HINDUISM

It requires no deep research to know the teaching of the Hindu religion on wine-drinking.  The religion is founded on the Vedas which throw more than sufficient light on this subject.  From the Vedas,  particularly the Rig Veda which is the most important of the four Vedas, it appears that the use of wine is not only allowed in the Hindu religion but also on certain occasions its use is both essential  and meritorious.  The ancient rishis, far from having any loathing for wine, regarded it as pure and sacred-something which added to one’s sanctity and served as a means of bringing one nearer to the holy souls.  Vedic mantras display before our eyes a panorama of the solemn effort which a holy worshipper makes to win the pleasure of the Parmathma by making an offering of wine,  and we find that in the sacred ritual of an Indian worshipper wine plays a greater part than all other things.  He not only himself partakes of the juice of the  Soma, but washes therewith many of the articles which he uses in his worship and makes an offering of it to Indra and other gods for securing their favour.

            Similarly, from the  mantras which have been prescribed in the  Atharve Veda for recitation on the occasion of the worship of the  Ashvni Kumar  gods it appears that the worshipper of ancient India believed wine to be such a blessed thing that he not only partook of it himself but begged his gods to do the same.  In the  Atharva Veda, Kand 9, Adhiyai 1, Mantra 17, we have the following prayer:

             “O Rishi Kumars!  May the Madh (wine) which is found in the mountains, forests and wild herbs and plants and which secreted on the occasion of  yaggiah – may the sap thereof be for me and for you !”

            In the above mantras, the god is only requested to partake of wine, but at the time of worship of the crystal-made  yantar, the devotee  goes a step further :  the god is bathed in wine, as if he is actually made to partake of wine.  This ceremony is accompanied by a recitation of the following Vedic  Mantra:

       “O crystal-made  yantar ! stay in our house as our guest.  We offer to you ghi, wine, honey and sweet eatables of a similar kind.  Always think of what is good for us, just as a father thinks of such things as are good for his children.”

            The above two mantras show that the devotees of ancient India begged their gods to partake of wine, that they partook of it themselves and dipped therein the crystal-made  yantar.  But from  Kand 10, Adhiyai 10, Mantra 10  of the same Veda it further appears that the gods  themselves indulged in  wine-drinking while celebrating their victories.  The  mantra  runs thus:

               “ Indra drank cups of wine, to get a victory by vanquishing his foe”.

            In the present age, some members of the  Aryamat, while explaining the words Soma and such other words, have tried to show that the Vedas make no mention of wine, but that by the juice of Soma is meant the sap of wall-wort.  But when we look at the practice of the whole Hindu nation on the one hand, and take into consideration, on the other, the fact that they have never had occasion to mix freely and for a long time, with any people that were given to wine-drinking which may lead us to conclude that they contracted these habits from other people,  we cannot but hesitate to accept such explanations.  Nay, when we read  Atharva Veda, Kand 18, Anuvak 1, Sukat 1, Mantra 48,  it becomes impossible for us to take such interpretations as true;  for therein we find the following description of Soma:

              “This  Soma  is very flavoury  and palatable, partly sweet and partly acid and sour.  No enemy can stand against the god of Indra who partakes of such Soma.”

            All the foregoing quotations go to prove that the Hindu religion gives full sanction for the use of wine and holds it to be indispensable  for certain religious services.  This conclusion is supported by Hindu usage and is confirmed by history.

            In giving these quotations here it is not our object to criticize the Hindu religion or the Vedas.  Our only object is to show that the Hindu religion does not forbid wine, rather it permits and even approves of its use.