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Sarcostemma acidum (Roxb.) Voigt in Pandanus database of Indian plant names
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  Sarcostemma acidum (Roxb.) Voigt details in Pandanus database of Indian plant names

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 Latin nameSarcostemma acidum (Roxb.) Voigt
 FamilyAsclepiadaceae
 Identified with (Lat)Sarcostemma brevistigma Wight & Arn., Asclepias acida Roxb.
 Identified with (Skt)somavallī, somā
 Identified with (Hin)somlatā
 Identified with (Tam)cōmam, koṭikkaḷḷi
 Identified with (Mal)sōmalata
 Identified with (Eng)Moon plant, Moon creeper
 Search occurrencesomavallī, somā, in the Pandanus database of Sanskrit e-texts
 See plant's imageSarcostemma acidum (Roxb.) Voigt in Google image search
 Encyclopedias &
 Dictionaries

Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 1249)
soma, m. (fr. 3. su) juice, extract, (esp.) the juice of the Soma plant, (also) the Soma plant itself (said to be the climbing plant Sarcostema Viminalis or Asclepias Acida, the stalks [aṃśu] of which were pressed between stones [adri] by the priests, then sprinkled with water, and purified in a strainer [pavitra]; whence the acid juice trinkled into jars [kalaśa] or larger vessels [droṇa]; after which it was mixed with clarified butter, flour &c., made to ferment, and then offered in libations to the gods [in this respect corresponding with the ritual of the Iranian Avesta] or was drunk by the Brāhmans, by both of whom its exhilarating effect was supposed to be prized; it was collected by moonlight on certain mountains [in RV. x, 34, 1, the mountain Mūja-vat is mentioned]; it is sometimes described as having been brought from the sky by a falcon [śyena] and guarded by the Gandharvas; it is personified as one of the most important of Vedic gods, to whose praise all the 114 hymns of the 9th book of the RV. besides 6 in other books and the whole SV. are dedicated; in post-Vedic mythology and even in a few of the latest hymns of the RV. [although not in the whole of the 9th book] as well as sometimes in the AV. and in the Br., Soma is identified with the moon [as the receptacle of the other beverage of the gods called Amṛta, or as the lord of plants cf. indu, oṣadi-pati] and with the god of the moon, as well as with Vishṇu, Śiva, Yama, and Kubera; he is called rājan, and appears among the 8 Vasus and the 8 Loka-pālas [Mn. v, 96], and is the reputed author of RV. x, 124, 1, 5-9, of a lawbook &c.; cf. below), RV. &c. &c.; the moon or moon-god (see above); a Soma sacrifice, AitĀr.; a day destined for extracting the Soma-juice, ĀśvŚr.; Monday (= soma-vāra), Inscr.; nectar, L.; camphor, L.; air, wind, L.; water, L.; a drug of supposed magical properties, W.; a partic. mountain or mountainous range (accord. to some the mountains of the moon), ib.; a partic. class of Pitṛs (prob. for soma-pā), ib.; N. of various authors (also with paṇḍita, bhaṭṭa, śarman &c.; cf. above), Cat.; = somacandra, or somendu, HPariś.; N. of a monkey-chief, L.; (ā), f. the Soma plant, L.; N. of an Apsaras, MBh.; of a river, MārkP.; of a queen, Inscr.; (ī), f. g. gaurādi; (am) n. rice-water, rice-gruel, L.; heaven, sky, ether, L.; mfn. relating to Soma (prob. w.r. for sauma), Kāṭh.

Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 1250)
somavallī, f. the Soma plant; Cocculus Cordifolius; Coc. Tomentosus &c., VarBṛS.; Bhpr. &c.


 
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