Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c36.21

c36.21

(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.