III. The Rik Samhita and Somayug

The Rig Veda says, 'Dhira Manasa vachamakrata', meaning the origin of the Realized Expression (Vacham) is 'Dhi' or contemplative Wisdom and the carrier of such expression is the Enlightened Mind. To get even a glimpse of such sublime state is hard for today's materialistic mind. Suffice it to say that when the Flame of Aspiration moves higher and higher and goes beyond the darkness and disturbances of the lower consciousness, then and only then, the transformed mind united with heart can reproduce some celestial beauties as the Rik Mantras on the terrestrial soil.

The Samhitas or the clusters of Mantras are the main structure of the Vedas. Strangely enough during the early Vedic period the term 'Veda' to denote the vast literary legacy was never used. The most widely accepted term was 'Shrutam' and/or 'Chhandas'. As a matter of fact the term Veda' has been found only once the Rig Veda.
However, it was but natural that the Vedas were studied, taught and its ways applied in life differently by different clans of Rishis during the time when the whole Indo-Gangetic peninsula was nurtured by the sap of Vedic culture. As a result, each of the Four Vedas developed many branches like those of a huge banyan tree and just like them not only received their life giving sap from the same roots but all were invariably connected to the same trunk. Moreover, we have to keep in mind that the branches of each Veda represented the idea and the fluency of that particular Veda in full. There were no differences between the branches from any literary or philosophical standpoint. The differences were mainly regarding the arrangements of Books and rhythmic patterns. In course of thousands of years, most of the branches have been obliterated. The only available ones are as follows:

Three in RigVeda
Three in SamVeda
Four in Krishna YajurVeda
Two in the Sukla YajurVeda and
Two in the AtharvaVeda

The language of the Rik Samhita proves that this is by far the oldest of all Samhitas. The whole of Rik Samhita is a collection of Suktas or Hymns which are made up of Riks or smaller verses.

In the most widely accepted version of the Rik Samhita, namely the Shakala Samhita, there are 10,552 Riks forming 1,028 Suktas. The Shakala Samhita is divided into very well defined ten Mandalas or Books which in turn are divided into Anuvaks or Lessons. (There are a number of Riks not included in the Shakala Samhita but added as appendix. These are known as 'Khilas')
The first and the tenth Mandalas consist of Mantras by various Rishis of different lineage and the number of Suktas are the same(191) in both.
From the second to the seventh inclusive, each Mandala consists of Mantras by Rishis of individual lineage. For example, the third or the Gayatri Manadala which includes the famous and the most widely practiced Savitri Mantra in Gayatri meter is attributed to the lineage of Viswamitra.
The eighth Mandala consists of Pragatha or Hymns by different Rishis dedicated to different Vedic gods, the most prominent being Agni, Indra and Soma.
The ninth Mandala is also a compilation of Mantras by Rishis of various lineage and is known as Soma Mandala. This Mandala gives us a detailed picture of the very highly spiritual Vedic ceremony- the SomaYag.

The Somayag was definitely not for common people to perform. This was an expensive, intricate and elaborate ceremony. 'Agnistoma', one of the main Somayags, continued for five days and on the fifth or the final day, three times- once in the morning, once at noon and once in the evening the Soma or the celestial drink was offered to the gods. The object of the great 'Yagna' or 'Sacrifice' was to develop a 'Hiranmaya Sharira' or 'Golden Form' of the 'Yajamana' or the Worshipper on whose behalf the sacrifice was being conducted. Hence, this was NOT a common sacrifice -neither from its material nor from spiritual aspect. All fruits of material desire like health, wealth, prosperity might be achieved as an ancillary but the primary goal was to emerge out of the lower being as a snake coming out of its slough, and be established in the same station as the effulgent beings or gods.

The sixteen Ritwiks or the sacrificial priests of the Somayag were divided into four equal groups or 'ganas'- the 'Hotrigana', the 'Udgatrigana', the 'Adhvaryu gana' and the 'Brahmagana'. Actually their reference as groups occur only in the Tenth Mandal. Everywhere else it is the main Ritwik in each group that has been mentioned. Anyway, the first group uttered the 'Uktha' or praise from the Rig Veda; the second group sang 'Udgitha' or songs from the Sama Veda
(these hymns are mostly from the ninth Mandala of Rik Samhita but set to tune); the third offered Soma to the deity following the methods set up by the Yajur Veda , the success of which would create the effulgent body of the worshipper and the fourth group did not do anything (but everything). The whole activity was performed under the silent supervision and guidance of the Brhmagana. They just uttered the great 'OM' or gave permission to perform the ceremony. But if there were any errors or omissions in course of the performance, the Brahma rectified and made the ceremony flawless by dint of his spiritual prowess. Hence the chief of the Brahmagana was a possessor of immense knowledge and power.The Rig Veda says, 'Brahma Badati Jatavidyam' 'Brahma is the upholder and preacher of the entire Veda'. Such Brahmas were Angira and Atharva, the originators of Agnividya- Science of Fire and Yagnavidya- science of Sacrifice.

What and/or Who was Soma? Soma as a kind of rare drink was purified by the Adhvaryus and offered to the gods, and as presiding Deity of the ceremony, mentioned in the ninth Mandala of Rik Samhita, was the god who purified and transformed human minds to receive and hold the Light.

The most common misnomer is to identify Somarasa or Soma in form of a drink with regular alcohol. In reality, Somarasa is the sap from a particular vine named soma. This particular vine- a very rare commodity indeed - grown on some particular sides of some particular rocks- reached to its fullest extent of vitality on certain days of lunar cycle and had to be identified from other vegetation by an adept. The juice, then, had to be extracted from the vine, offered to the gods as Somarasa and later to be enjoyed as nectar by the performers as well. However, we have to keep in mind that this was not just the extract of a natural vegetation, but carried tremendous spiritual power when treated and purified by a realized priest, who could change an earthly vine to a 'Pavamana Soma' or Soma carrying the flow of Immortality. And at the end of the five-day -period a successful performer would aptly utter:

Apama somam (we have drunk soma)
Amrita abhuma (we have become immortal)
Agamya jyotir (we have attained effulgence)
Avidama devan (we have known the gods)

The Somayaga was by far the greatest of all Vedic ceremonies.

Notes: The most common misconception regarding the Vedic sacrifices is the belief that herds of animals were killed during the ceremonies. In reality on the fifth and final day of the Somayaga only one animal was sacrificed and the fat around the organs was offered to the sacrificial Fire symbolizing the lower self of the worshipper.
As we know the whole Vedic religion had two aspects- factual and symbolic. As the material aspect was true to a great extent so was the spiritual. As there is no reason to believe that during that period people were abslutely vegetarian so is there no reason to believe that 'Yagna' meant a gory ritual, sacrificing innocent animals. And then to have the 'Yagnabashishta' 'the remnants of Yagna' was to have a feast of meat and alcohol.
Deep layers of sands of Time have been accumulated on the original Vedic culture. It is hard to assess today how far the sacrifices were outer and how far were they inner, which in a much later period was elaborated by the Greatest Teacher of all times in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. And to emphasize the fact that no one can know or understand the Vedas better than Him, He proclaimed, "Vedantakrit, Vedavideva cha Aham" "I Am the Maker of Vedanta as well as the Knower of the Vedas."