Solar Line
In Hindu mythology, one of the two
great lineages, the other being the Lunar
Line. The Solar Line traces its descent
from Ikshvaku, the grandson of the Sun
himself. Its descendants include many
of the principal characters in the
Ramayana, the earlier of the two great
Indian epics. One of these descendants
is Ramahimself. In many of the small
former princely states in Rajasthan, the
rulers claimed descent from the Solar
Line as a way to establish and support
their royal authority. Although they no
longer wield ruling power, many of these
royal houses still exist, and thus this lin-
eage is believed to be still extant.
Soma
Soma is one of the most enigmatic
deitiesin the Hindu tradition. The 120
hymns to soma in the Rg Veda, the old-
est Hindu sacred text, variously describe
soma as a plant, as the juice pressed
from that plant, and as the deified form
of both juice and plant. The Vedic
hymns give detailed descriptions of how
the sacrificial priests pressed it, strained
and filtered it, and finally consumed it,
which then brought visions upon them.
These hymns portray soma as some sort
of mind-altering substance, although
there is no general agreement on what
the soma plant might be. Its identity has
been lost since late Vedic times, and
since then various substitutes have been
used in rituals.
Although the hymns describe soma
as hallucinogenic, one need not take
this literally. One can explain such
visions in purely psychological terms, as
induced or fostered by the priests’
heightened expectations in the sacrifi-
cial arena. If one assumes that soma was
actually mind-altering, it could not have
been an alcoholic beverage—since it
was prepared and consumed on the
same day, this would have given no time
for fermentation. One theory is that
soma was hashish (charas), which is still
consumed in certain ritual contexts. The
most intriguing theory was
proposed by R. G. Wasson, who
contended that soma was Amonita mus-
caria, a mind-altering mushroom that
has a long history of use in Asian
shamanic traditions. Although Wasson’s
theory would explain soma’s ability to
take immediate effect, many Indologists
have taken issue with this claim. See
Robert Gordon Wasson, Soma, 1971; for
contrary remarks, see J. Brough, “Soma
and Amonita Muscaria,” in The Bulletin
of the School of Oriental and African
Studies,Vol. 34, 1971.Somavati Amavasya
Religious observance celebrated when a
new moon (amavasya) falls on a
Monday, which can thus occur in any
month in the year. On the new moon
day the sunand moon travel together
during the daylight sky, and when this
happens on the Monday, whose presid-
ing planetis the moon, this confluence
is deemed particularly favorable.
Another auspicious connection arises
because Monday’s presiding deity, the
god Shiva, also has mythic connections
with the moon. A Somavati Amavasya is
thus judged a particularly beneficial
time to worship Shiva, as well as to
bathe (snana) in a sacred river such as
the Ganges, or to perform any other reli-
gious act.Someshvara I
(r. 1042–1068) Monarch in the Chalukya
dynasty. Aside from his long reign, he is
most noted for performing religious sui-
cideby intentionally drowning himself
in the Tungabhadra Riverwhen his
mental faculties began to wane.
Although in general suicide was strongly
condemned, suicide by a person suffer-
ing from a terminal disease or enduring
chronic pain was a well-attested excep-
tion to this rule. This sort of suicide was
performed according to a well-defined
ritual, which was intended to put the
performer in the proper frame of mind.
In about the twelfth century this was
declared one of the rites “forbidden inSomeshvara 1