The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c7.158

c7.158

There are other sacrifices of which the significance is not perfectly clear but which seem to imply some sort of suzerainty. In the Aitareya Brâhmaṇa the Punarabhiṣeka or the second consecration entitles a king to all sorts of royal dignities.³ There Janamejaya aspires to universal dominion.⁴ The Sarvamedha, mentioned in the Śatapatha Brâhmaṇa, was another grand sacrifice.⁵ All consecration, however, was of great moment. Performed in other connections, it made Vaiśyas equal to Brâhmaṇas for the time being. All who underwent it were at least temporarily equal to gods.⁶