The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c12.10

c12.10

Yet all this, to which many points could still be added—like the king’s responsibility for rainfall—remains essentially a construction. The religious aspect of kingship cannot be denied. All the parts seem to be available, but the texts do not try to put them together. They remain isolated and disparate pieces of evidence spread over different contexts. What is lacking is a consistent overall scheme that would give substance to a consolidated theory of sacral kingship. As it is, however, kingship remains, even theoretically, suspended between sacrality and secularity, divinity and mortal humanity, legitimate authority and arbitrary power, dharma and adharma.