Hindu Administrative Institutions c7.s4.1

c7.s4.1

By celebrating the sacrifice of *rājasūya* one becomes a king and by the *vājapeya* an emperor (*samrāṭ*). And the office of the king is the lower and that of the emperor the higher.¹ The *abhiṣeka* ceremony forms the central feature of the *rājasūya Yajña*. The superiority of the *vājapeya* to the *rājasūya* is attested by the law-giver Kātyāyana.² *Vājapeya* is not a political ceremony as the *rājasūya* is. The *adhikārins* for its performance are members of the first two castes—the Brahmans and the Kṣatriyas. But the *rājasūya* is intended for the Kṣatriyas alone as the *bṛhaspatisava* for the Brahmans. According to the *Taittirīya Saṃhita* (v. 6. 2. 1) and the *Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa* (ii. 7. 6. 1) the *vājapeya* is a ‘*samrāṭsava*’ or the ceremony of the consecration of a king to the imperial position. And the *rājasūya* is a *varuṇasava* or the ceremony of the consecration of the universal sovereignty of Varuṇa. It would appear that the *vājapeya* and the *bṛhaspatisava* were ceremonies by which the *purohita* was installed and consecrated as the court-priest in its broader sense, while the *vājapeya* and the *rājasūya* are ceremonies by means of which the king gets consecration and attains paramount authority over a number of smaller and less powerful kings.