A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c7.83

c7.83

These views of the mutual relations of the Brāhmaṇa and the Kṣatriya are partially reflected in the theory of the relative position of two representative members of these classes. The purohita (domestic chaplain) indeed stood in a special relation to the king, and hence the inter-relations of these functionaries form the subject of some important speculations of the Vedic canonists. The Ait. Br. states in one place that the purohita is one-half of the Kṣatriya.[^asterisk] The most considerable body of its reflections on this point, however, occurs in the last chapter recommending the employment of the domestic priest by the king.dagger It is there declared that the purohita with his wife and son is the king's threefold sacrificial fire. His title indeed is said to be protector of the kingdom (rāṣṭragopa). It is further stated that the purohita is the god of fire possessing five destructive powers. In the expressive language of the text he surrounds the king with these powers as the sea surrounds the earth. If the purohita is propitiated, he conveys the king to heaven and makes him obtain the royal dignity, bravery, a kingdom and subjects, but if he is not propitiated, he deprives the king of these blessings. The purohita, then, according to this view, is the partner and the coadjutor, the ‘alter ego,’ of the king. Nay more, he is the active Providence ruling the kingdom as well as the king.