Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s5.279

v2.c4.s5.279

Rāja-sūya is the name in the Atharvaveda¹ and the later literature² of the ceremony of the ‘royal consecration.’ The rite is described at great length in the Sūtras,³ but its main features are clearly outlined in the Brāhmaṇas,⁴ while the verses used in the ceremony are preserved in the Saṃhitās of the Yajurveda.⁵ Besides much mere priestly elaboration, the ritual contains traces of popular ceremonial. For example, the king is clothed in the ceremonial garments of his rank, and provided with bow and arrow as emblems of sovereignty. He is formally anointed; he performs a mimic cow raid against a relative of his;⁶ or engages in a sham fight with a Rājanya.⁷ A game of dice is played in which he is made to be the victim;⁸ he symbolically ascends the quarters of the sky as an indication of his universal rule; and steps on a tiger skin, thus gaining the strength and the pre-eminence of the tiger.