[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924) › c37 # Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c37: Chapter XXV: Coronation Ceremony of the Brahmana Period and Its Constitutional Significance (continued) Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c37 - **Language:** English ### Chapter XXV: Coronation Ceremony of the Brahmana Period and Its Constitutional Significance (continued) ### [c37.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.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 ### [c37.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.3) ¹ निषसाद धृतव्रतः \*Vājasaneyī Saṁhitā\*, X. 27; \*Taittirīya Saṁhitā\*, I. 8. 16; \*Taittirīya Br.\*, I. 7. 10 2; \*Aitareya Brāhmaṇa\*, VIII. 18. ### [c37.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.4) ² \*Aitarey Brāhmaṇa\*, VIII. 15. \[एतेनैन्द्रेण महाभिषेकेण क्षत्रियं शापयित्वा अभिषिञ्चेत् स ब्रूयात् सह श्रद्धया\] याञ्च रात्रीमजायेहं याञ्च प्रेतास्मि तदुभयमन्तरेणेष्टापूर्तं मे लोकं सुकृतमायुः प्रजां वृञ्जीथा यदि ते द्रुह्येयमिति। ### [c37.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.5) \["Let the Kshatriya be sworn through this Great "Coronation of the Indra ritual. He is to repeat "with faith:\] 'Between the night I am "born and the night I die, whatever "good I might have done, my heaven, my "life and my progeny may I be "deprived of, if I oppress \[injure\] you'"! ### [c37.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.6) The business-like and contractual nature of the oath is noteworthy. There is no reference to any divine agency in the oath. It is purely human. It is humanly solemn. According to the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa the oath was common to all constitutions. It was administered to the Ruler (Kshatriya) whatever the form of polity, whether he was desirous of being consecrated to Sāmrājya, Bhaujya, Svārājya, Vairājya, Pārameshthya, Rājya, Mālārājya, Ādhipatya, or Sārva-bhauma (Monarchy.)¹ As we shall deal with the history and effect of the Coronation-Oath presently we may pass on to the remaining ceremonials and their meaning. ### [c37.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.7) ¹ स य इच्छेदेवंवित्क्षत्रियमयं सर्वा जितीर्जयेतायं सर्वांल्लोकान्विन्देतायं सर्वेषां राज्ञां श्रैष्ठ्यमतिष्ठां परमतां गच्छेत साम्राज्यं भौज्यं स्वाराज्यं वैराज्यं पारमेष्ठ्यं राज्यं माहाराज्यमाधिपत्यमयं समंतपर्यायी स्यात्सार्वभौमः सार्वायुष आऽन्तादापरार्धात्पृथिव्यै समुद्रपर्यन्ताया एकराडिति तमेतेनेन्द्रेण महाभिषेकेण क्षत्रियं शापयित्वाऽभिषिंचेत् ॥ \*Aitareya\*, VIII, 15 ### [c37.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.8) § 223. After the Announcement he is asked to ascend the wooden throne² (\*Ā-sandī\*) spread upon with furs, generally with tiger-skin. The formulae for the occasion are four, and the four estates are asked thereby to protect the king-elect "as the precious treasure". ### [c37.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.9) ² The wooden throne was adhered to for coronation even when thrones of ivory and gold were in general use. See \*Mahā Bhārata\*, (Kumbakonam) Śānti Parvan, XXXIX, 2, 4. 13-14. Though of wood (\*khadira\*, \*udumbara\*) it was elaborate as Brāhmaṇa descriptions show. The design of the throne of the Bharatas is famous in the rituals. ### [c37.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.10) § 224. The point of greatest constitutional import is that the king is to be protected by the four estates of the realm. Protected by the people (in his office) he is to carry on the administration. This principle was one of the accepted axioms of Hindu politics: \*rāshtreṇa rājā vyasane parirakshyastathā bhavet\*.¹ "Ascend thou the East......may the spring season, the priesthood protect thee (\*avatu\* अवतु), that precious treasure. Ascend thou the South......may the Kshatra protect thee, that precious treasure. Ascend thou the West......may the Viś protect thee, that precious treasure. Ascend thou the North......may the Phala² protect thee, that precious treasure". ### [c37.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.11) ¹ \*Mbh\* Śānti P. Ch. 130. 32. (Kumbakonam). ### [c37.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.12) ² Evidently standing for the Śūdra. ### [c37.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.13) He is said to 'ascend the quarters'. It means that his installation is all-sided. ### [c37.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.14) § 225. Just before he ascends, he steps upon a gold-plate; and through a gold plate perforated with a hundred or nine holes the waters are sprinkled over his head by the priest, with the following sacred text.³ ### [c37.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.15) ³ These texts occur in the \*Vājasaneyī Saṁhitā\* (\*Śukla Yajurveda\*), Chapter IX, ver. 40 and Chapter X vv., 17 and 18. These two Chapters (IX and X) of the Saṁhitā give mantras for royal consecration from which different ceremonials have been evolved in the Brāhmaṇas. ### [c37.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.16) सो॑मस्य त्वा द्यु॒म्नेना॒भिषि॑ञ्चाम्य॒ग्नेर्भ्राज॑सा॒ सूर्य॑स्य॒ वर्च॑सा॒ इन्द्र॑स्येन्द्वि॒येण॑। क्ष॒त्राणां॑ क्ष॒त्रप॑तिरे॒ध्यति॑दि॒ध्यून् पाहि॑ ॥ २ ॥ ### [c37.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.17) इमं॑ दे॑वा असप॒त्नᳵ सु॑वद्ध्वं म॒हते क्ष॒त्राय॑ म॒हते ज्यैष्ठा॑याय म॒हते॑ जानरा॒ज्यायेन्द्र॑स्येन्दिया॑य ॥ इ॒मम॒मुष्य॑ पु॒त्रम॒मुष्यै॑ पु॒त्रम॒स्यै विश॒ ए॒ष वो॑ ऽमी राजा॒ सोमो॒ऽस्माकं॑ ब्राह्मणानाꣳ राजा॑ ॥ ### [c37.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.18) “With Soma's glory I sprinkle thee! with Agni's “glow! with Surya's splendour! with Indra's energy! be “thou the sovereign protector of the ruling powers! ### [c37.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.19) “Make him, O gods, to be unrivalled for great \*rulership\*, for great superiority, for great \*national\* rule, “for Indra's energy make him, the son of (the man) “X. X. and (of the woman) Y. Y, and of the people “Z. Z. This man, O ye People! is your “\*king\*, he is Soma, king of us Brāhmaṇas!” ### [c37.20](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.20) ‘People’ (विश्) according to Āpastamba, Baudhāyana and Kātyāyana (Śrauta Sūtras quoted by Sāyaṇa) means ‘Nation’, e.g. the ‘Bharatas’, the ‘Kurus’, the ‘Pañchālas’. Kātyāyana explains ‘the People’ by the word Jāti. He speculates that territory was not (originally) fixed (अनवस्थिता ‘fluctuating’), hence \*viś\* (the people) was used. In place of ‘the People!’ the Taittirīya Saṃhitā (I. 8. 10) of the Krishna Yajurveda gives ‘O Bharatas’ \[ \*\*एष वो भरता राजा\*\* \] which shows that the explanation of the Śrauta-sūtra-kāras is correct. The Yajurveda or the Veda of Rituals (formulæ) was evidently composed in the land of the Bharata monarchy (Delhi-Agra). ### [c37.21](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.21) § 226. Soma is the life-giver of the vegetable king- ### [c37.22](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.22) dom or \*Vanapatis\*.¹ Owing to the connexion of the Brahmins with the sacrificial Soma the deity Soma was considered to be their special deity. Here the king is consecrated as king of the whole people including the Brahmins, and the priest expresses this by calling him Soma.² The sacerdotalist author of the Śatapatha, however, gives a questionable explanation of the closing sentence in the Vedic text above quoted. He says that it means that Soma and not the king was the king of the Brahmins. This is inconsistent with the existence of the indicative 'this,' '\*esha\*' in the text, the naming of the people or nation and the homage when the Brahmin resigns his privilege in the person of the king.³ The Śatapatha marks the last stage of the Brāhmaṇa period and it seems that the Priest-Brahmins about that time began to assert a claim of freedom from taxes. The Śatapatha explains that the meaning of the exception is that the king is to receive his sustenance from all others except the Brahmin.³ In the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, however, the Brahmin is fully subordinate to the king⁴, and so he appears to be in the Jātakas. The Vājasaneyi-Brāhmaṇa Upanishad which belongs to the school of the Śatapatha places the Brahmin under the king. (तस्मात् क्षत्रात्परं नास्ति तस्माद्ब्राह्मणः क्षत्रियमधस्तादुपास्ते राजसूये 'Hence there is none above 'the Ruler, hence Brahmin sits under Kshatriya in Rājasūya' (IV. 11.). The Taittirīya school does not accept the interpretation of the Śatapatha. Bhaṭṭa Bhāskara explains the Vedic text as denoting that as a Brahmin must never be without a king, he is supposed to be under Soma for the period before a king is consecrated, and after the king is consecrated, the king becomes his king also (अस्माकं ब्राह्मणानां सोमो राजा, अधुना अयंचेति। सर्वदा सरजका वयं इत्यभिप्रायः। Taittirīya Veda, Mysore, III. pp. 157-8). The Aitareya implies that he becomes the Protector of Brahmins and Protector of Law (VIII. 12). ### [c37.23](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.23) ¹ \*Vājasaneyi Saṁhitā\*, Ch. IX, v. 39. ### [c37.24](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.24) ² See below under 'Homage' where the king is called a Brahmin made mighty through the strength of the whole people. Cf. the address to the king by the priest "Brahmin thou art! Savitar thou art! Varuṇa thou art (etc)" in Vājasaneyi Saṁhitā, X, 28, with the 'Soma' here. ### [c37.25](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.25) ³ \*Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa\*, V, 4. 2. 3, तदस्मा ऽ इदं सर्वमन्नं करोति ब्राह्मणमेवापोद्धरति तस्माद् ब्राह्मणो नान्यः सोमराजा हि भवति। ### [c37.26](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.26) ⁴ \*Aitareya Brāhmaṇa\*, VII, 29. ### [c37.27](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.27) The claim of the Śatapatha author is limited to a freedom from taxation in favour of the Brahmin. Vasishtha in his Dharma-Śāstra (I. 45),¹ on the authority of the comment of the Śatapatha, deduces the rule that a Brahmin should not be taxed, and gives a further reason that he pays his taxes by allowing one-sixth of his good deeds to the king! (1. 44). It seems that originally there was a difference of opinion between the Dharma school and the Artha school on the question of exemption claimed for the Vedic Brahmin The politicians did not admit the claim. The Mānava Artha-Śāstra (a work of authority referred to in the Mahā-Bhārata also, but not yet discoverd) is quoted by Somadeva in his Nītivākyāmṛita (C. VII.) which says that even those practising austerities in the forest and living by gleaning corn from the fields pay one-sixth of it to the king. It ### [c37.28](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.28) ¹ राजात्तुधर्मेणानुशासन्वष्टं धनस्य हरेत्। ४२। ### [c37.29](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.29) "The king when ruling lawfully should take one-sixth of wealth." अन्यत्र ब्राह्मणात् ॥ ४३॥ "Except from the Brahmin". इष्टापूर्तस्य तु, षष्ठमंश भजतीति ह ॥ ४४॥ "For "he divides with him one-sixth share of his virtuous deeds indeed" ब्राह्मणे वेदमाढ्यं करोति ब्राह्मणो आपद् उद्धरति तस्माद्ब्राह्मणो नाद्यः। सोमोऽस्य राजा भवतीति ह ॥ ४५ ॥ "The Brahmin enriches the Veda, the Brahmin rescues from calamity; hence the "Brahmin is not to be taxed. 'Soma becomes his king' (Śatapatha) indeed." ### [c37.30](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.30) is the (share) of him who protects them (उञ्छषड्भागप्रदानेन वनस्था अपि तपस्विनो राजानं सम्भावयन्ति। तस्यैव तद्भूयात् यस्तान् गोपायती इति ॥) Final settlement seems to be that the Priest-Brahmin alone was exempted. The Mahā-Bhārata¹ (Sānti, lxxvi. 5) makes Brahmins who are not Vedic priests liable to taxation. Manu's Dharma Code also limits the exemption to the Vedic priest, Śrotriya (VII. 133).² ### [c37.31](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.31) ¹ अश्रोत्रियाः सर्व एते सर्वे चानाहिताग्नयः। तान्सर्वान् धार्मिको राजा बलिं वि ष्टि च कारयेत ॥ \*M. Bh.\*, Ś., 76. 5. ### [c37.32](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.32) ² म्रियमाणोऽप्याददीत न राजा श्रोत्रियात्करम्। \*M.\*, VII. 133. ### [c37.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.33) The treatment of the passage from the coronation ceremonial by lawyers like Vasishtha proves that the constitutional bearing of the ceremonials and formulæ was evident to the ancient Hindus. They were regarded as basis of constitutional law by code-writers. ### [c37.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.34) After three steps he ascends the wooden throne and he is addressed as in the Vājapeya with these constitutional sentences taken from the Saṃhitā: ### [c37.35](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.35) इयं ते राट्।...यन्तासि यमनो ध्रुवोऽसि धरुणः। कृष्यै त्वा क्षेमाय त्वा रय्यै त्वा पोषाय त्वा ॥³ ### [c37.36](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.36) ³ \*Śatapatha\*, V. 2. 1, 25. ### [c37.37](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.37) (1) "To thee this State is given; (2) "thou art the director and regulator, thou "art steadfast and bearer (of this state or responsibility) "(3) \*to thee (this State is given)\* for agriculture, for "well-being, for prosperity, for development". After the first sentence is pronounced, he is made "to sit down. ### [c37.38](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.38) The theological interpreter emphasises that it is by virtue of the above formula that sovereignty vests in the man. "By that he is endowed with royal "authority". 'To thee this State is given' is the most sacred text uttered at the Hindu coronation. It bore such a mighty solemn consequence as the vesting of sovereignty in one man. The terse comment of the author of the \*Brāhmaṇa\* is immensely important in the history of the institution of Hindu Kingship. It is this sacred act of delivering the trust that kingship depended upon, and not on any other principle such as that of succession, or inheritance. ### [c37.39](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.39) The purpose for which 'the State is given' is defined, 'for culture, well-being, prosperity, development' and is generally summed up in the expression: 'for the weal'; as the Commentator explains (साधवे त्वा;. It is not a gift; it is a trust, and a trust made sacred by the most sacred rites. ### [c37.40](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.40) The conception armoured in sacredness is wholly human. The son of X X and Y Y is made the king of the people Z. Z. He is not the son or lieutenant of any God. Nor is he appointed by any superhuman spirit. He is appointed by man, anointed by man. Gods are invoked to aid him, just as they are invoked in any other undertaking. But they do not confer the State. That is done by the human act expressed in the words—'To thee the State is given'. ### [c37.41](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.41) § 228. These sentences are taken from mantra 22, Chapter IX of the Saṃhitā. The original mantra begins with salutations to the "Mother Land" \[नमो मात्रे॑ पृथि॒व्यै नमो॑ मा॒त्रे पृथि॒व्या ...\]¹ and she is pointed out to the King-elect as the State or Sovereignty. The modern editions of the \*Śatapatha\* give the words \*\*साधवे त्वा\*\* after \*\*पोपाय त्वा\*\* with an intervening \*\*इति\*\*. The Saṃhitā shows that these words are not part of the sacred text. They must have been used by the author of the \*Śatapatha\* as explanatory. ### [c37.42](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.42) ¹ Ibid. ### [c37.43](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.43) §229. Now we come to comparatively unimportant and less rigid \*\*post-Abhisheka ceremonies\*\*. ### [c37.44](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.44) The "vow-holder" steps down from the throne and puts on shoes of boar-skin,¹ and takes a symbolical short drive in a chariot drawn by four horses.² This seems to be the origin of the Hindu pageantry of the coronation procession, which assumes gorgeousness in the age when the Rāmāyaṇa was composed. ### [c37.45](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.45) ¹ \*Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa\* V. 4. 3. 19. ### [c37.46](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.46) ² \*Ibid.\*, V. 4. 4. 23 etc. ### [c37.47](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.47) The King comes back immediately to the throne which he again ascends while the priest recites: 'Sit thee on 'the pleasant soft-seated throne!'³ Then follows an exceedingly queer procedure. \*\*The king's person is silently touched on the back with a rod which is the symbolic sceptre of justice\*\*, ⁴ conveying by the action the view of the sacred common law that \*\*the king was not above but under the law\*\*.⁵ The interpretation given of this procedure is an amusing piece of euphemism. The commentator says that it is done to carry the king's person beyond 'judicial destruction' (\*daṇḍa-vadha\*)! ### [c37.48](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.48) ³ \*Ibid.\*, V. 4. 4. 4. ### [c37.49](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.49) ⁴ \*Ibid.\*, V. 4. 4. 7. \*\*अथैनं पृष्ठतस्तूष्णीमेव दण्डैर्ध्नन्ति। तं दण्डैर्ध्नन्तो दण्डवधमति- नयन्ति तस्माद्राजा दण्ड्यो यदेनं दण्डवधमतिनयन्ति ॥\*\* ### [c37.50](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.50) ⁵ Cf. \*Manu\*, VII. ### [c37.51](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.51) § 230. Amongst the post-abhisheka ceremonies, the homage and its symbolical acknowledgment are most important both from the ritualistic and constitutional points of view. The set formulae with fixed epithets and adjectives and their universal and uniform occurrence in the Śruti literature indicate sacerdotal rigidity and the consequent importance of the function. ### [c37.52](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.52) § 231. The King seated on the throne is surrounded by the Ratnins sitting below, by Brahmins as an estate of the realm, by Brahmins as priests, by nobles, by the Grāmaṇī and others. The homage to the King is first paid by the Brahmins both as estate and as priest in the council of the Ratnins. The homage of the estates is preceded by the homage of the King to the Pṛithivī, the Earth, or the Land:— ### [c37.53](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.53) पृथिवि मातर्मा मा हि꣫सीन्मो ऽ अहं त्वाम् । ### [c37.54](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.54) "Mother Prithivī, injure me not, "nor I thee." ### [c37.55](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.55) "This is performed, says the interpreter, 'lest She "should shake him off.'"¹ ### [c37.56](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.56) ¹ \*Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa\*, V. 4. 3. 20. मेयं नावधुन्वीत. According to the author of the \*Śatapatha\* the country and the king entered into friendly relations for 'a mother does not injure her son, nor does a son, injure his mother;' नहि माता पुत्रं꣫ हिनस्ति न पुत्रो मातरम् ॥ Eggeling, \*S. B. E.\*, Vol. XLI, p. 110. ### [c37.57](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.57) In the prologue of the function to the address 'O, Brāhmaṇa' by the king—the reply comes forth interrupting the king²: 'Thou art Brāhmaṇa, thou art Varuṇa 'of true power.' 'Thou art Brāhmaṇa, mighty 'through the strength of the whole People (Viś)'¹ Five times, five individual Brahmins and priests, the king tries to address by the privileged designation, and in all cases the title of privilege is, so to say, resigned in the sovereign's favour,¹ and the sovereign and the popular representative character of the king ('through the strength of the people') is pointed out. ### [c37.58](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.58) ² \*Taittirīya Saṁhitā\*, X. 28. \*Taittirīya Br.\*, 1. 7. 10. ### [c37.59](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.59) ¹ Evidently the idea is that the Brahmin may not now be addressed by his privileged designation of superiority. The superiority which is given to the king by the whole nation including the Brahmin makes the Hindu king legally and constitutionally superior to all classes and castes. ### [c37.60](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.60) "A Brāhmaṇa or a priest then offers the sacrificial sword"² to the king, the increaser of the public prosperity.³ The sword thus received, he passes on as symbol of authority to all the state officers and the village headmen. And he demands their co-operation by quoting gracefully the very words of fealty used by the Brahmin—'\*Rule for me therewith\*', (\*tena me rādhya\*). It has a double meaning '\*serve me therewith\*', (\*tena me rādhya\*).⁴ In the latter case the second meaning is intended. The command for co-operation is even directed to the \*Sajāta\*, an individual member of the nation⁵. ### [c37.61](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.61) ² \*Satapatha Br.\*, V. 4. 4. 15. ### [c37.62](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.62) ³ \*Ibid.\*, V. 4. 4. 14. Lit "the much worker, better worker, more worker". ### [c37.63](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.63) ⁴ A puzzle in which the author of the \*Satapatha\* (V. 4. 4. 15 to 19) lands himself by not realising the pun. ### [c37.64](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.64) ⁵ Receiving costly presents in homage and making generous gifts in return which abnormally developed in later times and which Muhammadan monarchs continued, is not known to the rituals even in symbols. ### [c37.65](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.65) §232. The new king does not stop here. To impress that the administration, like a game of dice, is not possible by a single man, he asks the \*Ratnins\* to a symbolical game of dice. The bet is a cow, brought for the occasion by an ordinary member of the community.cont Thus in this great game of government which the king and his ministers were going to play, there was laid that sacred bet. The bet was the wealth of the most humble member of the community. It was willingly and graciously offered by the humble citizen. It was placed in their trust by a \*Sajāta\*, 'one born together' with the players, or, as Sāyaṇa explains, 'one of equal birth', i.e., one of the Nation. There is a constitutionalism put here in physical symbols; there is pathos intermingled with duty. The abstract has been thickly clad in the concrete. ### [c37.66](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.66) ⁶ \*Ibid.\*, V. 4. 4. 20—23. ### [c37.67](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.67) § 233. Now the chief features of the ceremonies comprised in 'Hindu Coronation' are before the reader. In modern language they may be summed up and expressed for the sake of clearness in a few sentences :— ### [c37.68](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.68) (a) Hindu kingship was a human institution. ### [c37.69](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.69) (b) Hindu kingship was elective;¹ the electorate being the whole People. ### [c37.70](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.70) ¹ A son of the king-elect once plays a little part in a minor ritual, \*Śatapatha\*, V. 4. 2. 8. But it is not found in corresponding place in the Krishna Yajus ritual. ### [c37.71](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.71) (c) Hindu kingship was a contractual engagement. ### [c37.72](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.72) (d) Hindu kingship was an office of State, which had to work in co-operation with other offices of State. ### [c37.73](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.73) (e) Hindu kingship was a trust, the trust being the tending of the country to prosperity and growth.¹ ### [c37.74](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.74) ¹ Soon after—in the Upanishadic period—a new duty is placed on royal administration. The prosperity of the subjects should be not only material, but also moral. When five great theologians went to Aśvapati, king of Kekaya, he said with satisfaction :— ### [c37.75](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.75) (f) Hindu kingship is expressly not arbitrary. ### [c37.76](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.76) (g) Hindu kingship was not above the law but under it. ### [c37.77](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.77) (h) Hindu kingship was primarily national and secondarily territorial.² ### [c37.78](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.78) ² See ‘King of the people 2.2,’ and the Collection of the Waters, and the Homage to the Land. ### [c37.79](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.79) This constitutional conception is not undeserving of our philosophic forefathers. The Hindu race did not care solely for the world-after. Here, in one instance, we see the Hindu, of flesh and blood, and of sinews and muscles. It is surely not the despicable picture which represents them as an unholy assemblage of spiritual imbeciles, born to 'bow before the blast and plunge in thought again.' ### [c37.80](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.80) § 234. The \*Brāhmaṇas\* do not recognise such a thing as hereditary succession. Each king must be consecrated as such and no reference is made to the previous successions in the rituals. This was due to the elective origin of the Vedic kingship. In fact, as in theory, Hindu kingship had not yet become hereditary in the time of the Brāhmaṇas. The inception ### [c37.81](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.81) न मे स्तेनो जनपदे न कदर्यो न मद्यपः। न नाहिताग्निर् नाविद्वान् न्स्वैरी स्वैरिणी कुतः ॥ ### [c37.82](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.82) ‘In my kingdom there is no thief, no coward, no drunkard, no man without the sacrificial fire set up in his house, no one uneducated, no adulterer, \*much less an adulteress\*’ (Chhāndogya Up., V 11 7.) Here we have the beginning of that theory which becomes an axiom in later times, that political rule of the king is responsible for the moral condition of the people and that he is responsible for good and bad times. ### [c37.83](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.83) of the hereditary principle, however, is discernible. According to the opinion of one school, if the coronation was desired for the l i f e-t i m e of the king-elect, only the first syllable of the \*Vyāhriti\*—‘Bhūḥ’ भूः, was to be pronounced, if it was for t w o g e n e r a t i o n s, ‘bhūrbhuvaḥ’ (भूर्भुवः) and if for t h r e e g e n e r a t i o n s, ‘bhūrbhuvaḥ’ Svaḥ (भूर्भुवः स्वः) the complete formula was to be repeated.¹ This was the opinion of one school of ritualists as indicated in the Aitareya Br. A historical reference to this theory is found in the inscription of Khāravela where coronation for one generation is mentioned,² which naturally implies that coronation for generations more than one was possible. The tendency to hereditary kingship is corroborated further by the occurrence of \*rājānaṃ rāja-pita-raṃ\* (‘king and father of a king’) in the Aitareya Br. VIII. 12, while no such adjective to republican \*Svarāj\* or \*Virāj\* is added. But the rituals as originally designed were for each generation, and the one generation consecrated became the rule in practice for all ages to come, even when kingship became hereditary. ### [c37.84](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.84) ¹ \*Aitareya Brāhmaṇa\*, VIII, 7. ### [c37.85](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.85) ² J.B.O.R.S. III, 41. ### [c37.86](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.86) § 235. Before we leave this period we have to take note of the sacred ceremony indicating the fact of d e p o s i t i o n. Books xix to xxi of the Śukla Yajurveda prescribe formulæ of the Sautrāmaṇi sacrifice which a dethroned monarch performed. The Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa ### [c37.87](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.87) भूरिति य इच्छेदिममेव प्रत्यन्नमद्यादित्थ य इच्छेद् द्विपुरुषं भूर्भुव इत्यथ य इच्छेत्त्रिपुरुषं वा ऽप्रतिमं वा भूर्भुवः स्वरिति । ### [c37.88](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.88) Cf. also ‘rājānaṁ rājapitaram’ in VIII, 12. ### [c37.89](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.89) of the Kṛishṇa Yajurveda similarly recommends the Sautrāmaṇī to a deposed monarch.¹ Deposition thus in this period is as much a recognised practice as in the early Vedic times. Its existence in later times is thus sanctioned by previous history. ### [c37.90](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.90) ¹ सोमो॑ वा ए॒तस्य॒ राज्य॒माद॑त्ते । यो राजा॒ सन्त्साम्प्र्यो वा सोमे॑न॒ यज॑ते । दे॒व॒स्वामे॒तानि ह॒वीꣳषि॑ भवन्ति । ए॒ताव॑न्तो वै दे॒वानाꣳ॑ स॒वाः । त ए॒वास्मै॑ स॒वान् प्रय॑च्छन्ति । त ए॑नं॒ पुन॒स् सन्व॑न्ते॒ राज्या॑य । दे॒व॒सू राजा॑ भवति । ### [c37.91](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37.91) ¹ Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, I. 4. 2. See also Sāyaṇa on it (Ānandāśrama ed. I, p. 179). ## Linked texts (11) - [Śatapathabrāhmaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.satapatha.5.3.5.2) — Yājñavalkya & Śāṇḍilya (Vedic teacher), Sanskrit - [Aitareyabrāhmaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya.8.18) — Mahidāsa Aitareya, Sanskrit - [Vājasaneyisaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.suklayajur*vajasaneyi.10.27) — Sanskrit - [Taittirīyabrāhmaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.taittiriya.1.7.10.2) — Sanskrit - [Mānava Dharmaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu.7.133) — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit - [Taittirīyasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.krsnayajur*taittiriya.1.8.16) — Sanskrit - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.12.76.5) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Vasiṣṭhadharmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.dharma.vasistha.1.45) — Vasiṣṭha, Sanskrit - [Chāndogyopaniṣad](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.upanisad.mukhya.chandogya.5.11.7) — Sanskrit - [Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki) — Vālmīki, Sanskrit - [Nītivākyāmṛta](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.artha.nitivakyamrta) — Somadevasūri, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.jayaswal-1924.c37) · Pramāṇa