History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.145.1

v4.c62.145.1

There were, it appears, several grades of rulers from the most ancient times. The word *rājan* occurs in numerous places in the Ṛgveda. It is applied to such gods as Mitra and Varuṇa (Ṛg. VII. 64. 2), Varuṇa (Ṛg. I. 24. 12 and 13, X. 173. 5). It appears to be used in two senses, viz. (1) ‘king’ as in Ṛg. I. 65. 7, III. 43. 5 (‘will you make me the protector of people, the king, O Indra’), IV. 4. 1, IX. 7. 5, X. 174. 4) and (2) ‘noble’ as in Ṛg. IX. 10. 3, X. 78. 1, X. 97. 6 (‘where the plants come together as nobles in an assembly’ *rājānaḥ samitāviva*). In Ṛg. VIII. 21. 18 it is said⁸⁷ ‘Citra who gave thousands and ten thousands is the only king, others are only small chiefs along the bank of the Sarasvatī’. The word ‘*samrāj*’ is known to the Ṛgveda and is used as an epithet of Varuṇa (in Ṛg. VI. 68. 9) and of Indra (in Ṛg. VIII. 16. 1) and the word *sāmrājya* also occurs in relation to Varuṇa in Ṛg. I. 25. 10. In Ṛg. VIII. 37. 3 Indra is said to be sole ruler of the world (*ekarāṭ*). It is not unlikely therefore that the idea of an emperor who had suzerainty over several kings was known, though it is possible that in Ṛg. VIII. 37. 3 the word is used only in a metaphorical sense. In Ṛg. VII. 83. 7–887a it is said that ten kings though they formed a confederacy could not vanquish king Sudās and that in the ten kings’ battle (*dāśarājñe*) Indra and Varuṇa helped Sudās who was surrounded by them on all sides.