A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c12.s2.53

c12.s2.53

The above idea of kingship as an office applicable to the Kṣatriya order alone is repeated by Nīlakaṇṭha, who adopts the identical method of dogmatic interpretation. He writes in the opening passage of his work, “Now the word ‘rājan’ applies to the Kṣatriya alone, not to one who is qualified for kingship. For it has been explained in the section on the expiation of sin by performing sacrifices (aveṣṭi) that kingship comes into existence after consecration, while the canonical directions given beforehand in the words ‘the king should be consecrated’ can appertain to the Kṣatriya alone.”