Professor von Schroeder suggests that this Dramatic Monologue formed
part of the ceremonies of a Soma feast, that it is the Soma plant from
which the heavenly drink is brewed which is to be understood as the
first of all herbs and the curer of all ills, and the reference to
Soma as King of the herbs seems to bear out this suggestion.
In a previous chapter[3] I have referred to a curious little poem,
also found in the Rig-Veda, and translated by von Schroeder under the
title A Folk-Procession at a Soma-Feast, the dramatis personae of the
poem offering, as I pointed out, a most striking and significant
parallel to certain surviving Fertility processions, notably that of
Vardegotzen in Hanover. In this little song which von Schroeder places
in the mouth of the leader of the band of maskers, the Doctor is twice
referred to; in the opening lines we have the Brahmin, the Doctor, the
Carpenter, the Smith, given as men plying different trades, and each
and all in search of gain; in the final verse the speaker announces,
"I am a Poet (or Singer), my father a Doctor." Thus of the various
trades and personages enumerated the Doctor alone appears twice over,
an indication of the importance attached to this character.
Unfortunately, in view of the fragmentary condition of the survivals
of early Aryan literature, and the lack of explanatory material at our
disposal, it is impossible to decide what was the precise role
assigned to the 'Medicine Man'; judging from the general character of
the surviving dramatic fragments and the close parallel which exists
between these fragments and the Medieval and Modern Fertility
ceremonies, it seems extremely probable that his original role was
identical with that assigned to his modern counterpart, i.
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