Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 48
Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications
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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[JUNE, 1919
ANCIENT HINDU CORONATION AND ALLIED CEREMONIALS. BY NARENDRA NATH LAW, M.A., B.L., P.R.S.
SECTION I.
Rajyabhisheka. THE Vedic work from which the rites of coronation derived their sanction is not the Atharva-Voda alone, as will be apparent from the statement of the Nitimayikha, which gives details of the ceremony, "according to the Gopatha-Brahmana of the Atharra-Veda, as also those not dependent on its authority." The existence of the coronation can be traced much earlier than the Ciopatha-Brahmana. The Taittiriya-Brahmana. gives its details as an independent performance in three sections which are separate from those deroted co the rajasiya. Wilson and Goldstücker observe that "the rites of the Abhisheka which is not part of a râjasitya sacrifice, but a ceremony performed at a king's accession to the throne, are: similar to, but not identical with, those of the Fundrabhisheka; they are founded on the proceedings which took place when Indra was consecrated by the gods as their supreme ruler, and which forms the subject of the 38th chapter of the Aitareya-Brahmana," If the Taittiriya-Brahmana be older than the Aitareya, as Prof. Macdonell suggests, then the similarity between the abhisheka and the punarubhisheka cannot be taken as indicative of the derivation of the one from the other. Abhisheka appears therefore to have been an independent ceremony existing side by side with the râjasiya.
The abhishe ka as detailed in the Taittiriya-Brahmana begins with seven mantras to be uttered by the priest for performing a homa before the ritual of sprinkling takes place. The first mantra speaks of the prince's rebirth as the son of the qitviks (sacrificial prests). with his vigour immensely increased by his symbolic entrance into the homa fire and exit therefrom, and wishes him capability to keep his subjects from sinful ways. The second wishes him an extended kingdom, a stout physique for its efficient administration, and a good supply of cattle for the performance of the sacrifices. The third wishes him to be the guide of men, and wants him to solemnly say that he would protect the good and punish the wicked. The fourth and fifth inroke blessing on him for prosperity, while the sixth and seventh for the glorification of the castes by his power, the prosperity of his subjects, and the extension of Prajapati's protection to him.
In these mantras, two points are note-worthy: (1) The belief of the prince's rebirth us the son of the sacrificial priests; which appears akin to the rebirth of the twice-born by the upanayana sacrament for their initiation into the study of the Vedas. The prince, as it were, becomes a totally different being with his faculties and physical vigour renewed and increased for the discharge of the new duties that the assumption of kingly office will devolve upon him. Such a belief perhaps made the performance of the coronation ceremony
1 Nitimayakha by Nilakha Bhatta (MS. in ASB. No. II, A. 25), p.3. The discourse on coronation in the Bharata-rahasya (in Bengali) by Ramadåsa Sena cites a short passage from the Gopatha. Brahmana without any reference to its location in the Brahmana. I could not trace it either in the Bibliotheca Indica, or the Bombay edition of the work. I do not understand why, unless the Daser go bas eluded my search, it should be omitted in the editions.
? Taittiriya, Brah mana, II, 7, 15-17. Rig Veda, X, 173-174, refer to rituals for steadying the king in his office by the propitiation of certain deities. It is not clear whether they have any connection with the coronation, if any, prevailing at that time.
3 Goldstücker's Dictionary, p. 277, under "Abhisheka." 4 Prof. A. Macdonell's History of Sanskrit Literature, p. 203.
