Tag Archives: somras

सोम रस ओर शराब

कई पश्चमी विद्वानों की तरह भारतीय विद्वानों की ये आम धारणा है ,कि सोम रस एक तरह का नशीला पदार्थ होता है । ऐसी ही धारणा डॉ.अम्बेडकर की भी थी ,,डॉ.अम्बेडकर अपनी पुस्तक रेवोलुशन एंड काउंटर  रेवोलुशन इन असिएन्त इंडिया मे निम्न कथन लिखते है:-ambedkar

यहाँ अम्बेडकर जी सोम को वाइन कहते है ।लेकिन शायद वह वेदों मे सोम का अर्थ समझ नही पाए,या फिर पौराणिक इन्द्र ओर सोम की कहानियो के चक्कर मे सोम को शराब समझ बेठे ।

सोम का वैदिक वांग्मय मे काफी विशाल अर्थ है ,सोम को शराब समझने वालो को शतपत के निम्न कथन पर द्रष्टि डालनी चाहिए जो की शराब ओर सोम पर अंतर को स्पष्ट करता है :-

शतपत (5:12 ) मे आया है :-सोम अमृत है ओर सूरा (शराब) विष है ..

ऋग्वेद मे आया है :-” हृत्सु पीतासो मुध्यन्ते दुर्मदासो न सुरायाम् ।।

अर्थात सुरापान करने या नशीला पदार्थ पीने वाला अक्सर उत्पाद मचाते है ,जबकि सोम के लिए ऐसा नही कहा है ।

वास्तव मे सोम ओर शराब मे उतना ही अंतर है जितना की डालडा या गाय के घी मे होता है ,,निरुक्त शास्त्र मे आया है ”  औषधि: सोम सुनोते: पदेनमभिशुण्वन्ति(निरूकित११-२-२)” अर्थात सोम एक औषधि है ,जिसको कूट पीस कर इसका रस निकलते है । लेकिन फिर भी सोम को केवल औषधि या कोई लता विशेष समझना इसके अर्थ को पंगु बना देता है ।

सोम का अर्थ बहुत व्यापक है जिसमे से कुछ यहाँ बताने का प्रयास किया है :-

कौषितिकी ब्राह्मणों उपनिषद् मे सोम रस का अर्थ चंद्रमा का रस अर्थात चंद्रमा से आने वाला शीतल प्रकाश जिसे पाकर औषधीया पुष्ट होती है किया है ।

शतपत मे ऐश्वर्य को सोम कहा है -“श्री वै सोम “(श॰4/1/39) अर्थात ऐश्वर्य सोम है ।

शतपत मे ही अन्न को भी सोम कहा है -” अन्नं वै सोमः “(श ॰ 2/9/18) अर्थात इस अन्न के पाचन से जो शक्ति उत्पन्न होती है वो सोम है । कोषितिकी मे भी यही कहा है :-“अन्न सोमः”(कौषितिकी9/6)

ब्रह्मचर्य पालन द्वारा वीर्य रक्षा से उत्पन्न तेज को सोम कहा है .शतपत मे आया है :-“रेतो वै सोमः”(श ॰ 1/9/2/6)अर्थात ब्रहमचर्य से उत्पन्न तेज (रेत) सोम है .कौषितिकी मे भी यही लिखा है :-“रेतः सोम “(कौ॰13/7)

वेदों के शब्दकोष निघुंट मे सोम के अंनेक पर्यायवाची मे एक वाक् है ,वाक् श्रृष्टि रचना के लिए ईश्वर द्वारा किया गया नाद या ब्रह्मनाद था ..अर्थात सोम रस का अर्थ प्रणव या उद्गीत की उपासना करना हुआ । वेदों ओर वैदिक शास्त्रों मे सोम को ईश्वरीय उपासना के रूप मे बताया है ,जिनमे कुछ कथन यहाँ उद्रत किये है :-

तैतरिय उपनिषद् मे ईश्वरीय उपासना को सोम बताया है ,ऋग्वेद (10/85/3) मे आया है :-”  सोमं मन्यते पपिवान्सत्सम्पिषन्त्योषधिम्|
सोमं यं ब्राह्मणो विदुर्न तस्याश्राति कश्चन||” अर्थात पान करने वाला सोम उसी को मानता है ,जो औषधि को पीसते ओर कूटते है ,उसका रस पान करते है ,परन्तु जिस सोम को ब्रह्म ,वेद को जानने वाले ,व ब्रह्मचारी लोग जानते है ,उसको मुख द्वारा कोई खा नही सकता है ,उस अध्यात्मय सोम को तेज ,दीर्घ आयु ,ओर आन्नद को वे स्वयं ही आनन्द ,पुत्र,अमृत रूप मे प्राप्त करते है ।

ऋग्वेद (8/48/3)मे आया है :-”   अपाम सोमममृता अभूमागन्मु ज्योतिरविदाम् देवान्|
कि नूनमस्कान्कृणवदराति: किमु धृर्तिरमृत मर्त्यस्य।।” अर्थात हमने सोमपान कर लिया है ,हम अमृत हो गये है ,हमने दिव्य ज्योति को पा लिया है ,अब कोई शत्रु हमारा क्या करेगा ।

ऋग्वेद(8/92/6) मे आया है :-”  अस्य पीत्वा मदानां देवो देवस्यौजसा विश्वाभि भुवना भुवति” अर्थात परमात्मा के संबध मे सोम का पान कर के साधक की आत्मा ओज पराक्रम युक्त हो जाती है ,वह सांसारिक द्वंदों से ऊपर उठ जाता है ।

गौपथ मे सोम को वेद ज्ञान बताया है :-  गोपथ*(पू.२/९) वेदानां दुह्म भृग्वंगिरस:सोमपान मन्यन्ते| सोमात्मकोयं वेद:|तद्प्येतद् ऋचोकं सोम मन्यते पपिवान इति|
वेदो से प्राप्त करने योग्य ज्ञान को विद्वान भृगु या तपस्वी वेदवाणी के धारक ज्ञानी अंगिरस जन सोमपान करना जानते है|
वेद ही सोम रूप है|

सोम का एक विस्तृत अर्थ ऋग्वेद के निम्न मन्त्र मे आता है :-”   अयं स यो वरिमाणं पृथिव्या वर्ष्माणं दिवो अकृणोदयं स:|
अयं पीयूषं तिसृपु प्रवत्सु सोमो दाधारोर्वन्तरिक्षम”(ऋग्वेद 6/47/4) अर्थात व्यापक सोम का वर्णन ,वह सोम सबका उत्पादक,सबका प्रेरक पदार्थ व् बल है ,जो पृथ्वी को श्रेष्ट बनाता है ,जो सूर्य आकाश एवम् समस्त लोको को नियंत्रण मे करने वाला है ,ये विशाल अन्तरिक्ष मे जल एवम् वायु तत्व को धारण किये है ।

अतः उपरोक्त कथनों से स्पष्ट है की सोम का व्यापक अर्थ है उसे केवल शराब या लता बताना सोम के अर्थ को पंगु करना है ।चुकि डॉ अम्बेडकर अंगेरजी भाष्य कारो के आधार पर अपना कथन उदृत करते है ,तो ऐसी गलती होना स्वाभिक है जैसे कि वह कहते है “यदि यह कहा जाये कि मै संस्कृत का पंडित नही हु ,तो मै मानने को तैयार हु।परन्तु संस्कृत का पंडित नही होने से मै इस विषय मे लिख क्यूँ नही सकता हु ? संस्कृत का बहुत थोडा अंश जो अंग्रेजी भाषा मे उपलब्ध नही है ,इसलिए संस्कृत न जानना मुझे इस विषय पर लिखने से अनधिकारी नही ठहरया जा सकता है ,अंग्रेजी अनुवादों के १५ साल अध्ययन करने के बाद मुझे ये अधिकार प्राप्त है ,(शुद्रो की खोज प्राक्कथ पृ॰ २)

मह्रिषी मनु बनाम अम्बेडकर के पेज न 198 व् 202 पर सुरेन्द्र कुमार जी अम्बेडकर का निम्न कथन उदृत करते है -“हिन्दू धर्म शास्त्र का मै अधिकारी ज्ञाता नही हू …

अतः स्पष्ट है की अंग्रेजी टीकाओ के चलते अम्बेडकर जी ने ऐसा लिखा हो लेकिन वो आर्य समाज से भी प्रभावित थे जिसके फल स्वरूप वो कई वर्षो तक नमस्ते शब्द का भी प्रयोग करते रहे थे ,,लेकिन फिर भी अंग्रेजी भाष्य से पुस्तके लिखना चिंता का विषय है की उन्होंने ऐसा क्यूँ किया ।

लेकिन अम्बेडकर जी के अलावा अन्य भारतीय विद्वानों ओर वैदिक विद्वानों द्वारा सोम को लता या नशीला पैय बताना इस बात का बोधक है कि अंग्रेजो की मानसिक गुलामी अभी भी हावी है जो हमे उस बारे मे विस्तृत अनुसंधान नही करने देती है ।

संधर्भित पुस्तके एवम ग्रन्थ :-(१) ऋग्वेद -पंडित जयदेव शर्मा भाष्य

(२) बोलो किधर जाओगे -आचार्य अग्निव्रत नैष्टिक

(३) शतपत ओर कौषितिकी

(४)revoulation and counterrevoulation in acient india by dr.ambedkar

   http://nastikwadkhandan.blogspot.in/

Alcohol Fest or New Year’s Celebration

alkohol

Alcohol Fest or New Year’s Celebration

        Paropkari Feb- 1, 2014

Author : Dr Dharmveer

An interesting piece of news on doordarshan piqued my interest. It said that this New Year’s  eve the alcohol consumption in the cities of Delhi and Mumbai was worth Rs. 270 crores. Based on this it is safe to assume that on one single night of 31st December thousands of crores of Rupees were spent entirely on consumption of alcohol. Who says that India is a poor country? According to the estimates of various newspapers the approximate expenditure on alcohol is bound to increase from 50700 crore Rupees in 2011 to 1140 thousand crore Rupees. This means that the sale of alcohol is increasing at the rate of 30 %

There are three kinds of alcohol sold in India: the locally produced, the foreign brands producing liquor in India and lastly the imported ones. The average consumption of these varieties is 48%, 49% and 3% respectively. Out of the total amount of alcohol consumed in India, the four southern states account for 49 %, Northern India contributes to about 12%, Western India about 30% and Eastern India consumes about 9%

When India achieved Independence, we envisioned to have a liquor free nation. Once  MahadeviVarma had commented that there could notbe a greater irony than the fact that the Alcohol Prohibition Department of the Government of India being run by the money obtained from the sale of Alcohol in India. Mahatma Gandhi was trying to reduce alcohol consumption, while his own Government is making a mockery of the same by encouraging the alcohol consumption in the country. The most favored argument given by those who drink is, India always had a tradition of consuming liquorand it was called the

SOMRAS. Even Rishis used to drink it and it  was even offered in the HAVAN. Drinking and offering of Somras has been a tradition in India since times immemorial. Though this argument has been refuted time and again, it suffices to say that SOMRAS was used to improve/enhance the power of mind whereas alcohol causes a complete loss of senses. Hence, it is foolish to compare Somras with alcohol. In Indian/vedic culture, the consumption of alcohol has been considered a sin and a crime. Therefore equating somras as alcohol is a flawed argument.

When we talk about culture, it means collection of thoughts and behaviors of our previous generations which benefitted individuals and society as a whole. Today drinking alcohol has become a status symbol. Liquor is a lucrative industry. Whena businessman tries to expand his business; advertisement is the easiest way to do that. Though alcohol advertisements are banned in India they keep appearing through proxies. The parties in the glamour world and cinema are advertisements of liquor. Today, the liquor companies are specifically targeting the youth. An individual who does not consume alcohol starts doing so in college hostels and universities. He is taught that drinking alcohol is a symbol of progress and modernism and those who do not drink are considered regressive and backward.Alcohol  consumption is not only restricted toboys but is also widespread among girls in big cities and metros. The adverse effects of these trends are slowly becoming visible in our society. Those who oppose the ban on drinking often argue that drinking alcohol is a matter of personal choice/freedom, and its prohibition as a violation of their personal right or freedom. What they fail to understand is that there is a defining limit to personal freedom. If personal freedom is detrimental to oneself then this personal freedom cannot be acceptable to the society as a whole. By drinking alcohol, not only does one destroy their own health, wealth, potential and strength but also harm their family and society. The people who consume alcohol mainly fall in one of these

categories

  1. The capitalists wh0 encourage consumption of alcohol in society, they loot the government and public and gain enormous amount of wealth and power. They unscrupulously throw grand parties with a free flow of liquor.
  2. The second category is that of politicians. They also gain wealth from corrupt government and businessmen. They suffer no loss by either throwing liquor parties or consuming liquor themselves.
  3. The third category is that of civil servants from a senior bureaucrat like a chief secretary to a low level clerk. The corrupt officers take bribes and spend the money on alcohol and other vices.
  4. The third category is that of civil servants from a senior bureaucrat like a chief secretary to a low level clerk. The corrupt officers take bribes and spend the money on alcohol and other vices.
  5. Then there are others too who deprive their children of proper food and education to drink alcohol. These people do not contribute to the family income, take away whatever their wife earns, and deprive their children of food, clothes, education, medicine and other necessities.These children are then forced to work as labors or get involved in crimes at a tender age. Some small farmers are known to have sold off their lands because of their addiction to alcohol.
  6. Seen in any light (From any perspective?), alcohol is a wasteful expenditure and is the root cause of poverty, weakness and immoral behavior.

Alcohol is found to be the main cause for most crimes against women. A person thinks of crime when he is drunk and commits crime under the influence of alcohol. According to Government statistics, everyday almost 10, 00,000 women suffer at the hands of men in one way or the other. Most of the crimes are never reported. If the crimes are committed by the father, brother or uncle a woman often has no one to go to. Those who misbehave with women often try to persuade the women to drink.

In the light of all this, even the argument justifying the drinking of alcohol as an expression of one’s enthusiasm, success and joy and matter of personal choice sounds ludicrous and calling it a personal right is is an absolutely far-fetched thought.

Our Government considers the revenue from the sale of alcohol very important. Amongst the larger states of India, Gujarat is the only state that has a complete ban on alcohol. It is argued, that the ban encourages an illegal consumption, bribery and smuggling. This is a totally misconstrued argument. If this argument justifies an open sale of alcohol, then gambling and prostitution should also be legalized under the same pretext as they would bring even more revenue to the Government. The people who say that prohibition encourages theft should understand that there is no law in the world that has not been broken. But we don’t stop main laws for the fear that they might be broken. Instead we create strict counter measures as deterrents against those who break it. Imposing a ban helps most an ordinary citizen who can escape peer pressure or who attempts to drink to be socially acceptable. He also does not dare to break the law. Therefore it is incorrect to say that Gujarat should remove the ban of consumption of alcohol. States like Haryana and Andhra Pradesh introduced the ban on alcohol and later removed it.But Mizoram and Nagaland still have the ban in place. Therefore stating revenue or tribals as an excuse to encourage alcohol consumption is ignoring the welfare of the country and its citizens.

We are a very hypocritical society. We don’t want to ban alcohol but we want to stop all crimes that happen under its influence. We want to legalize gambling but don’t want the poor to become poorer due to that. In the name of rights we want full fledged personal freedom but want to stop atrocities and crimes against women. The fundamental reason for this mentality is the economic benefit that arises

from it. There is no immediately visible benefit either for the practitioner or the preacher  of good habits and moral values. If we start advertising against smoking, drinking alcohol: who will get revenue from such advertisements. There might be expenditure of course, but certainly no economic benefits.

In contrast advertisement for cigarettes, wine and beer promotes sales. The amount received by sales is many times more than that invested in its advertisement.

It is ironical that we want our children to stay away from these addictions but don’t mind the benefit that comes to us by promoting their sales. It is not just advertisements, these businesses do not shy away from using other deceptive and psychological means to influence the youth. Small or big all those involved in the business of cigarettes and alcohol addiction have no scruples in adopting force and illegal means to protect their interests. From the village vendor to the bigger liquor barons, all make use of force and pressure tactics to achieve their end. It is difficult to put a stop to these ills. However protecting the public, its health, its wealth and its culture, is the duty of the well-wishers of this society and nation. Under no circumstance should we give up protesting against the wrong. The result of goodness and righteousness is permanent and long term. It affects the soul.