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Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c35: Chapter XXIII: Vedic King and his Election

Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c35

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English

Chapter XXIII: Vedic King and his Election

c35.2

§ 202. The king was elected by the people assembled in the Samiti. The people assembled are said to elect him to rulership unanimously. The Samiti appoints him. He is asked to hold the state. *It is hoped that he would not fall from his office.* He is expected to crush the enemies.

c35.3

Here is a complete Song of Election.¹

c35.4

¹ *Atharva-Veda*, VI. 87—88. This hymn occurs also in *Rig-Veda* X. 173 with slight modification.

c35.5

आ त्वा॑हा॒र्षम॒न्तर॑भू॒र्ध्रु॒वस्ति॒ष्ठावि॑चाचलत् ।
विश॑स्त्व॒ा सर्वा॑ वाञ्छन्तु॒ मा त्वद्रा॒ष्ट्रमधि॑ भ्रशत् ॥ १
इ॒हैवैधि॒ माप॑ च्योष्ठाः॒ पर्व॑त इ॒वावि॑चाचलत् ।
इन्द्र॑ इवे॒ह ध्रु॒वस्ति॑ष्ठे॒ह रा॒ष्ट्रमु॑ धारय ॥ २
इन्द्र॑ एतमदीधरद् ध्रु॒वं ध्रु॒वेण॑ ह॒विषा॑ ।
तस्मै॒ सोमो॒ अधि॑ ब्रवद॒यं च॒ ब्रह्म॑ण॒स्पतिः॑ ॥ ३
ध्रु॒वा द्यौर्ध्रु॒वा पृ॑थि॒वी ध्रु॒वं विश्व॑मि॒दं जग॑त् ।
ध्रु॒वासः॒ पर्व॑ता इ॒मे ध्रु॒वो राजा॑ वि॒शाम॒यम् ॥ १
ध्रु॒वं ते॒ राजा॒ वरु॑णो ध्रु॒वं दे॒वो बृह॒स्पतिः॑ ।
ध्रु॒वं त॒ इन्द्र॑श्चा॒ग्निश्च॑ रा॒ष्ट्रं धा॑रयतां ध्रु॒वम् ॥ २
ध्रु॒वोऽच्यु॑तः॒ प्र मृ॑णीहि॒ शत्रून्ᳵशत्रू॒यतो॑ऽध॒रान् पा॑दयस्व ।
सर्वा॑ दि॒शः संम॑नसः स॒ध्रीची॑र्ध्रु॒वाय॑ ते॒ समि॑तिः कल्पतामि॒ह ॥३

c35.6

"Gladly you come among us; remain firmly without faltering; all the people want you; may you not fall off the State.
"Here be you firm like the mountain and may you not come down. Be you firm here like Indra; remain you here and hold the State.
"Indra has held it (the State) firm on account of the firm Havi offering; for it Soma as well as the Brahmaṇaspati has said the same.
"Firm (as) the heaven, firm (as) the earth, firm (as) the universe, firm (as) the mountains, let this *rājā* of the people be firm.
"Let the State be held by you, be made firm by the *rājā* Varuṇa, the God Bṛihaspati, Indra and also Agni.
"Vanquish you firmly, without falling, the enemies, and those behaving like enemies crush you under your feet. All the quarters unanimously honour you, and for firmness the assembly here creates (appoints) you".

c35.7

Here is a passage employed at the re-election of a *Rājā* who had been apparently driven out:—

c35.8

त्वां॒ विशो॑ वृणतां रा॒ज्याय॒ त्वामिमाः प्र॒दिशः॒ पञ्च॑ दे॒वीः ।
वर्ष्म॑न् रा॒ष्ट्रस्य॑ क॒कुदि॑ श्रयस्व॒ ततो॑ न उ॒ग्रो वि भ॑जा॒ वसू॑नि ॥

c35.9

"The people elect you to rulership, the wide¹ glorious
"quarters elect you. Be seated on this high point in the body
"of the state and from there vigorously distribute the natural

c35.10

¹ The word पञ्च may mean either "wide" or "five". Here the former meaning is more appropriate because the people assembled could be only confined to the four quarters and not the sky. Quarter comes in Election Hymns as a figurative use for the people assembled.

c35.11

² Or 'like Ugra-ruler' (न उग्रः) See § 102 above. 1 *Atharvaveda*, III. 4. 2.

c35.12

wealth." *Kakud* literally means the "hump" of the bull. The allusion is to the throne which is regarded as the highest place in the body-politic. The previous verse in the Mantra shows that the reference is to Ekarâṭ or monarch.

c35.13

§ 203. According to the last verse of a hymn in the corresponding to the song of election quoted above,² he becomes the sole taker of taxes from the people; he becomes the king of the people. The 'sole taker' signifies that the regular tax, as a royal due, had already developed. No one else but the king alone was entitled to it. The king is asked to ascend a raised seat which is significantly described as the highest point of the body of state. It shows that the idea of state as organism is realised as early as the Vedic kingship.

c35.14

² ध्रुवं ध्रुवेण॒ हविषाभि सोमं॑ मृशामसि । अथो॑ त॒ इन्द्रः॒ केव॑लीर्विशो बलि॒हृत॑स्करत् ॥ *Rv.* X. 173. 6.

c35.15

§ 204. The new king after ascending the throne received from the assembled people and the 'king-makers' who according to later authorities³ were high functionaries or ministers,⁴ a symbolic armlet called Maṇi. It was made of Palāśa wood. These high functionaries were the Treasurer, the Commander of the Army, the Grāmaṇī or the leader of the township, and some others. They are called 'kings' and 'king-makers' by the newly elected king. The 'king-makers' thus appear to be communal or popular officers of state who were regarded as rulers, amongst whom the king was the chief ruler. They are called latterly Ratnins or those in whom the Ratna or Maṇi is vested. For it was they who gave the king the symbolical jewel of royal authority. The king originally took the jewel of authority from all the folk present, including artizans and chariot-makers. This was the only symbolical ceremony which accompanied the Vedic election. The king taking Parṇa or Maṇi says:—

c35.16

³ *Brāhmaṇas* and *Krishna Yajus*.

c35.17

⁴ Cf. Mahā Govinda Suttanta, 32; Dīgha N. II, 252, where the six great nobles of the state are called the King-makers, *Rāja-kattāro*.

c35.18

ये धीवा॑नो॒ रथका॒राः कर्मा॑रा॒ ये म॑नी॒षिण॑: ।
उ॒प॒स्तीन् प॒र्ण॒ मह्यं॒ त्वं सर्वा॑न् कृण्व॒भितो॒ जनान्॑ ॥ ६
ये राजा॑नो राज॒कृत॑: सू॒ता ग्रा॑म॒ण्य॑श्च॒ ये ।
उ॒प॒स्तीन् प॒र्ण॒ मह्यं॒ त्वं सर्वा॑न् कृण्व॒भितो॒ जनान्॑ ॥ ७

c35.19

"The skilful builders of chariots and the ingenious
"workers of metal, the folk about me all, do thou, O
"Parṇa, make my aids. The kings and king-makers,
"the charioteers and leaders of hosts, the folk about me do
"thou, O Parṇa, make my aids."

c35.20

The king thus accepted his royal authoirty from the whole folk including equally the king-makers and the artisans.

c35.21

The king was elected for his whole life. "*Rule here a mighty benevolent (king) up to tenth decade of thy life.*"

c35.22

The throne was covered with the skin of a lion, tiger or leopard. This was done, as we shall see, even when the throne was made of precious materials. A particular symbolism was attached to the skin-cover. It was the emblem of prowess.

c35.23

¹ *Atharvaveda*, III. 5. 6—7 Translation adopted from Bloomfield *S. B. E.*, xlii, 114.

c35.24

² *Atharva-Veda*, III. 4. 7. दश॒मीमु॒ग्रः सु॑म॒ना व॑शे॒ह

c35.25

"Thyself a tiger, do thou upon this tiger-skin "stride through the great regions. All the clans shall "wish for thee." When seated on the throne he was sprinkled with water.

c35.26

§205. At times he was degraded and banished. After a period of exile an ex-king was sometimes re-elected;

c35.27

"The eagle shall bring hither from a distance him that
"is fit to be called, wandering exiled in a strange land. The
"Aśvins shall prepare for thee a path, easy to travel! Do
"ye, his kinsfolk, gather close about him.
"Thy opponents shall call thee. Thy friends have chosen thee."

c35.28

He is said to have come to agreement with his electors.

c35.29

"Come thou to the Viśas (the people), for thou
hast "agreed concordant with the electors."

c35.30

¹ *Ibid.* IV. 8. 4. व्या॒घ्रो अधि॑ वैया॒घ्रे वि क्र॑मस्व॒ दिशो॑ म॒हीः। विश॑स्त्वा॒ सर्वा॑ वाञ्छन्तु...॥

c35.31

² *Ibid.* IV. 8. 5-6.......तासो॑ त्वा॒ सर्वा॑सामपा॒म॑भि षिञ्चामि॒ वर्च॑सा ॥५॥ अ॒भि त्वा॒ वर्च॑सासिञ्च॒न्नापो॑ दि॒व्याः पय॑स्वतीः। ...॥६॥ That the ceremony relates to monarchical Rājā (Ekarājā) is clear from the *Śrauta Sūtras* of the *Atharva Veda*.

c35.32

³ *Ibid.* III. 3. 5. श्ये॒नो ह॒व्यं न॑यत्वा पर॒स्माद॒न्यक्षे॑त्रे॒ अप॑रुद्धं॒ चर॑न्तम्। अ॒श्विना॒ पन्थां॑ कृणुतां सु॒गं त॑ इ॒मं स॑जाता अ॒भिसंवि॑शध्वम्॥ Was the eagle a mark of royalty?

c35.33

⁴ *Ibid.* III. 4, 6. इन्द्रे॒न्द्रे मनु॑ष्याः॒ परे॑हि॒ सं ह्य॑ज्ञास्था॒ यम॑भिः॒ संवि॑दानः। स त्वा॒य-म॑ह्वत् स्वे स॒धस्थे॒ स दे॒वान् य॑जत्॒ स उ॑ कल्पयाद्॒ विशः॑॥

c35.34

§206. The king was expected to secure material prosperity to the people.¹

c35.35

¹ *Ibid.* III. 4. 4. अधा॒ मनो॑ वसु॒देया॑य कृष्व॒ऽथा न॑ उ॒ग्रो वि भ॑जा॒ वसूं॑नि॥ *S. B. E.* Vol. XLII, p. 113.

c35.36

"Fix thy mind upon the bestowal of wealth. Then do thou, mighty, distribute wealth amongst us."

c35.37

In this connexion it would be interesting to quote here a poem from the Atharva-Veda where the prosperity of the people is described. The song, evidently contemporary, praises the successful rule of King Parikshit of Kuru land:²

c35.38

² *Ibid.* XX. 127. (3), 7-10.

c35.39

"Listen ye to the high praise of the king who rules over all peoples. What may I bring to thee, curds, stirred drink, or liquor? (Thus) the wife asks her husband in the kingdom of King Parikshit."

c35.40

In other words, in the Kuru land the wife never thinks of offering such a poor drink as water to the thirsty husband. And the barley beverage when brought 'over-ran

c35.41

रा॒ज्ञो वि॒श्वज॑नीनस्य॒ यो दे॒वोमर्त्याँ॒ अति॑ ।
वै॒श्वान॒रस्य॑ सुष्टु॒तिम सु॑णोता॒ परि॑क्षितः ॥७
. . . . .
क॒तर॒त् त॒ आ ह॑राणि॒ दधि॒मन्थं॒ परि॑श्रु॒तम् ।
जा॒या पतिं॒ वि पृ॑च्छति रा॒ष्ट्रे राज्ञः परि॑क्षितः॥६
अ॒भीव॑ स्व॒१॒॑: प्र जि॑हीते॒ यवः॑ प॒क्वः प॒रो वि॒लम् ।
जनः॒ स भ॒द्रमेध॑ते रा॒ष्ट्रे राज्ञः परि॑क्षितः ॥१०

c35.42

See *S. B. E.*, XLII, pp. 197-198.

c35.43

the brim'. This shows "*the people thrive merrily in the kingdom of King Parikshit*".

c35.44

§ 207. The election in the Vedic age appears fairly simple and business-like. But it has a latent philosophy behind it. The king is elected by the people; he is expected to fulfil certain duties; and is invested with certain privileges. He accepts his office from the people and the 'king-makers'. He was in agreement with his electors. He could be removed from his office and could be brought back from exile. The germs of the political philosophy of kingship are all to be found in these Vedic mantras.

c35.45

The fact, if not the theory, was clear that the office of the king was a creation of the People and was held conditionally. Above him there was always the National Assembly, the Samiti which was, as we have seen above, the real sovereign.¹

c35.46

¹ Cf. Macdonell, *History of Sanskrit Literature*, p. 158. The king (*rājā*) was often hereditary...... His power was by no means absolute, being limited by the will of the people expressed in the tribal assembly (Samiti).

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