We have drunk the Soma! We have become immortal!

We have touched the gods! Behold us now, for we are transformed! The mortal flesh falleth away, and the divine essence shineth forth.

The draught entereth the belly, and lo, the whole world is illuminated! The mountains are made of gold; the sky is a sea of light. Every creature doth glow with an inner fire; every stone doth sing a secret song.

We feel within us the strength of a thousand men. The weakness that bound us doth fall away like chains cast from the wrist. Our limbs are mighty, our hearts are brave, our minds are clear as the sky before dawn.

Who among us is still merely mortal? Not one! We have all been lifted up; we have all been made divine. The priests, the singers, the worshippers—all are joined together in a single, luminous being.

The universe is within us, and we are within the universe. There is no boundary, no separation. All that was separate hath become one. All that was dark hath been made radiant.

Taste the sweetness of this draught, O Soma! Thou who art pressed from the sacred plant, thou who dost contain the very essence of the gods themselves. When we drink of thee, we drink of immortality itself.

The nectar floweth into the vessel; the color is like unto liquid gold. The fragrance riseth upward, sweet beyond all telling. Who can describe what it is like to know that one shall never die, that one shall exist forever and ever?

Our vision is opened! We see the hidden things! The innermost secrets of the earth are revealed; the mysteries of the stars are laid bare. We perceive what the ordinary man cannot perceive. We hear what the deaf cannot hear. We touch what the blind cannot touch.

All around us the gods are dancing! Indra doth ride forth upon the thunder; Agni burneth bright with a thousand flames; Soma himself floweth through our veins, singing songs of ecstasy and joy.

The belly is filled with bliss. The heart overfloweth with rapture. Every fiber of the body vibrates with a divine music. The feet wish to dance, the hands wish to gesture, the mouth wisheth to speak in languages unknown.

This is the experience that the seers speak of—the union with the divine, the touching of immortality, the becoming one with the eternal. It is not a dream; it is more real than reality itself.

We are one with Indra in his battles! We share his victory over the demons. We ride upon his bay horses; we hurl his thunderbolts. The enemies of the gods do flee before us.

We are one with Agni in his sacred fire! The flames consume our impurities; they carry our prayers upward to the heavens. Everything that burneth away is renewed, purified, made wholly new.

The body may return to its ordinary state; the intoxication may fade. But we shall never be the same again. We have known the divine; we have tasted immortality. This knowledge cannot be taken from us; this memory cannot be erased.

Every moment of ordinary life shall be illuminated by this knowledge. When we eat, we shall taste the divine. When we sleep, we shall dream the dreams of the gods. When we wake, we shall see the world through transfigured eyes.

O Soma, thou blessed draught, thou gift beyond all price! We give unto thee our eternal gratitude. Thou hast lifted us up; thou hast transformed us. Thou hast shown us what lies beyond the veil of flesh.

Come to us again, O Soma. Come with thy rapture, thy vision, thy transformation. Let us drink and drink again, until we are wholly given over to thee, until we are no longer ourselves but wholly thyself, wholly divine, wholly immortal, wholly one with the eternal.