withered and shrunk plants were apparently found, with the admixture of water and other ingredients, to serve the same purpose. For we know from the description given in the Satras, that water was poured on the plants previously to their being beaten with the pressing-stones. This moistening or steeping is called Apyayanam, or ‘ the making (the plants) swell.’ After being then well beaten and bruised, they were thrown into the vat, or rather trough, partly filled with water, and were pressed out with the hand. Dr. Watt thinks Professor Roth ought rather to have published briefly the leading passages in the hymns descriptive of the plant, from which naturalists might have drawn their own conclusions. One might as well ask a Hebrew 1 Especially Sarcostemma intermedium, S. brevistigma, and S. viminale (or Asclepias acida). See R. Roth, Zeitsch. der D. Morg. Ges. vol. xxxv, p. 681 seq. INTRODUCTION, XXVIi
3One might as well ask a Hebrew 1 Especially Sarcostemma intermedium, S. brevistigma, and S. viminale (or Asclepias acida). See R. Roth, Zeitsch. der D. Morg. Ges. vol. xxxv, p. 681 seq. INTRODUCTION, XXVIi scholar to give accurate descriptions of the ‘lily of the valley’ to enable the botanist to identify and classify the lovely flower which delighted the heart of kicg Solomon. It is exactly the want of an accurate knowledge of the nature of the Soma-plant which prevents the Vedic scholar from being able to understand some of the few material allusions to it. Thus the term amsu, commonly applied to the Soma-plant, used to be taken to mean simply ‘ plant’ or ‘sprig, shoot ;? but Professor Roth seems now inclined, perhaps rightly, to take it as referring to the internode, or cylindrical piece between two joints of the stem. The substitutes approved of by the Satapatha-brahmaaa, in case no genuine Soma-plants can be obtained, will be found enumerated at pp. 421-422 of the present volume. <A description of these plants, so far as they have been identified, is given in Professor Roth’s paper. I cannot conclude these remarks without expressing my hearty thanks tothose scholars who have done me the honour of reviewing the first volume of this work. To Professor Whitney I feel especially indebted for his most careful examination of my translation, and the searching, yet appreciative, criticism he has been good enough to apply to it. I shall feel content, if the present volume finds at least one reader as conscientious and painstaking. While I agree with most of Prof. Whitney’s suggestions’, there are one or two points raised by him, and these perhaps of the more important, on which I have been unable to take his view ; and as some of these points involve renderings adhered to in the present volume, I take the opportunity here briefly to advert to them. ; The most important of these points probably is my rendering of the term kap4la by ‘potsherd,’ instead of ‘cup, dish,’ as proposed by Prof. Whitney. Instead of speaking of a sacrificial cake on eleven or twelve potsherds, we are to call it a cake on so many cups or dishes. The term * American Journal of Philology, vol. iii, pp. 391-410; Proceedings of the American Oriental Society, October 1882, p. xiv seq. XXVIil SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA,
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1It was truly stupendous, and I shall never cease to remember it to the latest moment of my existence.’ 1 The Academy, Oct. 25, 1884—Feb. 14, 1885. 3 Ibid., Jan. 31, 1885. INTRODUCTION. XXV as the Haoma of the Avesta. The Him shrub, according to this description, grows to the height of four feet, and consists of circular fleshy stalks (the thickest being about a. finger thick) of whitish colour, with light brown streaks. The juice was milky, of a greenish white colour, and had a sweetish taste. Mr. Schindler was, however, told that, after being kept for a few days, it turned sour and, like the stalks, became yellowish brown. The stalks break easily at the joints, and then form small cylindrical pieces. They had lost their leaves, which are said to be small and formed like those of the jessamine. This description, according to the above naturalists, would seem to agree tolerably well with the Sarcostemma (akin to the common milk-weed), or some other group of Asclepiads, such as the Periploca aphylla which, as Mr. Baker states, has been traced by Dr. Haussknecht to 3000 feet in the mountains of Persia, and, according to Dr. Aitchison, is common also in Afghanistan. A quotation from a medical Sanskrit work, to which attention was drawn by Prof. Max Miiller many years ago, states that, ‘the creeper, called Soma, is dark, sour, without leaves, milky, fleshy on the surface; it destroys (or causes) phlegm, produces vomiting,and is eaten by goats.’ The foul, sour smell of the Soma-juice is also alluded to in our Brahmama (see the present volume, p. 266). According to Prof. Spiegel!, the Parsis of Bombay obtain their Homa from Kerman, whither they send their priests from time to time to get it. The plant at present used by the Hindu priests of the Dekhan, on the other hand, according to Haug, is not the Soma of the Vedas, but appears to belong to the same order. ‘It grows (he informs us, Ait. Br. II, 489) on hills in the neighbourhood of Poona to the height of about four to five feet, and forms a kind of bush, consisting of a certain number of shoots, all coming from the same root ; their stem is solid like wood ; the bark grayish ; they are without leaves ; the sap appears whitish, has a very stringent taste, is bitter, but not sour: it is a very nasty drink, and has some intoxicating effect. I tasted it several times, but 1 Eranische Alterthumskunde, III, p. 572. XXvi SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA.
2I tasted it several times, but 1 Eranische Alterthumskunde, III, p. 572. XXvi SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA. it was impossible for me to drink more than some teaspoonfuls.’ In fact, several varieties of Sarcostemma or Asclepiads', somewhat different from those of Persia and Afghanistan, which are not to be found so far south, seem to have been, and indeed seem still to be, made use of for the Soma-sacrifice. And notwithstanding the objections raised by Dr. G. Watt, in his useful ‘Notes,’ appended to the translation of Professor Roth’s papers, every probability seems to me to be in favour of the identity of the original Soma-plant with the shrub, the stalks of which are used by the P4arsis in preparing their Hfm juice, or with some other plant of the same genus. It certainly would seem to have been a plant with soft, succulent stems. Dr. Watt remarks, ‘We know of no instance of a succulent plant retaining, for weeks or months, its sap within isolated twigs, and, indeed, we can recall but few plants which could withstand, even for a day or two, the dry climate of India, so as to retain the sap within their isolated and cut twigs.’ But, though at the time of the Vedic hymns fresh and juicy plants were probably used for the preparation of the sacred drink, in later times, when the plants had to be conveyed some considerable distance into India, the withered and shrunk plants were apparently found, with the admixture of water and other ingredients, to serve the same purpose. For we know from the description given in the Satras, that water was poured on the plants previously to their being beaten with the pressing-stones. This moistening or steeping is called Apyayanam, or ‘ the making (the plants) swell.’ After being then well beaten and bruised, they were thrown into the vat, or rather trough, partly filled with water, and were pressed out with the hand. Dr. Watt thinks Professor Roth ought rather to have published briefly the leading passages in the hymns descriptive of the plant, from which naturalists might have drawn their own conclusions. One might as well ask a Hebrew 1 Especially Sarcostemma intermedium, S. brevistigma, and S. viminale (or Asclepias acida). See R. Roth, Zeitsch. der D. Morg. Ges. vol. xxxv, p. 681 seq. INTRODUCTION, XXVIi
3One might as well ask a Hebrew 1 Especially Sarcostemma intermedium, S. brevistigma, and S. viminale (or Asclepias acida). See R. Roth, Zeitsch. der D. Morg. Ges. vol. xxxv, p. 681 seq. INTRODUCTION, XXVIi scholar to give accurate descriptions of the ‘lily of the valley’ to enable the botanist to identify and classify the lovely flower which delighted the heart of kicg Solomon. It is exactly the want of an accurate knowledge of the nature of the Soma-plant which prevents the Vedic scholar from being able to understand some of the few material allusions to it. Thus the term amsu, commonly applied to the Soma-plant, used to be taken to mean simply ‘ plant’ or ‘sprig, shoot ;? but Professor Roth seems now inclined, perhaps rightly, to take it as referring to the internode, or cylindrical piece between two joints of the stem. The substitutes approved of by the Satapatha-brahmaaa, in case no genuine Soma-plants can be obtained, will be found enumerated at pp. 421-422 of the present volume. <A description of these plants, so far as they have been identified, is given in Professor Roth’s paper. I cannot conclude these remarks without expressing my hearty thanks tothose scholars who have done me the honour of reviewing the first volume of this work. To Professor Whitney I feel especially indebted for his most careful examination of my translation, and the searching, yet appreciative, criticism he has been good enough to apply to it. I shall feel content, if the present volume finds at least one reader as conscientious and painstaking. While I agree with most of Prof. Whitney’s suggestions’, there are one or two points raised by him, and these perhaps of the more important, on which I have been unable to take his view ; and as some of these points involve renderings adhered to in the present volume, I take the opportunity here briefly to advert to them. ; The most important of these points probably is my rendering of the term kap4la by ‘potsherd,’ instead of ‘cup, dish,’ as proposed by Prof. Whitney. Instead of speaking of a sacrificial cake on eleven or twelve potsherds, we are to call it a cake on so many cups or dishes. The term * American Journal of Philology, vol. iii, pp. 391-410; Proceedings of the American Oriental Society, October 1882, p. xiv seq. XXVIil SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA,
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
No commentary for this page.