ANCIENT INDIA VEDIC USAGE OF CANNABIS AND TODAY’S NARCOTIC SUBSTANCE
When I wrote a negative comment about Aryan Khan on Facebook, I was taken a back by a question why Sadhus drug themselves. This was asked none other than a Hindu may be pseudo-secular or the one who made Khans rule over this country though being Khan by a dialogue “ I am Khan and I am not a terrorist”. Our generation is not knowledgeable may be literate. Literacy means which generates a lot of wealth in terms of money. I then did research and I recalled having read Sam Ved in Gujarati. Som Ras and Som Paan is an integral part of Aryans. Bhang is offered to Lord Shiv as it heals his pain of consuming poisonous substances during Samudra Manthan. In general, devotees offer even milk to relive his sufferings which Lord Shiv consumed to save the universe. Indian history and Hindu Aryan culture have the tradition to use cannabis, bhang, and other plants as medicine. The mention is found in Atharva Ved. There is also mention of Soma Paan by Indra Dev Sukta 56 – 5348. Consumption of Soma Ras made from herbs on the holy mountain of Himalaya gives the different abilities and sparkling personality. It was used as medicine for different diseases and during surgery in ancient India. The mention is in Sushrut Samhita. There is also mention of Madya Paan in Chandipath in Adhyay 3 mantra 34-35 where the supreme powered goddess consumes Madhypan before elimination of devil Mahishasur. Cannabis and its derivatives (marijuana, hashish/charas, and bhang) were legally sold in India until 1985, and their recreational use was commonplace. Consumption of cannabis was not seen as socially deviant behavior and was viewed as being similar to the consumption of alcohol. Ganja and Charas were considered by upper-class Indians as the poor man’s intoxicant, although the rich consumed bhang during Holi. The United States began to campaign for a worldwide law against all drugs, following the adoption of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961. Article 49 of the Convention required Parties to completely abolish, over a maximum period of 25 years from the coming into force of the Convention, all quasi-medical use of opium, opium smoking, coca leaf chewing, and non-medical cannabis use. All production and manufacture of these drugs were also to be abolished within the same time periods. Only Parties for which such uses were “traditional” could take advantage of the delayed implementation; for others, prohibition was immediate. As the maximum time ended in 1989, these practices are today fully prohibited, and the drugs may be used only for domestically regulated medical and scientific purposes. However, India opposed the move and withstood American pressure to make cannabis illegal for nearly 25 years. American pressure increased in the 1980s, and in 1985, the Rajiv Gandhi government succumbed and enacted the NDPS Act, banning all narcotic drugs in India. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ANCIENT INDIAN CANNABIS AND TODAY’S NARCOTIC SUBSTANCE? In ancient India, Som Paan was enjoyed by supreme lords and kings as they had to fight devils and evil forces, which we discussed above. There was no “Drug abuse” […]
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