The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c14.s2.3

c14.s2.3

Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that the dharma authors do not seem to attach practical value to the rājasūya. Though they require a brahmanic sacrament (*brāhmaḥ saṃskāraḥ*), there is no agreement as to what this ceremony should be.⁴³ It may even be no more than the *upanayana*, which opens the period of pupilage with the teacher and so gives the king access to the Veda but which is also required for all “twice-born” commoners. Again it does not distinguish the king from, say, the vaiśya. In fact, the ritual texts themselves appear to concede the point that the rājasūya does not make the king. “A king who desires to win heaven should perform the rājasūya”,⁴⁴ that is, he is already a king. His desire for heaven is a strictly individual matter that has no bearing on his royal function.