Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c35.13

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.