Direction to buy Soma

[Madhav Deshpande]

Dear Frits,

    Just to let you know that I received the off-prints you mailed.  I am
looking forward to reading them.  Best,

                                            Madhav

--On Tuesday, December 18, 2001 2:20 PM -0800 Frits Staal
<jfstaal at SOCRATES.BERKELEY.EDU> wrote:

> Hi Madhav,
>
> I believe that the answer to your pre-final question is, Yes. As for the
> final, I have thoughts ("thoughts" is just the word) on this and it is
> part of the topic about which I hope to talk at the Leiden Vedic workshop
> in May-June but if you send me an address where around Xmas/New Year
> things might reach you with the least delay, I'll send you something.
>
> best
>
> Frits
>
> At 04:42 PM 12/18/01 +0000, you wrote:
>> The Aitareya-Braahma.na (3rd Adhyaaya, I think) begins with a statement:
> praacyaam ha vai dizi
>> devaa.h somam akrii.nan, tasmaat praacyaam dizi kriiyate.  The gods
>> bought
> Soma in the eastern
>> direction, and hence Soma is to be bought in the eastern direction.  This
> is understood in the
>> commentaries as referring to the eastern side of the sacrificial
> enclosure.  That is fine in the context of ritual
>> performance.  However, does this statement have any relevance for the
> history of IA migrations?  If
>> Soma is originally to be found on the Muujavat mountain (somewhere in
> Afghanistan? Hindukush?),
>> does this AB statement indicate a location of the gods to the west of
> Muujavat, so that this mountain
>> would be to their east?  Any thoughts?
>>
>>                                                              Madhav
> Deshpande
>>
> Frits Staal
>
> http://philosophy.berkeley.edu/staal