Soma, food of the immortals according to the Bower Manuscript (Kashmir, 6th century A.D.).
Journal of ethnopharmacology August 8, 2014 Marco Leonti, Laura Casu 15 citations
The Rigveda describes Soma as an exhilarating, gold-colored elixir of the immortals, but its botanical identity remains unresolved. This study analyzes two historical Amrita recipes from the 6th-century Bower Manuscript—a medical treatise unearthed in Chinese Turkestan—that contain about 100 herbal ingredients. The authors hypothesize these recipes relate to the older Rigvedic Soma, though the manuscript mentions no exhilarating properties, only uses as panaceas and for nervous diseases. Psychoactive alkaloid-containing species identified include Tinospora cordifolia, Sida spp., Mucuna pruriens, Nelumbo nucifera, Desmodium gangeticum, and Tabernaemontana divaricata, which contain tryptamines, ephedrine, ibogaine, and other compounds.