Soma tradition

[Kalyans at aol.com]

Thesis refrain: soma is electrum; vedic references are allegorical.

It has been argued elsewhere that somnakay (Gypsy) == soma == sona are valid
etyma links. SuvarNa is an example of hyper-Sanskritism.

In the context of the vedic tradition, it is interesting to note the
following extract from  Wilson's glossary (1855): 

sonAr (Hindi, Marathi), soNI (Gujarati) a goldsmith: applied also as a name
of the caste which is said to have sprung from a brahman father and a SUdra
mother, being in that case te pArAsava of Manu: among the maraThas there are
various subdivisions of the sonAr caste, some of whom disclaim this origin,
and pretend to be upa-brahmans, minor brahmans: they wear the brahmanical
cord, and claim a right to have the vedas performed in their families by
their own priests: they are known as kanAri, panchAla, and kokanasth
sonArs...

In the Tamil traditon, AcAri (fr. AcArya) is a goldsmith; vEdi- is a sememe
for alchemy. [cf. connotation of soma as rasa and rasa-vAda = alchemy
(Sanskrit)]. 

Perhaps, the use of the term rasa led to the later-day interpretations of
soma as a drink.

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