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Orientalia Suecana LI-LII (2002-2003) Decent Drugs for Decent People: Further Thoughts on the Nature of Soma HARRY FALK, Berlin The identity of names for a sacred plant and sacred drink in Avestan and the Vedic language shows t~at soma and haoma have a common origin. The absence of any ~o~parable term In other languages of the Indo-European language family seems to mdIcate that a beverage using this plant was confined to a certain geographical area. This leads to the vexed question about the home of the Indo-Europeans, to which many answers have been proposed. In the present state of our knowledge, most scholars would subscribe to the itinerary of the Indo-Iranians outlined by G. Mallo- ry (1998: 180-184): the Indo-Iranians came from the steppes of the north, encoun- tering the Bactria-Margiana archaeological complex (BMAC) in the early 2nd mil- lennium B.C. and, proceeding from there south-east and south-west, a split took place in or near the present Afghanistan. At least for the Iranian branch, two pieces of textual evidence can be adduced to strengthen this view. In the A vesta, we have rather precise accounts of a long-term transition from the northern countries. Videvdad 1 lists places of settlements in a sort of historical succession. The beginning is the Arian vaejah of the good diiityii. This was abandoned because of the climate: after two months of summer followed 10 months of winter. We need not take the time brackets too literally, but it is clear that the text speaks of an area where for two months living was pleasant, whereas for the rest of the year it was not. The next place mentioned is where the Sogdians live, followed by Margiana, Balkh, Nissa, etc. In the tenth place follows Arachosia with its river Sarasvatl, then comes the Hilmand area, and some more regions, in- cluding (north-western) Pakistan. The movement is clearly from north to south; and the further south the more it branches. Parallel to this list of settlement places, we get a second account of the population shift in Yid. 2, which argues on the basis of the overfilled earth. For 300 years, people lived in the primeval place with Yima as their king (Vid. 2.8), who d~rected them at noon in the direction of the sun (2.10). They stayed at the new locatIon for 600 years, overpopulated the earth and moved south again (2.14). They stayed i~ the new location for 900 years (2.16) and moved south again (2.18), where t~ey bm.It an oppidum filled with all sorts of animals and the best of people, and thIS oppIdum helped them to live on dry ground when the waters of the spring floods arrived (2.24). Nobody will expect that each reported direction and time span ~o:responds com- pletely to reality. But the overall picture is clear: from the ongmal settlement, people moved south in several steps. They needed about 1500 years to reach the fi- nal area. The numbers 300 600 and 900 are much too schematic to be true, but ISOn as the sum of the wanderi~g years sounds at least likely for a shift in location from somewhere north of Soghdiana to Arachosia and beyond. 142 Harry Falk Orientalia Suecana LI-LII (2002-2003) Even if the time of translocation was much shorter, it is still long enough to en- compass that period for which we expect" the later Iranians to have lived alongside the later Vedic Indians. Now, what do the Indians tell us about that phase? The oldest literature, the Vedic SarphiUis, are generally silent about any sort of population shift. One nota~l~ excep- tion is RV 3.33, where we learn that the Bharatas moved across the confluence of Sutudri and Vipas. The poet claims to have come from far (durad) and we see him moving out of the Punjab. All references to a homeland outside the Indus valley and the Punjab are of an indirect nature, like imported river names or the knowledge of tributaries. Some examples from later times show that the Indians are not .unwilling to report on large-scale movements. The SB 1.4.1 has the well-known story about king Videgha Mathava's trek from the SarasvatI to the Sadanlra river, the border be- tween Kosala and Videha. The report is not particularly lavish in its details, but at least it gives the names of persons, the starting-point and the aim. More interesting is the report in the JB. 3.238, where we learn that the Bharatas expelled the Ik~vakus from a site west of,the Indus. If we take the nad"isukta from the RV into account, we can say that a shift from east of the Indus is attested across this river, and across the five rivers into the Kuru and Paficala countries, later also into Kosala and Videha. However, no Vedic author recollects a former habitat west or north of Afghanistan. The oldest, so-called Srautasutra, the pravacana attributed to one Ba~dhayal).a, tells us (BSS 18.44:397), I in its version of the Puriiravas and UrvasI lege~d, how this semi-divine woman gave birth to two sons, Ayu and Amavasu. The first one moved eastward (priin iiyub pravavriija). His descendants are the Kurus' and Pafi- calas, the Kasis and the Videhas. The second son moved towards the west (pratyan amiivaslls).2 His offspring became the Gandharayas, the Sparsus, and the.Arattas. The starting-point for both movements could be located somewhere along the Indus. It is dangerous to use this legend for any sort of historical reconstruction, but at least it S?oWS that Indian traditions have little that can be used to prove the recol~~ction of an Immigration from the far west or north. " yv ~ see th~t there are reports about people on the move, but, apart fron:t the lin- gUIstIC materIal, there is no direct reference whatsoever to a common history with the Zoroastrian community. On the contrary, when the Avestan people settled in Ar~chosia~ they disliked it there because there were too many foreign people, who buned theIr dead (Vid. 1.12). Burying dead bodies or piling up a tumulus over them we~e utte~l~ ~espised practices from the A vestan point of view (Vid. 3.8+9). These bunal actIvItIes are sometimes connected with the deva followers who are con- nected in Yid. 18.15-16 and 22-24 with the people speaking a bad 'language, who call a cock kahrkatiit, instead of paro.daras. Now, kahrkatiit seems to represent or to be related to the Sanskrit term for cock, kurkuta or kukkuta. This again shows that peoples speaking Indian vernaculars were living close by and were quite well : For a translation. sce Krick 1982:214, Goto 2000: 99-110 • For this episode er Witzel 1995'320f h' . . - , h ' ' ' " W 0 mterprets differently: "Ayu went eastwards (., ,) (HIs ot er peop Ic) stayed at home in the W t" ' h ' - 'OOO'10 1 [ I' ' es ,Wit out supplymg the verb for the second, parallel phrase; cf. Goto .. , .. , tor both Views, Orientalia Suecana LI-LII (2002-2003) Decent Drugs/or Decent People 143 known, including their daevic and dreaded gods, like Indra, Sarva, one Nasatya and m~ny m~re unknown to the. ':edic pantheon (Vid. 19.43). Despite their familiarity wIth IndIa-related commumtIes, there is no word in the Avesta about a common past. It would be interesting to collect all the major differences between the Iranian and the Indian way of s~eing things. Th~ killing of cows in some Vedic sacrifices, e.g., contrasts sharply WIth A vestan feelmgs; the attachment to dogs in the Avesta con- trasts sharply with the disgust that these animals encounter in India. In spite of the cognate languages, the mentalities are wide apart. Apparently, soma and haoma present a counter-example, being sacred beverages in both cultures. However, as was observed by Brough (1973) long ago, both drinks are used in completely differ- ent, mythological contexts. The question arises whether one culture gave the plant or the practice of its sacer- dotal use to the other. To get nearer to an answer, we have again to take a look at the vexed, botanical identities of soma and haoma. SOME RECENT PROPOSALS The search for soma and haoma is fascinating and, judging from the current prac- tice, will never cease. The wide range of earlier proposals is suitably listed and an- notated in Doniger 0 'Flaherty (1968); the basics, now including the fly agaric, are reiterated in Staal 2001:758-763; eight recent contributions are listed in Oberlies 1995:237f. A few comments on some of these and other publications seem necess- ary from our point of view. In 1989, David Flattery and Martin Schwartz pleaded for the wild rue, Peganul1l harmala. 3 The plant resembles Ephedra in being a shrub with many branches radiat- ing from a common stem. Its pharmacological effects are significant. The psychoac- tive alkaloids reside in the red seeds, which burst when thrown into fire, emanating a thick smoke. In folk religion, this smoke is believed to scare away all sorts of evil spirits. The beads are worn as amulets against negative forces. Swallowing the seeds is considered to lead to madness. Islamic materia medica describe its effects as vomiting, sleep, intoxication and an inclination toward coitus (Flattery & Schwartz 1989:59). A girl who had swallowed some medicine containing a harmel decocion said that she "saw everything moving in front of her and beheld wells in the earth". Though she could understand, she was herself unable to speak during th~ entire. da~, most of which she spent asleep (1989:31, fn. 1). The process of prepanng a h~Uld resembles the soma process, in that the seeds are pounded, watered and SIfted (1989:33). . . . The authors present just two stronger arguments which ma~~ an IdentIficatIOn with the haoma of old possible: (a) the local names are remInIscent of Avestan spanta, meaning "holy", and (b) some South American Indian tribes consume a drink prepared from a vine to visit the spirits outside the human world (1989:24~. They experience a "vivid imagery contemplated with closed eyes 98~:25~. IdentI.- (? cal psycho active alkaloids are said to be present in this vine (Bal11sterlOpSls caapI) and in Peganum harmala (1989:24). 3 For the same idea in the 19th century, cf. Doniger O'Flaherty 1968: 108f. 144 Harry Falk Orientalia' Suecana LI-LII (2002-2003) This common shrub may well have been used for ritual and spiritual practices in times before the Haoma of the· Yazds came into use. Gherardo Gnoli was in 1989 prepared to accept it as the original pl~nt (1989:321a) but seems to have withdrawn his agreement later (1993:235). I have the greatest difficulties with the part used, the red seeds: their shape does not correspond to anything used in Vedic ritual. A second problem is the fatigue arising from the consumption. This contradicts the sober rituals presented in the Avesta and the ~gveda. The vomiting part may oc- cur in connection with the sautramafJl ritual, but also Ephedra drink~· are said to have the same effect, if taken in excess. Peganum harmala was in use in Iran in later times, and it may have been used earlier by groups of priests introducing some of their habits and terminology into the mainstream religion. Hemp was in use in ancient India and is in wide use today. In a confusing row of arguments, S. Mahdihassan in 1986 saw "soma later misidentified as the hemp plant itself'. The thorn apple tree, Datura, was proposed by R.L. lones in 1995, sugar cane by Bh. Singh in 1980/81, and the genus of Asc1epiacea by C.R. Karnick in 1969, be- cause it rejuvenates and resembles the skins of snakes. Water as a life-giving prin- ciple was focussed on by S.A Dange (1988-89) and P.V. Sharma (1996). Soma was connected with fermented drinks by G. Rausing in 1987-88; and contrasted with al- coholic beverages by Ch. Malamoud (1991) and M. Oort (1995). S.N. Ghosal (1980-81) deals with deification in the Avesta; J. Gonda (1994) stresses an apparent name tabu; diverse cultures are touched by H.W. Bailey 1985 (Iran), E. During Caspers 1993 (Indus Valley) and V.I. Sarianidi 1990 (Margiana). Lehmann (2000) has opted for honey as soma and he has not received much credit for this. But he points with full justice to the terms madhu for soma, to the rhetorical figure of the ten sisters, i.e. the fingers, milking the juice. This is too plain to be neglected and we may interpret these expressions as relics from a time when honey was in fact ritually milked. THE FLY AGARIC THEORY Most of the latest proposals, theories and ideas have not received wide acclaim. There are just two ideas which seem to be attractive to a great number of scholars: one c?ncems Ephedra and the other the fly agaric. In several publications, Th. Oberhes pleaded for the mushroom (1995:237), in any case for a hallucinogenic ?rug (1998:150). Already in 1975 (201-204), Fr. Staal was convinced of the same Idea, repeated in 2001. Elizarenkova (1996:27) is at least expecting a hallucinogen and would not be surprised if it were Amanita muscaria. The arguments in favour of the fly agaric are not numerous. They can all be traced back to the epochal work of R. Gordon Wasson, published in 1968 and tho.ught to contain the best theory because no other came with "the same amount of sertousness and detail (Staal 1975:204), although without any definite proof. After the refutal by John Brough and others, the case looked open again for most. In 1985, !l:we~er: ,~ravatham ~ahadeva~ had a look at the Indus Valley culture and put the ~ eS~lOn. The cult object on Ulllcom seals: A sacred filter"? He answered this ques- t~on III the affirmative and confessed to believe in the fly agaric as the plant in ques- tIon. OrientaIia Suecana LI-LII (2002-2003) Decent Drugs/or Decent People 145 . After him, Oberlies defended the fly agaric as the most probable (1995:237) can- dIdate. He felt backed by a posthumously published review by K. Hummel which has just one argument in favour of the mushroom, i.e. its red colour (1997: 81,82,85,86). We shall revert to this. The next argument for the mushroom is the nature of the intoxication of the poet of RV 10.119, the labasukta. He describes a winged being in the sky. If the poet were to have the feelings expressed by the speaker of the hymn, he might be in a state of hallucination. Some people subscribe to this interpretation, others, including me, reject it. It is futile to collect the arguments again. The case is a matter of belief and all disputants are convinced of the validity of their belief. More down to earth is a new argument brought forward by Staal in 2001. He looks for the spot in the Himalaya which occurs as Mount Mujavat in the RV as the site of "the best Soma" (2001:769). This place has been sought for many times; his proposal is Muztagh Ata, on the border of Tajikistan and China's Xinjiang: "The most important fact is that Muztagh Ata is the mountain that is located close to the source of both the Oxus and Tarim rivers" (2001 :770). The argument is adapted from Witzel 1999:344f., who was himself less explicit, thinking of three possible places: (a) Munjan, north of the Hindu Kush, (b) the said Muztagh Ata, translated as "Ice Mountain-Father and (c) Hunza with its inhabitants called Buruso, traced back to *mrusa/mruza. Staal, strongly attached to the Muztagh Ata, points to the mum- mies found in the adjoining Tarim basin, dating to a long period from 2000 B.C. to A.D. 200, some of them found in possession of bags containing Ephedra. Now, be- cause Ephedra is "ubiquitous", this has no impact on the soma question (771). How the Muztagh Ata can help us in this matter is still open. Will a Turkish name ("Ice Mountain") explain a Vedic toponym? Staal opts for an intensified cooperation be- tween Indologists and botanists, taking into account all the plants growing on that mountain. There are several mountains called Muztagh, there are even mountains with similar names which could likewise be connected with Vedic mujavat. To add one more: We could think of the girimuiija of Mbh 3.80,102, also called munjavat in Mbh 18.8, one of the holiest sites in Gandhara, being known as the "town of Ahura Mazda (horamayzanagara) in several inscriptions of the middle of the first millennium A.D.4 In short, muz, muja, muiija, etc. is likewise ubiquitous and, al- though important in itself, it will only open another front between believers and her- etics with no means of ever deciding the case. ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE FLY AGARIC The attractive red mushroom can be found in the area concerned. Some people still make use of it. Mochtar & Geerken (1979) have reported about users in the Schetul valley in eastern Afghanistan. 5 4 This place is better known as the Kashmir Smast. A series of article.s is in the pre~s both by M .. ~as~m Khan and myself (forthcoming). The identity of horamaysanagara With that pl~ce IS proved by Ibnl~~lnPd- . . ffi ., th Indus Valley m the volumes pu IS lC hons on pots found there. The term IS also found on gra JtI m e . by the Heidelberg Academy. ." '329-32 5 See also Jiirgen Frembgen (Rez.) "K. Jettmar: The Religions of the Hmdukush • 11131 (198 8). F' . , . . k . rt'n parts of the North- wcst -ron- On page 330, he states, "I heard that this mushroom IS still ta en m ce al . tier Province as an intoxicant." 146 Harry Falk Orientalia Suecana U-LII (2002-2003) They tell us that the fly agaric is called "cro.w's bread", nan-e-saghta. 6 1Vis found in late spring in rainy years, growing in loess soil in clefts of rocks. It is dried in the sun. After that, it can be kept for long periods, as long as it does not draw humidity. People grind the dried mushroom to powder. They boil it in sour whey ,. together with Impatiens noli tangere (Bergspringkraut), and occasionally with so~e more plants. There are only a few people who have confessed having taken it regularly. I translate their statements as verbally as possible, because they seem to show that a person under the influence of the fly agaric would not be in a position to p,ractise a solemn ritual. One person, 60 years of age, said: "About15 minutes after a drink, I feel fatigue and I long to go to sleep. Although alone in the room, I hear voices. I laugh about these voices and about myself." Another old man said: "First I am very tired, then I feel good. I forget sentences. Once I thought· I was a tree." The third man, 65 years old, said: "I drank for years, but once I had a·very bad time. I felt frightened. I ran into the mountains and did not know where Iwas or who I was. People told me later that I shouted and yelled. Of this, I know nothing."? The oldest man interviewed said: "We are poor people, but we have raven's bread. We turn it into grey powder and mix it. We drink it in winter, when it is impossible to leave the house." Thus far, these four short reports. In addition, people said they used the drink also to remedy frost-bites. As the general results of Amanita drinking, the article lists also the following effects: 8 a strong urge for motional activity; dizziness; distur- bance of vision and speaking; hallucinations; frenzy; prophetical vision; sexual en- ergy; physical strength. The pupils of the eye are enlarged, and therefore some cul- tures call it "eye opener". Some of the effects would go well with the known effects of soma, e.g.,lnotional activity, strength and sexual desire; others, however, make it completely·unlikely that any Zoroastrian householder or any Vedic priest would ever have touched it: hallucinations, speech blockage, frenzy and indecent behaviour like shouting, laughing, running away, losing self-control. ATTITUDE TOWARDS MUSHROOMS IN GENERAL The Vedic Sutras, fully aware of all the sacrificial practices, give rules about al- lo~ed and forbidden food. Mushrooms are forbidden, without any exception, and ~lthout any reference to soma as an exception. The Vasisthadharmasastra 14,33 lIsts mushrooms in one line with garlic, onion, hemp and food touched by dogs or cr?ws. Almost the same series is found in Manu 5,5 and Gautama 2.8(17),32 and Vl~QU 51,34. The oldest reference seems to be contained in ApDhS 1.17,28, where 11 It ma~ be tempting to see a parallel to the ~gvedic story of the syena who brought soma from the . tIle proper directIOn: " mountam. .. • But.. a. footnote . seem' . s t0 pomt . m also in Egypt, mushrooms are ca11ed 7 crow s bread • clsch-al-ollOrlih .., • For more horrifying desc . r f h fC . s np Ions 0 tee Jects of Amamta muscaria see Leuner 1970:283. Unfortunately the articl d ak . ' 1 . 1ey or 111 ., e oes not m e It clear whether these results were reported in the Schetul Va - other parts of the world. Orientalia Suecana LI-LII (2002-2003) Decent Drugs/or Decent People 147 w.e read kyiikv abhojyam iti hi briihmaIJam, which means, that mushrooms are for- bIdden food wherever they occur. Not a single reference leaves room to doubt this. ARGUMENTS AGAINST EPHEDRA Disregarding the said negative effects of Amanita muscaria completely, the adher- ents of the mushroom theory point to serious flaws in the Ephedra theory instead Oberlies has assembled most of them: . 1. Wrong colour. Ephedra does not show "die charakteristische rot-gelbe Farbe" (1995:236). This argument is verbally repeated from Hummel (1997:86), and it is the only substantial one in which Hummel not just guesses but takes up a position in a clear way. What the red-colour argument is worth has been shown by Brough be- fore, but let us have another look. The RV speaks about a plant that is used in the rit- ual. It is a dried plant in any case. Any plant with chlorophyll in its outer coating will look brownish when dry, and any watery solution won from the crushed plant will be light brown to orange. 9 The tenn used for the colour of soma is aruIJa or arusa, also babhru, but never rohita or rudhira. AruIJa is the tawny-orange colour of U~as, of fire and of cows. The haoma of the A vesta is repeatedly called golden-coloured, going well with tawny-orange or beige (babhru) in the RV. As long as there are no red cows in the market and no soma is described as being rohita or rudhira, I refuse to accept arU~1a as an argument in favour of the fly agaric, which is really red, crimson red, at least when fresh. Soma's colour is also apparent on the "twig of a tree", vrksasya siikhii, in RV lO.94.3cd vrksasya sakhiim arUf:zasya bapsatas; or of the filament, afl1SU, in 7.98.1a adhvaryavo 'rUfJaf!1 dugdham af!1suf!1 juh6tana vrSabhaya ksitlntim, "Adhvaryu's! Opfert den ausgemolkenen rotlichen Stengel dem Bullen der Volker!" (G). This' tawny plant is anointed with milk, in 9.45.3ab uta tv&m aruIJart1 vayart1 g6bhir anjmo madiiya kam, "Und dich, den ROtlichen, salben wir mit Milch zum Rauschtrank" (G). Instead of being a strong argument against Ephedra, the colour argument is abso- lutely in line with this possibility and adds nothing in favour of the fly agaric. On the other hand, the terms vrksa, siikhii and af!1sa make it absolutely clear that, what- ever soma may have been, it was certainly not a mushroom. Oberlies never touches any of these sentences in his argumentation. 10 2. No milk. Oberlies misses "die milchige Beschaffenheit" (1995:236) in Ephedra. Anyone who has ever soaked dry mushrooms for kitchen purposes knows that the liquid produced from a dried and soaked mushroom is as little "milky" as is t~e liquid from a dried and soaked branch of a shrub. The language of the poets admits 9 This answers also Staal 2001:767, who dismissed Nyberg's plea for Ephedra equisiti~~a on the ground that "the colour of that species is blue-green-a color the Vedas never attribute .to Soma. .. 10 Instead he also sees "red" where there is neither: bradhna in RV 9.113.l0h IS translated a~ rotleuch- tendes RoB" (Oberlies 1998:463); in our method of description, the reddest a horse can get IS a browny orange, pretty much similar to arUf;a or babhru. 148 Harry Falk Orientalia Suecana LI-LII (2002-2003) many interpretations of this "milk", being used either metaphorically or as a refer- ence to the final product containing the added milk of cows.'! 1 . ' , ; 3. Wrong effect. The most important argument in Oberlies' eyes is the physiological effect of ephedrine. He repeats 12 the vague statement of Hummel (1997:86f.) that ephedrine has "eine ganz andere Wirkung" as the one to be expected on'the basis of ~gvedic evidence. Without specifying this effect, he refers to Stuhrmann~ who had argued on the basis of just one hymn in which the poet claims to have changed into a laha bird, filling the whole atmosphere. I have argued before (Falk 1989:78f.) against this naturalistic interpretation. It would need at least some 13 mor~ allusions to hallucination in other hymns to deserve discussion. The number of adherents 14 to this interpretation is not decisive. With the same right, the hymn may b~. explained on a cosmological basis. 4. No sleep. In 1989, I emphasised the term jiigrvi, "awake, alert", and also "keep- ing awake". Ephedrine is still very much in use to overcome sleepiness. The most encompassing argument againstjiigrvi was put forward by Elizarenkova in 1996:19, saying that the term is used for Agni as well as soma, so that we have to do with a metaphorical expression for something "awake", which would not necessarily allow us to infer anything about the nature of soma. In fact, soma is called intransitively "awake" in 20 cases, and "making awake", transitive, in only three. I still think that any drug which induces sleep would not be called "awake" so constantly. Oberlies denies the possibility that a person taking any hallucinogenic drug would be in- clined to sleep (1995:237). Apart from the statements which I will cite below, there exists a description by de Ropp (1987:50a) with regard to the fly agaric: (It) begins to act in fifteen or twenty minutes, and the effects last for some hours;· The first ef- fect of th~ fungus is soporific. The sleep it induces lasts about two hours, and in this state colored visions are sometimes experienced. After waking, subjects enjoy a feeling of elation that maY,last three to four hours; in this state they are capable of unusual physical feats. Fi- nally, as In Mexico, the spirits of the mushroom speak to those who ingest it. As usual, these effects depend largely on the psyche of the individual user, but it must .not ~e forgotten that the comsumption of soma happens right in the middle of ~ngomg ntuals. If there were a danger of any partaker going to sleep after consump- tIOn, we would have more than one hint about that in Vedic literature. Note that Eliz~renkova (1996:27) expects the effects of the drug to take place immediately af- ter Its consumption, judging from the frequency of the aorist forms in the 9th ma~l(Jala. II What value there is in th "B' 'I h" , 6f) CSC:lpc!s mc, e lestml c , which I am said to have overlooked (Oberlies 1995:23 " I: 'l1,is "ut' 'I' .. ' k . 1.\ '. le c \\.lS ~lown to him before its publication in 1997; see Humme11997:79 n. *. . Adl~.()lh:r hymn with allcgcd "visions is the kdisftkta, RV 10 136 The munis are called "girded by Will • \'cIlClrascm iI (') d . . .. , . . ' . (.I ... an move through the sky. Staal (1975:204-208) deals extensively with these .\s\.:cllcs consltl1llllg a hallu . . (20 P<'lrc tlle ocscnptlon J. " • clIlOgCIllC 1) drug. Other interpretations may seem possible when we com- of thc plan t . th S- . . . h' orhit b. .' d - '" e Sine uryaslddhanta (2,2), which are tied to some fixed po1Ots m t elr S ) \\ III S. \'(ltartlSl1l1hlllr haddl/{ih 14 Elizarcnkov 1996-'5 ') . .' . a ... , .. 7, Oberhes 1995:237; StaaI2001:751-752. Orientalia Suecana LI-LII (2002-2003) Decent Drugs/or Decent People 149 Th~s far, the strongest arguments against Ephedra, all of which are not conclusive. ThIS does not prove that Ephedra must be the sole candidate, but a final elimination from the candIdates' list would need more substance. At this point, I w,~ul~ like ~o express a general critique of Oberlies' approach. He tells us (l~95:237) (n)Icht dIe Substanz Soma hat uns zu interessieren, sondern die InterpretatIOn des Soma-Rausches seitens der (rg)vedischen Dichter". First, outside German In?ology it i.s not customary-for good reasons-to tell others what they should be Interested III and what not. Secondly, if we do not know which sort of drug we are talking about, we cannot specify how far the interpretation of the poets depends on their experience. EPHEDRA REVISITED There are a few basic and undeniable arguments in favour of Ephedra: 1. The term soma or haoma or some modem derivative is given to Ephedra in many parts of Afghanistan and neighbouring areas. I cite from Flattery & Schwartz (1989: 70) only those authors who as botanists are not part of the soma discussion. Ephedra gerardiana is called oman in Pashto; Ephedra intermedia is called hum/huma or um/uma in Baluchistan and sumani in Chitral; Ephedra pachyclada comes as hum/huma in Afghanistan and as som in Gilgit; Ephedra ciliata is named hum-ibandak in Afghanistan. Some unidentified species are called ham in Brahui and hum/ humb in Baluchi. The forms with initial s- in Gilgit and Chitral show that the term is not a recent loanword from Iranian. 2. The plant is used as haoma by the Zoroastrians in Iran, and since the 14th century also and again by the Parsees in India. In Iran, there is no tradition that a different plant once preceded Ephedra. In India, most Vedic brahmins today use surrogates, assuming that the "true" soma is something else. In Kerala, things are noteworthy, as Frits Staal wrote in 1975: "the Numbudiri Brahmans of Kerala to the present day use Ephedra vulgaris for their Soma sacrifices. They obtain the plant from the terri- tory of the former Raja of Kollangod in the Anaimalai Hills, where I accompanied them, found the creeper, and later had it identified" (StaaI1975:203, n. 1). 3. Soma is a means of arousing sexual desire. This idea is found in the RV 8.91,1, and is very prominent in the Avesta. In Yasna 9, haoma reports who pressed him first. Vlvahvant was the first and as an immediate result a son was born to him (9.4), named Yima; Athvya was second, and a son was born to him, Thraetaona (9.7). Thrita was next with the result of two sons (9.9). PouruSaspa was fourth and a son was born, Zarathustra (9.13). In Yasna 9.22, we learn about the effects .of ?aoma: ~t gives strength to the fighters, it then gives offspring to the women, and It gIves hoh- ness and wisdom to the scholars. In Yasna 11.3, we learn that those who keep haoma for themselves will be without offspring. At least today, the twigs of Ephedra are cooked and the juice consumed by couples in Afghanistan as an aphrodisiac (Falk 1989:87). 4. The effect of haoma is manifold. Prominent is the excitement, the feeling of victo- ry, the feeling of health, of prosperity, of growth, of strength and of knowledge 150 Harry Falk Orientalia Suecana U-LII (2002-2003) (Yasna 9.17). Haoma is called "master of knowledge" in Yasna 9.26, "speedy in Yasna 10.8. Even a poor man feels proud or elevated after its consumption (Yasna 10.13). . . The effects of Ephedra would go very well with this. Because of its energizing properties, it is taken in secret by the professionals in the Tour de France. For what reason the Tarim mummies had Ephedra with them will remain unknown. 5. The Avesta knows that there are several sorts of haoma; it praises all of them wherever they may grow (Yasna 10.12+ 17). It is difficult to say whether this text re- fers to different classes of plants or just to different members of the same family of plants. Ephedra would at least also permit the latter interpretation. 6. The Avesta tells us that there are some other sorts of drugs to be drurik~ but all others are connected with the nature of. A~sma, i.e. they produce aggressivity, whereas the true haoma is connected with" a~a, producing a happy mood" (Yasna 10.8). There is nothing unhappy or unpleasant in the consumation of Ephedra; the feel- ing of an elevated mind would in fact go along with the idea of afalrta. How one can conclude from these and other well-known arguments that any iden- tification of soma with Ephedra is "in hohem MaSe unwahrscheinlich (Oberlies 1998: 166, n. 95) or "least likely (Staal 2000:759) escapes me. The identification may be factually wrong or only partially correct, but the evidence makes it nonethe- less much more probable than any other one proposed so far. DRUGS AND THE STATE OF SOCIETY There seems to be an inner connection between the state of a society and' the drugs allowed, tolerated or despised. The connection looks linear: the more civilised a so- ciety is, the more it will restrict or ban the use of drugs. Wild drugs are for wild people, no drugs the ideal for the civilized. It may be rewarding to look at the soma question also from this angle . . <?~ th~ many candidates, the fly-agaric seems to belong to a rather low state of CIvIlIsatIOn. The uncouth Norsemen took it for their raiding sprees, the poorest vil- lagers took in in Afghanistan. It is a powerful hallucinogen. Whoever takes it does not care for other people's estimation . .Another widespread drug, opium, does not lead to visions. It simply calms the mmd and the body, leading to a happy sleep with colourful dreams. It was and is in use. among poet~ and other sensitive people in the Orient (Gelpke 1975). It was used by mtellectuals m Europe not long ago and it is still used for marriages in Rajastan. Because of its soporific potential, it was never earnestly considered for soma, yet it w~s used about the same time, at least in the Mediterranean world. One seal from Mmoan Crete shows a goddess holding three poppy seed-heads in her hand. A small c~ay statue from a cave at Gazi, dating to late Minoan times around 1350 B.C., de- PICts a godde.ss with both hands raised, wearing a diadem "embellished with three carefully depIcted poppy s d h d . f . - ee ea s, and they have been cut as if for the extractIOn o opmm" (Castleden 1990: 142). Why "as if'? Cutting the skin of the seed-con- Orientalia Suecana LI-LII (2002-2003) Decent Drugs/or Decent People 151 tainers can only serve one purpose, i.e. of helping the milk to ooze out. The Minoan cult~re's ~aking use of opium is of great importance for understanding the inter- relatIOnshIp between drug use and the character of a society. Since the Minoan cul- ture was highly organized and on a high level of civilisation, with a strong sense of aesthetics of art production, we can safely state that the use of opium in state cults does not undermine the nature of a "decent" culture. On the contrary, Castleden (1990:143) expected for Crete "that opium was used to heighten the states ofmedi- tation during long vigils and bouts of prayer, the curious seclusions which the an- cients called 'incubation'." Needless to insist: such effects would perfectly fit the requirements of Vedic poets. Hemp, another of the early-used 15 drugs, changes the perception of optical and acoustic sensations. The feeling for time is disturbed; the physical and psychical ef- fects vary from person to person, but one effect is inevitable: having taken a hemp product until it displays its full potential leads to a changed perception of ordinary, daily life: whoever is busy fulfilling his civil duties looks ridiculous and stubborn in the eyes of a stoned spectator. This experience is difficult to reverse: having once felt the senselessness of civil occupations, the addict will tend to drop out of the so- cial routine, regarding himself as superior in the possession of what appears to him as "wisdom". Thus, hemp is a potentially unsocial drug. Sadhus, standing outside the householder's world, smoke it intensively. Others partake of it occasionally. A Rajastani brahmin's reputation is untouched by his taking bhang on holidays (Car- stairs 1957). Also some of the otherwise reputable, Maithili brahmins revert to the use of bhang. Moser-Schmitt (1978) described the process: home-grown, hemp leaves are plucked and dried for some days. Then the leaves are ground in a stone mortar with a wooden pestle, adding water, black peppers, aniseed and cardamom (10/203). When the mixture has the desired consistency, balls are shaped from the dough. These balls are then placed on a strainer above a pot and sweetened water is poured on the balls. With their hands, the brahmins press the dough inside the filter- ing cloth, sieve it several times and pour it from one vessel to another. It would not be difficult to equate some of the steps of this process with the usual procedure for soma, and, in fact, some influence may be there, either way. The said brahmins hold that the consumption of bhang improves meditation, whereas Moser-Schmitt would not exclude a certain addiction (7/200). This shows that the use of hemp may lower the status of even a brahmin, but it does not put society at stake. . . Ephedra is good for sportsmen and thinkers and has a~so~utel~ n~ socIal SIde-ef- fect. If we would rate these drugs according to their SOCIal ImphcatIO?~, we would get the series Ephedra, opium, hemp and fly agaric, sliding from posItIve to nega- tive implications. It is hard to imagine that the drug value~ the ~owest was ever re- garded as befitting the most intimate contact with the gods III a ntual. 15The tenn (Skt sana Middle Persian san, Greek Mnnabis, Khotanese k(JIllha, etc.) itsel~ is l~ld.o-Euro- . .,., ., W' 1(1999'343 fn 26) considers the Indo-Iraman SIbIlants to pean, showmg a satam-centum dIVIde. Itze .,' d' (19(\(\'144) . . . nIy non-Indo-European wor s 'n.. • be the result of a particular local pronuncIatIOn concernmg 0 152 Harry Falk Orientalia Suecana LI-Lll (2002-2003 THE NATURE OF THE A VESTAN AND VEDIC-SOCIETIES Cultures are like people; they have characters which 'can be described. These cul- tural characters arise from the contacts of the individuals, but they are only partially comparable to the characters of the individuals. ,The Avesta makes it very easy to define the character in the time of the Yasts: sobriety rules the day, orderliness comes next with social responsibility and a high regard for pollution: arid purity. So- cial contracts are strictly defined, given to the g()d'Mitra for protection (Y 10,17ff.). The central point of the religion of the Yasts was :agriculture (Vid. 330-33); the man who did not plough the earth was bound to become poor (Vid. 3.28). It is significant what the texts say about another, neighbouring culture. They are abhorred because of their veneration of the godlings called daiva. They are famous for robbings and the theft of cows (Yasna 12.1:""2, Y 10.38+86; 1 L6); they also ab- duct women for their pleasure (Y 19.80); their adorers are only useful as guinea pigs for young physicians (Vid. 7.37). The daiva ador.ers have a ritual, performed at night (Y 5.94) which includes fumigation with juniper (hap()r()sl) and bloody kill- ings of cows (Y 14.54-56). The daiva adepts may be recruited from, the despised members of the communities. We are not told if these people use any sort of sacred beverage. In Vast 5.92-93, we are told that bodily deformation is another sign of inferiority which leads to expulsion from the sacred libations. The handicapped persons listed include the leper, the blind, the deaf, the dwarfs, the mentally disturbed and the hunchbacked. On the positive side, we can easily define Zoroastrianism by its own rules: act correctly in ways of thinking, speaking and doing (Yasna, Intro. 4); be friendly and generous to those who need valuables, a wife or spiritual instruction (Vid. 4.44); strive for purity and obey the gods, chiefly Ahura Mazda and Mithra. Zoroastrianism is so sober that only the "clean" Ephedra alkaloid' can serve as a suitable drug for rituals. It is possible that this community had different habits in the cent~ries or millennia before Zarathustra, including different approaches to drugs for ntuals, but this is something we will never know. For the time being, we can safely state that the use of Ephedra by the Zoroastrians today and the local names of Ephedra, such as hom and som from Baluchistan to Chitral, make a perfect match also for the early times. Let us have a look at the Indian side. The character of Vedic society, as apparent from the Vedic texts, is remarkably different from the Iran counterpart. Soberness and responsibility in Iran as the major traits in social interaction are replaced by psychology in India. The noble gods of the RV like Mitra and Varuna gradually lose their importance. In Brahmal)a times, the priests deal and barter ~ith the gods, t!ley are busy constructing the van)a society; for their own advantage, they forge the tIes between their own class and the rulers. , T~l~ RV and, th~ Brahmal)as contain lots of details about the gods but say very little ,thout SOCial tnteraction (cf. Kamik 1958/59). The Grhya- and Dharmasiitras, ?lll the ?ther hand, give copious rules on how someone sh~uld behave who has fin- ts led IllS Veda studies and as - k . b f I 1 . a snata a IS about to become an ordinary mem er 0 t le ande~ society. Moral rules, like speaking the truth or abstention from killing IlUman bemgs or adulte . . '-' ry, are not gIven promInence in this connection. Instead, we OrientaIia Suecana LI-LII (2002-2003) Decent Drugs/or Decent People 153 ~ind rule~ wh~ch are .aimed at shaping a personality profile, particularly by prevent- mg any sItuatIOn whIch could make our snataka an object of ridicule. For_example, he should not climb a tree (A.sGS 3.8,32; SGS 4.12,27), not climb into (AsGS 3.8,33) or look down a well (SGS 4.12,28) and not swim across a river (A.sGS 3.8,3~). Decency forbids him to bathe or sleep naked (A.sGS 3.8,28-29) or walk naked (SGS 4.12,1,3). He should never run (A.sGS 3.8,31, SGS 4.12,16) and he should n~t walk alone (SGS 4.12,12). He should not spit (SGS 4.12,17) nor scratch himself (SGS 4.12,18). There are many more rules (cf. Vi~I)u 60 for a late but extensive list), but these few examples show how important it was to be positively evaluated by those who might be watching him. If ridicule is avoided by following these rules, how much more important must it have been not to be caught in any state of intoxication. The relatively young Vi~l)usmrti tells us that, after encountering some matta or, worse, unmatta on one's way, one has to turn back home (63,33). The same holds true on meeting someone with a limb missing (vyanga, 63,33) or a dwarf (63,34). All sorts of speech spoken while in a state of intoxication are regarded as the speech of the raksas, the forces of darkness, according to AB 2.7,8 (yaf!l vai d,pto vadati yam unmatta/;, sa vai riiksasi van). If a negative appearance is so carefully avoided within the code of Vedic behav- iour, then drugs which produce a state of intoxication will certainly not make an ex- ception. Ancient India and Iran were different in many ways. Their theological systems show great discrepancies, as well as common traits. Both cultures know sets of mostly different gods; however, above these gods rules one supreme figure (lnsler 1993:596a), Varul)a or Ahura Mazda, who is ethics incarnate; together with a sec- ond god, Mitra or Mithra, he promotes the social reliability of all prominent parts of the communities. For these reasons, it seems completely impossible to expect a drug, in use for the most solemn contacts with noble gods, which leads to any sort of uncontrollable be- haviour. 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Bronkhorst & M.M. Deshpande (eds.), Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia: Eviden~e, Interpret.a- tion and Ideology, Proceedings of the International Seminar on Aryan and Non-Aryan 11l ~outh ASia. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 25-27 October 1996 (HOS Opera minora, 3). Cambndge: 337- 404. ORIENTALIA SUECANA An International Journal of Indological, Iranian, Semitic and Turkic Studies VOL. LI-LII (2002-2003) .,' Editorial board for this volume: EVAA. CSATO CARINA JAHANI ANJUSAXENA CHRISTIANE SCHAEFER Department of Asian and African Languages UPPSALA UNIVERSITY UPPSALA, SWEDEN