Soma (Chandra)सोम

Mythological background

Soma has a rare double nature in Hindu tradition: he is both the moon god, later called Chandra, and the sacred nectar or plant, Soma, that is pressed and offered in the Vedic ritual. In the Rigveda an entire book is devoted to Soma, praising the golden juice that gladdens the gods and grants them immortality and inspired vision. Over time the shining drink and the shining moon merged into a single deity, the cool, luminous lord of the night sky.

As the moon, Soma is the vessel that holds the nectar of the gods, which they drink down over the waning fortnight until the moon is empty, and which is replenished as it waxes again. This is one traditional explanation of the lunar phases: the moon fills with nectar and is slowly drunk away, then fills once more.

Soma is the ruler of the nakshatras themselves, for the twenty-seven lunar mansions are described in myth as his wives, the daughters of Daksha. Among them he loved Rohini above all others, a favouritism that led to the famous curse and the origin of the moon's waxing and waning.

Symbolism

Soma symbolises the receptive, reflective mind and the sweetness of life drunk deeply. As the moon he governs the emotions, the imagination and the tides of feeling that rise and fall like the lunar phases. As the nectar he stands for bliss, inspiration and the taste of the immortal within the mortal.

The waxing and waning of Soma is a lesson in impermanence and renewal: nothing stays full forever, yet what empties is always filled again, and the seeker who drinks of the divine sweetness is nourished from an inexhaustible source.

Influence on Mrigashira Nakshatra

Mrigashira means the deer's head, and under Soma's rule its natives carry a soft, searching, deer-like quality. They are gentle, sensitive and curious, forever seeking something just beyond reach, whether knowledge, beauty, love or peace. They have restless, imaginative minds, a love of travel and exploration, and a tender, sometimes nervous sensitivity to their surroundings. Soma lends them charm, adaptability and a poetic inner life, though the same restlessness can leave them uncertain or easily unsettled. At their best they are seekers who drink deeply of experience and share its sweetness with others.

Spiritual significance

Spiritually Soma teaches that the divine can be tasted, not only reasoned about, and that the sensitive, seeking mind is the cup into which that nectar is poured. He shows that the emotions and the imagination, when purified, become channels of inspiration and bliss rather than mere restlessness. The waxing and waning moon reminds the seeker that spiritual life moves in cycles of fullness and emptiness, and that periods of loss are always followed by renewal, so long as one keeps drinking from the eternal source.

Iconography

Soma, as the moon god Chandra, is depicted as a fair, gentle youth of luminous complexion, seated in a silvery chariot drawn by white horses or antelopes across the night sky. He holds a lotus and a club or a nectar vessel, and a crescent moon adorns his form. His whole appearance is cool, radiant and calming, evoking moonlight, dew and the soft glow of the sacred nectar he embodies.

Traditional worship

Devotees honour Soma and Chandra for peace of mind, emotional balance, healing, fertility and relief from restlessness or mental unease. Mondays, the day of the moon, are set aside for his worship, and offerings of white flowers, milk and rice reflect his cool, nourishing nature. As the lord of herbs and nectar he is also invoked for health and vitality, and his gentle influence is sought by those pursuing artistic, contemplative or spiritual paths.

The entire ninth book of the Rigveda is devoted to hymns in praise of Soma.

The twenty-seven nakshatras are described as Soma's wives, the daughters of Daksha.

The waxing and waning of the moon is explained as the gods drinking down its store of nectar and it refilling.

Soma's favouritism toward his wife Rohini led to Daksha's curse that caused the moon to wax and wane.

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Last updated 2 August 2026 · attributes follow standard Vedic sources; panchang times computed by KaalPanchang from modern astronomy.