Unknown Life of Jesus Christ New Edition 2009 Publication

Author(s): Nicholas Notovitch, Virchand R Gandhi, Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: World Jain Confederation

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Translator's Introduction and Odessy, XVIII. 298, are the emerald ear-rings of India.
The pomegranate, the vine and the Soma are indirectly connected with the development of the Indian trade. The pomegranate is a native of Northwestern India. whence it was carried by the earliest Aryan emigrations, into Media and Syria and afterwards by the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians, from whence its Latin name Punica Granatum is derived. It is constantly represented on the sculptures of Assyria and Egypt with grapes and peaches, and is frequently mentioned in the Bible (Ex. xxviii. 33-34; xxxix. 24-26; Numb. xiii. 23; xx. 5; Deut, viii. 8; I Kings vii. 18; Song of Sol. iv. 3, 13.) The Soma, the renowned drink of the Vedas, and hom of the Zend Avesta, is indigenous to the Punjab and the Bolan pass, Khandesh, and the Ghats of Western India and Caromandel Coast; and from the sacred rites and rejoicings which accompanied the drinking of its fermented sap in Vedic times, and which are still celebrated among the Brahmins of India, it evidently was the first intoxicant discovered by the Brahmins. The division of the Persians from the Brahmins was the result of a dispute over the use of Soma as a religious service, particularly in the ceremony which symbolized the intoxication of the gods, which the Persians resolutely resisted. In the Caucasus mountains and Armenia the use of soma gradually passed into the use of wine (Gen. ix. 21), a fact which suggests an explanation of the true Brahmin origin of Bacchus and of the Dionysian rites of ancient Greece. In the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, the sap of the date palm particularly was substituted for that of Soma or hom as an intoxicating drink. There is a verse in the Rig Veda ix. Celebrating the virtues of Soma, a finer Bacchic burst cannot be met with among the most enthusiastic of poets who have sung of wine: “O, Soma! There is nothing so bright as thou. When poured out, thou welcomest all gods, to bestow on them immortality. * * The praiseworthy Soma has from ancient times been the drink of the gods; he was milked
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