A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c7.21

c7.21

A feature of these identifications with the gods is that the king or the Kṣatriya is normally connected with the god Indra, just as the Brāhmaṇa is connected with the god Brihaspati. Thus the Taitt. Sam., explaining a rite of making offerings to Indra and Brihaspati, states that the Rājanya (Kṣatriya) is connected with Indra while Brihaspati is the holy power (Brahman).[^asterisk] The Śat. Br., in the course of its dogmatic exposition of the Vājapeya, repeatedly identifies the Brāhmaṇa and the Rājanya (Kṣatriya) with the gods Brihaspati and Indra, by equating them in each case to the common factors Brahman (priesthood or priestly dignity) and Kṣatra (ruling power) respectively.dagger Describing the Rājasūya the same work declares in another place that Indra is the sacrificer while men belong to Viṣṇu.[^ddagger]