In search of Soma, the ambrosia of the divine

“We just drank the Soma, we have become immortal, we have come to the light, we have found the gods. What can enmity do to us now, and what the mischief of a mortal, o immortal one?” As the Rigveda narrates—brought to life by my go-to mythologist Vedant Pophale —it was Indra, who first developed the taste for a mysterious drink called Soma. During the period around Mahabharata, many other gods and goddesses had also developed a fondness for this drink, Soma Amrita, an ambrosia of the divine. With all the diverse options, many concede that quite possibly there is no one true Soma, but different plants which were used during different ceremonies or from different geographies. Most likely, it was the equivalent of a pre-historic energy drink whose properties and associations with the divine elevated the drink Soma to loftier status.