Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power in the Indian Theory of Government c2.s1.20

c2.s1.20

¹² The word *abhiṣeka* is too often, and especially by translators from the Pali, rendered by "Coronation." It is true that Indra wears a crown and is *kirīṭin* accordingly, that Rudra is turbaned (*uṣṇīṣin*) and that the Mahāpurisa is *uṇhīsosīso*, but the putting on of crown or turban plays no important part in the early Indian rites, where it is an "Aspersion" rather than a "Coronation" that makes the King.