State and Government in Ancient India c12.s1.5

c12.s1.5

It is interesting to note that later on a Rājanya *i.e.* a Kshatriya and a Vaiśya also took part in the king's annointment. The priest, the Rājanya and the Vaiśya were probably regarded as the representatives of the three main groups into which the Aryan society was divided at that time and the association of all of them in the ritual may have been intended to convey a general acceptance of the new king by the community. The *Mahābhārata* records the association of the representative of the Śūdra and lower castes also at the coronation of Yudhishṭhira.