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"The Gandharva continued, 'Then Vasishtha said, 'There was a celebrated king of the name of Kritavirya. That bull among the kings of the earth was the disciple of the Veda-knowing Bhrigus. That king, O child, after performing the Soma sacrifice, gratified the Brahmanas with great presents of rice and wealth.
The most imposing sacrifice is that of the horse, and an offering of constant occurrence is that of the intoxicating liquor, in India Soma, in Persia by a recognised transliteration Homa, which is itself viewed as a cosmic principle of life, and addressed as a deity.
Living in the sea and travelling about various countries, he produced the various fires mentioned in the Vedas. The fire called Adbhuta had a wife of the name of Priya, and Vibhu was the eldest of his sons by her. There are as many different kinds of Soma sacrifices as the number of fires mentioned before.
Do you know what Soma told the Professor about the bad men falling into this infernal pit?" I nodded my head. I was unable to speak at that moment. "Well, the Wizards of the Centipede fixed that! Don't you see? This was their seat! They leaned out of this place as I leaned out just now, and they gripped the ankles of any poor devil they had a grouch against. It was devilish "
But do not get frightened about our little girl I myself shall cross the seven seas and fetch Soma, the washerwoman." Then the youngest of the seven sons said to his father, "Daddy, Daddy, you must not say that you have no sons when here we are, all seven of us. I shall take my sister Gunvanti with me, and we shall go and fetch Soma, the washerwoman."
The portion of the rite which implied that the gods themselves indulged in intoxication was omitted; and for the intoxication of the priests was substituted a moderate use of the liquor, which, instead of giving a religious sanction to drunkenness, merely implied that the Soma juice was a good gift of God, one of the many blessings for which men had to be thankful.
Having his limbs for their refuge, this entire universe of mobile and immobile creatures that were present there, O king, looked beautiful, presenting a highly wonderful appearance. Beholding that car, duly equipped, he cased himself in mail and armed himself with the bow, and took up that celestial shaft born of Soma and Vishnu and Agni.
Leith broke the silence that followed. "What was that?" he asked. "A bat," answered Soma. "I don't think so," droned Leith. "Lift up the light." Soma raised the lantern high above his head, and as he did so Holman fired. The echoes were terrific. High in the vaulted roof of the place echoes answered each other with the sharp reports of Maxims, and the thick air shivered.
In Soma, the sacred plant whose juice was offered in the most solemn sacrifices, we again find the combination of natural phenomena and divinity with hardly any personification. Soma is not a sacred tree inhabited by some spirit of the woods but the Lord of immortality who can place his worshippers in the land of eternal life and light.
Soma and his five mates are Leith's pets, you can bet your life on that, but we have one ally in your friend Kaipi." The path of the preceding day was smooth compared to the ground we climbed over that morning. There was no trail as far as we could see. Soma, who was in the lead, found his way by occasional marks that could only be visible to the eye of a native.
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