Indian Antiquary Vol 48

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

Page 94

90
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[JUNE, 1919
(1) The royal priest, in the meantime, makes offerings of milk and honey to the divi. nities and sits on a chair covered with a tiger's skin. So seated he binds the prince's head with a fillet and puts on it the crown with the formulas "Dhruvadyaih, &c.," an English-rendering of which is given below : "Firm is the heaven, firm is the earth, firm are these mountains, firm is this entire
world, so may this king of men be firm." "May the royal Varuna, the divine Brihaspati, may Indra and Agni ever give stability
to thy kingdom.” “With a constant oblation we handle the constant Soma; therefore may Indra render
thy subject people payers of (their) taxes." 33 The throne-seat, on which the prince is next seated, is covered with the skins of five animals, bull, eat, wolf, lion and tiger. A symbolic meaning, not given in the texts, was no doubt attached to the spreading of these skins one over another. The tiger skin, as has been seen in connection with a previous ritual, indicated kingly power.
(0) The Agni-Purana next speaks of the Pratihara presenting officials to the king. It is added by the Nitimayúkha that distinguished townsmen, merchants and other subjects are also admitted to this honour. 1 6, k & I) The king now presents the royal priest and the astrologer with cows, goats, sheep, horses, &c., and honours the other brâhmaņas with similar gifts and a sumptuous feast.
After going round the sacrificial fire and saluting the Guru and one or two minor rituals, he sits on a sanctified horse but gets down the next moment to sit on the state elephant similarly sanctified and rides through the principal thoroughfares of the metropolis amid a gorgeous procession. After return to his palace, be accepts the presents made by his subjects, whom he receives with honour and entertains to a feast. Presents in return are also made by the king to his subjects.
It will not be out of place to recount succinctly the principal features of the English coronation of the past in order to show the degree of parallelism between it and that of the Hindus. The early English coronation had many features found in those of other European countries in the past, and may, for this reason, be taken for our purposes as a type of the early European Coronations generally.36
1. The prince attended by a largu number of nobles and government officers made a stately progress to the Tower of London where he resided a day or two to dub as Knights of the Bath a number of candidates who had to perform vigil and other rites preparatory to this honour.
2. Amid & su lemn and gorgeous procession in which the new Knights of the Bath, nobles, government officers, and clergymen occupied the particular positions allotted to them, the prince under various marks of honour displayed by the citizens rode to Westminster Hall on the day previous to the day of coronation.
33 Rig Veda, X, 173, 4-6 (translation by Prof. H. H, Wilson).
The Manasara, as quoted in Goldstücker's Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 284, under abhisheka) namos two officers athapati and sthapaka taking part in a function not detailed in the texts used above. The qupon is also mentioned as sitting on a throne along with the king.
*5 For the following information on the European coronation, 86 Chapters on Coronations, muthor not mentioned ; Glory of Regality by Arthur Taylor, and Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition, der "Coronation.”