________________
380
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
10. A thousand (cows), or a choice village, is the fee for the priest.'
The Kausika continues further with another mode of consecration for an ekaraga, 'sole ruler1' 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, I. c., 139. By itself it figures as the abhishekagana in the Ganamålå, Ath. Paris. 32, 30.
Stansa 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.
Stansa 8. 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-vyasthåpana-mantrâh at Tait. S. I, 8, 13, 1. 2; Tait. Br. I, 7, 7, 1. 2.
I am inclined to think that'sole ruler,' and not 'simple king,' as Weber (p. 141) renders it, is the meaning of ekaraga; cf. ekarag in Ait. Br. VIII, 15, 1 (scholiast, eka eva râga); 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 Satra 11 with the words, mahabhishekavidhim vakshyâmah. The entire passage Kaus. 17, 11-29 deals with this more pompous ceremony.
Digitized by
Digitized by Google
