Indian Antiquary Vol 48

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 91

JUNE, 1919 )
ANCIENT HINDU CORONATION AND ALLIED CEREMONIALS
87
the whole coremony much more elaborate. The main divisions of the ceremony may be marked out into (1) Aind/-Santi on a day previous to that of abhisheka, (2) (On the abhisheka day).
(a) Performance of Homa. (6) Symbolic bathing (i.e., touching the prince's body with earth brought from
various places-mriltila-anana). (c) Sprinkling of water on the prince by ministers. (d) Sprinkling of liquids by Rig Vedic and Sama-Vedic brahmanas, and the royal
priest. (e) Sprinkling of water through a pitcher perforated with a bun treil holes) by
the royal priest. (1) Rites by the Yajur Vedic and Atharva-Vedic brahmanas. (g) Seeing auspicious things. (h) Crowning. (1) Presentation of officials to the prince. (j) Payment of fees to brdh mantas and coronation feast. (k) Royal procession through the metropolis,
(1) Return of the procession to the royal palace and gifts to the people. If the reigning king instals his successor on the throne just before his retirement, he may have the abhisheka performed under his auspices on a clay prescribed as appropriate for the purpose. If, however, he dies without performing this ceremony for his successor, the Agni-Purana 21 allows for the latter & provisional abhisheka which can be celebrated irrespective of the auspicious or inauspicious nature of the day on which it is held. The reason for such a provision is obvious: the formal vesting of regal powers in the prince in order to enable him to discharge kingly duties cannot be long postponed ; for such postponement may lead to difficulties. The rituals of the ceremony are succinctly mentioned as symbolic bathing of the prince with sesamum and white mustard at which the royal priest and the astrologer officiate, the hailing of the prince with the cry of victory after which he sits on a bhadrâsana, proclaims safety for his subjects and issues order to his officers for releasing prisoners. The coronation whether performed under the supervision of the retiring king, or in the case of his death, after the provisional coronation, has to be held on an auspicious day which is fixed in accordance with recommendations of the texts 23 on the subject.
Details of the aforesaid main divisions are :-Ro. (1). The Agni-Purâna does not furnish its rituals, which, however, are given in later works like the Niti-mayakha. " which may be summarised thus: After the formal declaration of the king's intention to perform the Aindri-Santi, the officiating priests are formally entrusted with these duties:-A vedi (altar) is constructed and upon it a Mahâvedi (great altar) on which three lines are drawn on sand,
- The Agni-Purdņa, ch. 218, devotes 6lks, 5 and to this provisional abhisheka and the real meaning of the passage can easily elude the reader unless light be focused on it from other works such as the Vishnu-dharmottara, pt. II, ch. 18.
See, for instance, Vishnu-dharmottara, pt. II, ch. 18, álks. 6-14; Goldstücker's Dictionary refers to Jyotisha-ratna-mala and Muhairla-chintamani on this point.
* Nus-maynkha (Ms. in ASB.), pp. 4-10. Minor details and mantras have been omitted in the above summary