Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c37.2

c37.2

§ 222. After the Āvit-proclamation follows the Indra-ceremony of Sacred Abhisheka. (*Śatapatha* Br., V. 3. 5. 2.) The king-elect is unanimously regarded to have taken a vow (dhṛita-vrata) before he is seated on the throne.¹ The vow, promise, or oath is again alluded to in the Taittirīya Br., (I. 7. 10. 1-6.) *satya-sava* "of true sacrifice", *satya-dharmā* "of true (or faithful) conduct", *satyānṛite Varuṇaḥ*, "Varuṇa is authority in truth (or oath) and falsehood (or faithlessness)", *satya-rājā* "true king". To what engagement do these repeated expressions allude? The vow or engagement is not cited here. But, it is given in the very Indra ceremony in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa. Evidently that was universally adopted, as the testimony of later books and practice proves. It is therefore simply alluded to and not repeated in other Brāhmaṇas. The vow which the king-elect took, or, to use modern phraseology, the Coronation Oath, as given in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa is in these terms:²