The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c11.81

c11.81

Had this priestly investiture been a condition of the validity of the succession, no small power in political matters would have been placed in the hands of the priests; on the other hand, this priestly influence, as well as the part of the ministers in the choice of the successor, seems to be confined to extraordinary cases—absence of an heir to the throne, minority or intellectual deficiency of the prince. The rule was that the father, according to the custom prevailing in the epic age¹, which was also recommended in the lawbooks¹ placed the son in power in his lifetime which made the investiture by the priest a mere formality that had not much importance. It even happens that the king himself installs his son (rajje abhisiñci, IV. 96, 105); whether in this we are to see a taking away of the privilege enjoyed by the priest or whether the expression has lost its special meaning which has reference to the ceremony of investiture and acquired the general meaning "handing over the government," I cannot say definitely.