The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c19.s11.15

c19.s11.15

16. See Heesterman, *Consecration*, chap. 14. The four-five schema seems to be fairly current in India as a numerical formula of sociopolitical organization. The epic relates that Yuddhiṣṭhira, the leader of the five Pāṇḍava brothers, asked, by way of compromise, for a kingdom of only five villages, one for each of his four brothers and one, presumably the central one, for himself (see Heesterman, “Two Types of Boundaries”). Another example is offered by S. Sinha’s study of the principality Barabhum, which consisted of a central tract, or *taraf*, and four outlying *tarafs*. The four-five schema forms a striking parallel with the Javanese *mantjapat*. On the two-three and four-five schemas and on their conjunction, see P. E. de Josselin de Jong, *Minangkabau and Negri Sembilan* (Leiden, 1951), 106.