22 Rajendralala Mitra— Spirituous Drinks in Ancient Indict. [No. 1, 
jar for nine days. # The juice of the creeper is said to be of an acid taste, 
but I have not heard that it lias any narcotic property ; I am disposed to think, 
therefore, that the starch of the two kinds of meal supplied the material for 
the vinous fermentation, or, in other words, played the part of malt, and the 
soma juice served to promote vinous fermentation, flavour the beverage, 
and check acetous decomposition, in the same way that hop does in 
beer. Anyhow, it may be concluded that a beverage prepared by the 
vinous fermentation of barley meal, should have strong intoxicating effects, 
and it is not remarkable, therefore, that the Vedas should frequently refer to 
the exhilaration produced by its use in men and gods. The addresses to 
Indra, Agni, Mitra, and other gods in the Rig Veda are full of allusions to ex¬ 
hilaration caused by the use of the soma. “ The sacred prayer, desiring your 
presence, offers to you both, IjXDRA and Agnt, for your exhilaration, the Soma 
libation. Reholders of all things, seated at this sacrifice upon the sacred grass, 
be exhilarated by drinking of the effused libation.” (I. 7. xxvii. 4, 5.) Other 
quotations on this subject may be easily multiplied, but they are not needed. 
Suffice it to say that the object of drinking the soma is expressly stated to be in¬ 
toxication: macldya arvenehi somakdmam tvdlie ray am sutastasyapud madaya ; 
and Indra drinks it in such large quantities, that his belly becomes enormously 
distended. TJruvya cliajathara dvrishasva. As regards men, its effects are 
described as equally exhilarating and inebriating. A story occurs in the 
Black Yajur Veda in which a sage, Vis'varupa by name, son of Tvaslitu, 
while engaged at a soma sacrifice, is said to have indulged so inordinately in 
the exhilarating beverage as to have vomited on the animals brought before 
him for immolation. For this, however, no proof is wanted, for the effect of 
soma on the gods could have been only assumed by a knowledge of what it 
was on the worshippers. 
The soma beer lasted for several days after its nine days’ fermentation. 
In some of the rites it certainly lasted for twelve days, but how much longer 
I cannot ascertain. It is certain, however, that it could not be kept sound for 
any great length of time, without distillation, and in a distilled spirit the soma 
would be of no use. Accordingly, we find that no soma juice was used when 
arrack was distilled from fermented meal. The liquor, thus prepared, was, 
as already stated above, called sura, and it was used as an article of offering 
to the gods in two important rites, namely, the Sautrdmani and the Yajapeya. 
The mode of preparing it is described in the canons of Baudhayana and 
Katyayana. They recommend three articles, viz., sprouting paddy, the 
sprout brought on by steeping paddy in water very much in the same 
# Stevenson’s Sama Veda, p. 5. and Hang’s Aitareya Brahmana, I. p. 6. Man¬ 
ning’s Ancient India, I., p. 86. For the mantras used in the course of preparing 
the soma beverage vide, Taittiriya Sahhita, Kanda I. Prapathakas II. III. IV., and 
Kan<Ja VI. Pt. I. to IV. The Kalpa Sutras and the Soma prayogas supply the details. 
