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Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c36: Chapter XXIV: Coronation Ceremony of Brahmana Period and Its Constitutional Significance

Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c36

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English

Chapter XXIV: Coronation Ceremony of Brahmana Period and Its Constitutional Significance

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§208. In the age of Brāhmaṇa literature, coronation becomes elaborate, ritualistic and very technical. Special royal ceremonies were invented. But they all retain the same constitutional characteristics as we find in the true Vedic period. In fact they are developments of the same underlying ideas.

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Sacred formulæ and rites for royal installation are formed and prescribed in this period. And they become prescribed once for all. Since that time every Hindu sovereign crowned in India has observed them, for according to the orthodox view of both law and ritual, no one could attain kingship without them. The same ceremonies, in essentials, came down and are prescribed by lawyers of the 17th century who wrote for Hindu kings in Muhammadan times.¹

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¹ See Mitra Miśra, *Vīramitrodaya Rājanīti*, pp 86—113.

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§209. In the Śrutis there are three ceremonies for consecrating heads of society. There is the first and foremost,

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the *Rājasūya* or the Inauguration of a king, there is, secondly, the *Vājapeya* used for consecrating a king or a high functionary as the royal priest, and thirdly, there is the *Sarva-medha*, 'a sacrifice for universal rule.'² The Vājapeya probably did not partake of political nature in its origin, it being primarily designed to celebrate something like an Olympic victory. It was, later on, adopted for royal and religious consecrations. The Sarvamedha¹ is an exceptional ceremony performed by emperors who are already consecrated to rulership. The ceremony proves the existence of the territorial ideal of a one-state India.² The normal ceremony of Coronation, however, is the Rājasūya.

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² Cf. Taittirīya Br. I. 3. 2. 2. See contra Eggeling, *SBE* XLI, p. 24 (Introduction).

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¹ See *Satapatha Br.*, XIII. 7.1

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² Cf. *Aitareya Br.* VIII. 15; Pāṇini, V. 1. 41-42 on *Sārva-bhauma*.

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राज्ञ एव राजसूयम् । राजा वै राजसूयेनेष्ट्वा भवति...

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“To the King doubtless belongs the Rājasūya, for by "offering the Rājasūya he becomes "king."³

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³ *Satapatha Brāhmaṇa*, V. 1. 1. 12.

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We shall here mainly discuss the rituals of the latter and also of the Vājapeya. In fact they all have very many details in common, and they supplement each other. The Vājapeya came to be regarded as a preliminary to the Rājasūya.

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§210. The Rājasūya is comprised of three distinct parts; the first is a series of preliminary sacrifices, the second is the *Abhishechanīya*, ‘the sprinkling’ or ‘the anointing’, the third are a number of post-anointing ceremonies. Out of the three, the Abhishechanīya is the most important; and, perhaps, in practice the rites and formulæ of it alone were considered indispensable at normal coronations.

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One of the first things which strike the student of the ceremony is the pronoun “he” by which the @H ‘he’

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§ 211. Among the preliminary offerings there are the eleven r a t n a - h a v i s (the 'jewel'-offerings) which 'he' has to make to the eleven R a t n i n s or the 'Jewel-holders' at their respective houses. The recipients of the Ratna-havis are :—¹

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¹ *Satapatha Brāhmaṇa* V. 3. 1. Cf. also Taittirīya Br. 1. 7. 3. (Poona Ed. I pp. 308-310) and Taittirīya Saṁhitā 1. 8 9. (Mysore Ed. I, pp. 146-49). The text says that the ratnins are eleven ( एकादश रत्नानि ) But the *havi* is offered at twelve places. Evidently the offering at his own house is not counted (the school of *Krishna Yajurveda* does not prescribe an offering at the king-elect's house) or the last two might have been treated as entitled to one offering ointly.

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(1) S e n â n i (the commander of the army).

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(2) P u r o h i t a. (the court chaplain) ; 'Brahmin' in the Taittirīya ritual.

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(3) The k i n g-e l e c t himself as representing the K s h a t r a or 'rule' ; in the Taittirīya, 'R â j a n y a' in the place of the king-elect.

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(4) M a h i s h ī (the queen). The Queen had an official character in as much as she appeared with the king on the throne on certain official occasions. It seems, however, the underlying principle here is the s a c r e d t h e o r y that without the wife no sacrament could be performed, the sacrificer by himself being only one-half of his whole spiritual body, the other half being the wife. On this principle in the V â j a p e y a, she ascends the throne together with the husband.

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"Come wife, ascend we the sky"—"ascend we!" says the wife......She "the wife in sooth is one half of "his own self; hence as long as he does "not obtain her, so long he is not "regenerated for so long he is "incomplete"¹.

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¹ *Satapatha Br.*, V. 2. 1. 10; *S.B.E.* XLI. p 32.

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In the Rāja-sūya ritual of the Yajur-Veda no direction is given as to the future Queen's ascending the throne. But the Epics prove the practice of joint coronation.²

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² *Rāmāyaṇa*, Yuddha K., 128, 59, *M. Bh.* *Śānti*. (Kumb) 40, 14. उपवेश्य महात्मानं कृप्यां च।

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As the formulas are already prescribed in the preliminary Vājapeya, they have not been repeated in the Rāja-sūya. The same principle of completing the spiritual self of the king-elect is extended by other schools of the Yajur-Veda who make the king-elect do worship also to his other wives of lower castes, Vāvātā and Parivṛiktī.³ In the Aśvamedha ceremony even the wife of the lower Śūdra caste (*Pālāgalā*) takes part.⁴

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³ Cf. *Satapatha*, XIII. 5. 2. 5-8. परिवृक्ता राज्ञो मध्यसपत्नीः Bhatta Bhāskara, *Taittirīya B.* (Mysore) III, p. 146.

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⁴ *Satapatha* XIII. 5. 2. 8; *Rāmāyaṇa*, *Bāla*, 14. 35.

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(5) Sūta (the court-minstrel and chronicler). Probably in early times he combined in him some important office other than that of the chronicler. In the Mauryan Civil List of the Artha-Sāstra (V. 3-91, p. 245), he is placed amongst minor officers (Paurāṇika etc.) who got 1000 (silver paṇas) a year. It seems that every provincial capital had its sūta, as Bṛ. Up., IV. 4. 37, indicates. He is the later histriographer whom Yuwan Chwang (Hiuen Tsang) found in the empire of Harsha Vardhana, whose duty it was to register 'good and evil events, with calamities and 'fortunate occurrences' in every province. That the record of each year was kept is evidenced by inscriptions of Khāravela and others.

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(6) Grāmaṇī (the head of the Township or the village corporation). "Vaiśya-Grāmaṇī"¹ in the Maitrāyaṇī edition of the Yajurveda.

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¹ See § 217, n.

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(7) Kshattṛi (the Chamberlain).

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(8) Saṅgrahītṛi (the master of the treasury). In later times he is called Sannidhātṛi (e.g. in the Artha-Sāstra).²

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² Bhaṭṭa Bhāskara (Mysore ed. Tait. Saṁhitā iii. p. 148) points out the primary meaning of Saṅgrahītā 'the holder of the reins' lit. 'the driver' (संग्रहीतु :...रश्मिग्राहिणः) and then gives the secondary meaning (quoting opinion of others) रज्जुभिर्नियन्ता कुमाराध्यक्ष इत्यन्ये 'he who leads the (administration) by holding the reins [of government], i.e., Prime-minister.'—This has some bearing on Aśoka's *rājūka*, if it is connected with *rajju*.

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(9) Bhāgadugha (the collector of revenue). In later times he is called Samāhartṛi (e.g. in the Artha-Sāstra). The expression literally means 'milcher of the share' (of the king one-sixth, etc.). This shows that the amount of taxation had already become fixed.

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(10) Akshāvāpa—Commentators have explained it as the controller of gambling. Gambling, being under state-control, brought in revenue; but the prominence of the department is rather strange and one is inclined to doubt the meaning of the commentators. Among the officers the one who comes after Sannidhātṛi and Samāhartṛi in the Artha-Sāstra, corresponding to Nos. 8 and 9 of our list, is the Akshapaṭala or [the Department of] the. Accountant General. Thus the corresponding Akshāvāpa seems to be the officer in charge of State Accounts. The Gambling Officer will be quite out of place here. It seems that squares or Aksha were made on some board (Paṭala or Adhidevana) by the help of which accounts were in those days calculated. The Akshaśālā ( Artha-Śāstra, p. 85 ) should also be considered in this connexion. The Akshaśālā department took charge of gold and silver and the mint. Aksha in these technical offices has no connexion whatsoever with gambling.

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(11) Govikartṛi (master of forests, literally, destroyer of beasts). He was evidently the officer described by Megasthenes amongst the 'Great officers of State'¹ having 'charge also of the huntsmen' who cleared the land of wild beasts and fowls which devoured the seeds.¹

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¹ Mc Crindle, *Megasthenes*, p 86.

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¹ McCrindle, *Megasthenes*, p. 84.

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(12) Pālāgala (the Courier). His uniform was a red turban and leathern quivers.² He was of the Śūdra caste.³ In his place the Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā⁴ of the Yajurveda gives the Taksha and Rathakāra, carpenter and chariot-builder.

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² The last two not in the Taittirīya ritual.

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³ Cf. XIII. 5. 2. 8.

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⁴ M. S. ii. 6. 5.

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§212. The Ratnins are a development of the Vedic 'bestowers of the (*palāśa*) *maṇi*'. The latter were the 'king-makers' (राजकृतः=the ministers), the Sūta, the head of the village community, the builders of chariots and the skilful in metals, 'surrounded by the folk.'

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Now the Ratnins tend to be high functionaries of the state. In the selection of the functionaries the principle of class and caste representation appears to have operated. The Purohita is studiously referred to as 'Brahmin' only, in the majority of Yajus Schools. He symbolises the Brahmin. The Rājanya or the king-elect himself symbolises the Rājanya or Kshatriya class. The Grāmaṇī, called the "Vaiśya-grāmaṇī" in the Maitrāyaṇī,⁵ a grāmaṇī, or Township-President of the Vaiśya caste represented the Vaiśya class or the remnant of the original 'people', now the 'commoners'. The Taksha and Rathakāra correspond to the Veda's 'skilful workers in metals and builders of chariots'. Their place is supplied by the Pālāgala in the Śukla ritual; the class is replaced by caste. The Senānī, Purohita, Kshattā, Saṅgrahītā, Bhāgadugha, Akshāvāpa and Gokartrā are the High ministers, the old Rājakrits, the king-makers. The High ministers were still called 'kingmakers' in the *Rāmāyaṇa* (समेत्य राजकर्त्तारो भरत' वाक्यमब्रुवन्, A. 79. 1., Com. राजकर्त्तारः मन्त्रिणः).

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⁵ मारुतः सप्तकपालो वैश्यस्य ग्रामण्यो गृहे। Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā ii. 6, 5, iv. 3. 8.

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When society grew, it was not possible for the whole Folk to assemble, and adoption of the representative principle was natural. The most noticeable feature in the change is the express recognition of the Śūdra as part of Society. From the constitutional point of view it is a great change. The conquered helot is now worshipped by the man who is going to become king. He is as much an integral part of the polity as any one else. This recognition, as we shall see, becomes more and more emphatic as time goes on.

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§ 213. The offering to the 'jewel-holders' is explained by the set phrase in each case, '*for it is for him that he is thereby consecrated and him he makes his faithful follower.*' He treats with *Havi* the headman of the village corporation because 'he assuredly is one of his jewels and it is for him that he is thereby consecrated, etc.'¹

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¹ सार्द्धस्यो गृहान् परेत्य मारुतम् सप्तकपालं पुरोडाशं निर्वपति विशो वै मरुतो वैश्यो वै भामणीस्तस्मान् मारुतो भवत्येतद्वाऽ अस्यैकम् रत्नं यद् ग्रामणीस्तस्माऽ एवैतेन सूयते तम् स्वमनपक्रमिख्यं कुरुते *Satapatha*, V. 3.1.6

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The reason for the respect due to the High Functionaries or Ministers should be noted. The Ratnin Ministers existed before the king came to the throne. They had existed independently of him. *They were in origin part of the Samiti*, 'the Folk around me'—the Vedic 'kings' and 'king-makers'. In later history, ministers still retain these designations of popular times;

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they still retain the privileges of the ritualistic period—they are worshipped before every coronation. Likewise they retain pronounced traces of independence throughout their history (Chs. xxx, xxxi). The latter we can understand only with reference to this history of origin.

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§ 214. The whole procedure symbolises the obtainment of the approval of the differentiated organs of government in his consecration to kingship. The seeking of approval does not rest here. Symbolic 'approval' (A n u m a t i) of the Earth (M o t h e r l a n d) itself is requested and obtained. This is done before the estates of the Realm are approached.

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"They then return (to the sacrificial ground) without "looking backward. He now proceeds with the cake on eight "potsherds for Anumati. For A n u m a t i is this (Earth); and "whosoever knows to do that work which he intends to do, "for him indeed she approves (*anu-man*) thereof; hence it "is her he thereby pleases, thinking 'May I be consecrated, "approved by that (genius of) approval!'"—¹

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¹ *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*, V, 2 3.1. अथानुमत्याऽष्टाकपालेन पुरोडाशेन प्रचरतीयं वा अनुमतिः स यस्तत् कर्म शक्नोति कर्तुं यं यच्चिकीर्षतीष हास्मै तदनु मन्यते तदिमामेवैतत् प्रीणात्यनयानुमत्याऽनुमतः सूयाऽइति।

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§ 215. *The idea underlying is altogether human; there is no divinity about the person or the office of the sovereign.*

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"After the jewels he offers a pap to Soma and Rudra." That the great gods should come after the secular officers was unpalatable to theologians, and they therefore give a fanciful explanation by introducing a myth that as offerings had been rendered to some unworthy of sacrifice, it was necessary to sacrifice to gods 'for enlightenment' (expiation).¹

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¹ *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*, V. 3. 2.

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§ 216. The *Abhishechaniyam* or the **Sprinkling Ceremony** starts with sacrifices to a set of deities for instilling in the king-elect certain virtues necessary for his office. Savitā is prayed for energy, the family fire for family virtues, Soma for capacity to protect forests, Brihaspati for eloquence, Indra for ruling capacity, Rudra for power to protect cattle-wealth, Mitra for truth, and lastly Varuṇa for protection of law.

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§ 217. Says the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa :—² "Thereby "Varuṇa the protector of the law makes him the protector of "the law, *and that truly is a supreme state when one "is protector of the law*, for whosoever attains to the "supreme state, to him, they come in causes "of law." Here is a new theory of the monarchical days when the Brāhmaṇas were written. The sacred formula only contemplates the protection of the law as a necessary duty of the king, but the commentator takes it in the sense that one of the chief features of a 'full-fledged' state must be that the law should be administered by the king or his officers ('for him they come in causes of law'). The old theory had been that the law of the community was administered by the community. The new theory was operating in actual life in the time of the Jātakas and it was fully extended in the imperial days of the Mauryas, when salaried judges not only dispensed royal justice but also administered royal laws.

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² *Ibid.* V, 3. 3. 9. **स्वाहा वरुणाय धर्मपतये। वारुणं पयस्यं गतं नियंत्यति तदेनं वरुण एव धर्मपतिर्धर्मस्य पतिं करोति परमा वा सा यो धर्मस्य पतिरसत्यो हि परमतां गच्छति त ँ हि धर्मेऽवपयन्ति तस्मादाहस्त्वाय धर्मपतये ॥** Cf. *S. B. E.*, XLI, p. 71.

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§ 218. Waters are then collected from the sea and other reservoirs of the land, proclaiming in sacred formulas the name of the person for whose anointing they were gathered. The waters are taken in each case with a poetic formula; "*Self-ruling waters, ye are bestowers of kingship, bestow ye kingship on. N. N.*"¹

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¹ **स्वराज स्थ राष्ट्रदा राष्ट्र ममुष्मै दत्त,** *Ibid.*, V. 3. 4. 21. **वृषसेनोऽसि राष्ट्रदा राष्ट्र ममुष्मै दे हीति,** *Ibid.* V. 3. 4. 6.

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In the description and details of the waters there is to be found a poetic finish to the symbolical constitutionalism. Waters are brought from the Sarasvatī of historic memories, from the mighty rivers of the land, from the great Ocean. The sum total of these waters is yet to be contributed to by a humble pool of the country. The latter is invoked with the lofty address: "*Pleasing ye are, Bestowers of kingship, bestow ye kingship on. N. N.*" The comment on the sacred address of the Brāhmaṇa is majestic and is reserved only for this insignificant reservoir; "*He thereby makes the people steady* (the water of the pool being steady) *and faithful to him.*"² A common pool of the country over which he is going to rule is made a sacred source of his sovereign powers.

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² **मान्दा स्थ राष्ट्रदा राष्ट्र ममुष्म दृत्तेति ताभिरभिषिञ्चति... स्थावरात् नपाकमद्यां करोति...** *Ibid.* V. 3. 4. 14. *cf. Taittirīya. Saṁhitā*, I, 8. 11.

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§ 219. The gods have been invoked to endow the potential king with ruling virtues 'for national rule', *jānarājyāya*,³ 'for the ruling of the folk', yet the rivers of the land, the waters of India are prayed to as 'bestowers of state' to confer the actual status of kingship. Gods might give him virtues for 'national rule', but they could not give the kingship of the land: it was the right of the waters in the land to do it. And they too only when combined from the highest to the lowest, could do it; hence the flattering address to a common country pool. An important conception is crystallised in this sacerdotal procedure. It is on the whole a crude symbolism but a symbolism enshrining a great idea for all ages.

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³ Cf. *Taittirīya Br.* 1, 7. 6. 7.

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§ 220. The Abhishechana is twofold, the first part is the sprinkling of waters by what may be described as different estates of the realm, and the second is the theological anointing on the head by the priest just before the king-elect ascends the throne (āsandī). A tiger skin is spread in front of the Mitrā-Varuṇa's hearth and the king-elect steps upon it. Four men, one after another sprinkle him—a Brahmin, a kinsman of the king-elect, a Rājanya, and a Vaiśya which literally means 'one of the people'. The Śūdra is absent and the kinsman seems to be a tautology. The latter is not found in the corresponding Taittirīya ritual (Taitt. Br., I. 7. 8. ) where the Priest as Brahmin, Rājanya, Vaiśya, and lastly, Janya, do the besprinkling. The last one, Janya, stands for the Śūdra in the sense of a man of the 'hostile' tribe as in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, VIII. 26., and as originally he was. In later times the Śūdra always appears.

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The king-elect then puts on a silk underwear, a mantle and a turban or diadem.² Our Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa does not approve of the dressing, and there is that artistic touch in the reason given which was common to the Hindus and the Greeks. "For the limbs being his natural vestments they deprive him of his native bodily form".³

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¹ *Sat. Br.*, V. 3. 5. 11-14.

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² *Ushṇīsha* is taken by some to be turban and by others diadem. The *Rāmāyaṇa* has diadem (kirīṭa), Yuddha K., 128, 64.

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³ *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*, V. 3. 5. 25.

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§ 221. Then follows the Investiture, and Announcement. The priest gives him a strong bow with three arrows with the formula "*Protect ye him in front*," etc. After the investiture while the king-elect is standing on the ground over the tiger-skin an Announcement is made,—the Āvid formulæ are called out:^1

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"Informed are ye Men! Informed is the "house-lord Agni! Informed is the far-famed Indra! "Informed are Mitra and Varuṇa, the upholders of "the vow! Informed is Pūshan (the lord of wealth)! "Informed are Heaven and Earth, all beneficial! "Informed is Aditi, of great shelter!"

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The author of the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa points out that the announcements are symbolical^2: Agni symbolising the Brāhmaṇas; Indra, the nobility; Pūshan the world of cattle and so on. In any case, the king-elect is expressly and firstly announced to men, whatever be the real import of the other *āvids*. The āvids are made to obtain permission or approval for the consecration, says the Śatapatha 'तैरनुमतः सूयते,' 'and approved by them he is consecrated'.'

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¹ *Vājasaneyī Saṁhitā*, X. 9:— आविर्मर्या॒ आवि॑त्तो अ॒ग्निर्गृ॒हप॑ति॒रावि॑त्त॒ इन्द्रो॑वृ॒द्धश्र॑वा॒ आवि॑त्तौ मि॒त्रावरु॑णौ धृ॒तव्र॑ता॒- वावि॑त्त: पू॒षा वि॒श्ववे॑दा॒ आवि॑त्ते॒ द्यावा॑पृथि॒वी वि॒श्वश॑म्भुवा॒वावि॑त्तादि॒तिरुरु॒शर्मा॑ ॥

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² *Śat. Br.*, V. 3. 5. 31-37.

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