M 



382 Rajendralala Mitra — An Imperial Assemblage [No. 3, 



of the chapter on the Rajasiiya in the Aitariya Brahmana, he would 

 have found that it does not profess to give the whole of the ritual, but 

 only " the Shastras and Stotras required at the Soma day of the Rajasuya,"* 

 and its evidence therefore is immaterial. The fourth has arisen from 

 a misapprehension of the real nature of the rite. An emperor doing honour 

 to his guests, does no more thereby lower himself in his majesty than 

 does the father-in-law become inferior to a bridegroom who accepts the 

 position of a son, by offering him an argliya. The fifth, like the second, 

 is a mere assumption. There is not a tittle of evidence to show that the 

 Buddhists originated the arghga by way of protest to the sacrifices of the 

 Vedas, and there is nothing in the argliya decidedly and exclusively cha- 

 racteristic of Buddhism. The Buddhists were not foreigners importing 

 foreign customs and manners, but schismatics who, like the followers of 

 Luther and Wicliffe, rejected all idolatrous, unmeaning, and superstitious 

 rituals and observances, but retained all social rules and customs of their 

 forefathers. Even Piyadasi, the greatest opponent of Hinduism, did not 

 think it inconsistent with his principle to enjoin, in his rock edicts, due re- 

 spect to Brahmans. A priori it is, therefore, to be supposed that the Bud- 

 dhists did not reject so innocent a custom as that of offering flowers and 

 incense to a guest. The Hindu-hating Muhammadans adopted it from the 

 Hindus. Besides, the Buddhists do not in the present day offer argJigas, 

 and, except in their Tantras, avowedly borrowed from the Hindus, there is 

 no mention of the rite in their ancient books. 



To turn however to the Rajasiiya of the Pandavas. The tumult having 

 subsided, the crowning act of the long protracted sacrifice was duly performed. 

 The consecrated water was with all solemnity sprinkled on the newly-created 

 emperor, allegiance was acknowledged by all the guests, and the ceremony 

 was brought to a conclusion amidst the cheers and congratulations of one and 

 all. The guests now dispersed, the chiefs with every mark of honour and 

 consideration, each being accompanied by a brother of Yudhishthira to the 

 confines of the Raj ; and the Brahmans loaded with the most costly gifts. 



Mr. Wheeler opines that " the so-called Rajas who really attended the 

 Rajasuyawere,in all probability, a rude company of half -naked warriors, who 

 feasted boisterously beneath the shade of trees. Their conversation was 

 very likely confined to their domestic relations, such as the state of their 

 health, of their families, the exploits of their sons, and the marriages of 

 their daughters ; or to their domestic circumstances, such as herds of cattle, 

 harvests of grain, and feats of arms against robbers and wild beasts. Their 

 highest ideas were probably simple conceptions of the gods who sent heat 

 and rain ; who gave long life, abundance of children, prolific cattle, and 

 brimming harvests ; and who occasionally manifested their wrath in light- 

 * Haug's Translation, p. 495. 



