Satapatha Bramhana Part 03

SR No.: 007679
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Julius Eggeling
Publisher: Oxford
Publication Year: 1894
Total Pages: 2382
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 45 MB

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10. A thousand (cows), or a choice village, is the fee for the priest.'
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
The Kausika continues further with another mode of consecration for an ekarâga, 'sole ruler 1.' In this the tiger-skin takes the place of the bull's skin. Four princes and a number of servants and subjects participate in this. See Weber, 1. c., p. 141 ff.
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 458; Weber, 1. c., 139. By itself it figures as the abhishekagana in the Ganamâlâ, Ath. Paris. 32, 30.
Stanza 1.
c, d. The king is all-powerful. But there is yet another king, more powerful than he, death. Death is present in person now, as at all times, but he shall assent to the rule of the king.
Stanza 3.
This stanza recurs in a hymn to Indra, RV. III, 38, 4. The manly Asura is primarily Indra. Since Indra is the typical king (kshatriya), stanzas in praise of Indra lend themselves readily to adaptation to praises and beatification of royalty; cf. III, 1, 4; 2, 5, and elsewhere.
Stanza 4.
The tiger, as well as the lion (st. 7), is the king of animals : Sat. Br. V, 5, 4, 10; XII, 7, 1, 8; hence his skin is a mark of royalty. Control of the regions is a sine qua non of royalty; cf. e.g. Maitr. S. II, 1, 12, and the dig-vyâsthâpana-mantrâh at Tait. S. I, 8, 13, 1. 2; Tait. Br. I, 7, 7, 1. 2.
1 I am inclined to think that' sole ruler,' and not 'simple king,' as Weber (p. 141) renders it, is the meaning of ekarâga; cf. ekarag in Ait. Br. VIII, 15, 1 (scholiast, eka eva râgâ); AV. III, 4, 1; RV. VIII, 37, 3, and ekavrishá, AV. IV, 22, 1. 5, a hymn which is rubricated in the sequel of this description (Kaus. 17, 28). Kesava, moreover, introduces Sutra II with the words, mahâbhishekavidhim vakshyâmah. The entire passage Kaus. 17, 11-29 deals with this more pompous ceremony.
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