[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985) › c19.s6.50 # The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c19.s6.50 The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c19.s6.50 - **Language:** English ### [c19.s6.50](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c19.s6.50) 41. Cf. H. P. Schmidt, \*Bṛhaspati and Indra\* (Wiesbaden, 1968), 237f. Schmidt specifically refers to Indra's priestly characteristics, also indicated by epithets sometimes given to Indra, for example, \*ṛṣi\*, \*kavi\*, \*vipra\*. What is of interest to us here is Indra's apparently shifting nature. Schmidt wants to harmonize these shifting traits into a single consistent image of a king-priest. My approach is different in that it emphasizes as essential Indra's ambiguity and alternation between the two roles, corresponding to the alternation and exchange between sacrificial patron and brahman. - [Previous: c19.s6.49](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c19.s6.49) - [Next: c19.s6.51](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c19.s6.51) - [Up: c19.s6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c19.s6) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c19.s6.50](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c19.s6.50) · Pramāṇa