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Evolution of ephedra as the Soma of Rigveda

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In Rigveda Soma is an evergreen plant, with thousand stalks yellow hued bestowing auspicious energy. Resembling yellow fibres of hemp ephedra was rained in Chlnoso Ho-Ma, Yellow-hemp. It was Sanskritized as Soma. Being an energizer-cum-euphoriant its juice was consumed thrice daily. Finally it became a drug of longevity, rejuvenation and resurrection even god Soma. As drug it was substituted by Rasayana promisiig rejuvenation but also salvation. Soma with Water and Fire constitutes the proto-cosmology of Rigveda.
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The Soma plant conceived to be the most sacred in Rigveda. Its juice (Soma Rasa) was offered to deities and regarded as a sacrificial drink. Its identity has remained a subject of great curiosity, investigations and debates. Its all-pervasive examination is still awaited as the earlier investigators always thought it in isolation and attempted to equate to some plant species in their neighbourhood. The present communication is an endeavour to collate all evidences and thoughts to arrive at home in the state of present circumstances. A literary survey was conducted of the ancient Indian Sanskrit scripts and the modern researches on Soma plant till date. The opinions and understanding of various exponents on the subject matter are introspected to arrive at the present state of knowledge. The various plant species claimed or suspected as ‘Soma Plant’ are enumerated in the Tables I, II and III. Total 26 plant species have been claimed clearly representing Soma plant, including a fungal and a gymnospermic species. Total 14 species are brought to light as substitutes for proper Soma plant. Common or Sanskrit names have been coined after the epithet ‘Soma’ for another 13 species. Soma plant has been a subject of many discussions and object of investigations since the Vedic period. Various authors although endeavoured to decipher its identity based on observations and their wisdom, no one could arrive at satisfactory explanation of Soma plant. However, they emerged triumphant in searching out psychoactive plant species and even their active principles. Vedic Soma plant still remains a botanical enigma.
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In the dry northern temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, the genus Ephedra comprises a series of native shrub species with a cumulative application history reaching back well over 2,000 years for the treatment of asthma, cold, fever, as well as many respiratory system diseases, especially in China. There are ethnological and philological evidences of Ephedra worship and utilization in many Eurasia Steppe cultures. However, no scientifically verifiable, ancient physical proof has yet been provided for any species in this genus. This study reports the palaeobotanical finding of Ephedra twigs discovered from burials of the Gumugou archaeological site, and ancient community graveyard, dated around 3800 BP, in Lop Nor region of northwestern China. The macro-remains were first examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and then by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for traits of residual biomarkers under the reference of modern Ephedra samples. The GC-MS result of chemical analysis presents the existence of Ephedra-featured compounds, several of which, including benzaldehyde, tetramethyl-pyrazine, and phenmetrazine, are found in the chromatograph of both the ancient and modern sample. These results confirm that the discovered plant remains are Ephedra twigs. Although there is no direct archaeological evidence for the indication of medicinal use of this Ephedra, the unified burial deposit in which the Ephedra was discovered is a strong indication of the religious and medicinal awareness of the human inhabitants of Gumugou towards this plant. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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