. V 



1876.] at Delhi three thousand years ago. 393 



repeating the mantra, " I sprinkle this by order of Savita, with a faultless 

 thread of grass (pavitra)— with the light of the sun. You are, waters, 

 unassailable, the friends of speech, born of heat, the giver of Soma, and the 

 sanctified by mantra, do ye grant a kingdom (to our Yajamana.)" 



Four buckets were next brought out, one made of Palasa wood, (Butea 

 frondosa) one of Udumbara (Ficus glomerata), one of Yata (Ficus indica), 

 and one of Asvattha (Ficus reliyiosa), and the collected waters in the 

 bucket were divided into four parts, and poured into them. 



The king was then made to put on his bathing dress, consisting of an 

 inner garment for the loins (tdrpya) made of linen or cotton cloth 

 steeped in clarified butter, a red blanket for the body (Fandya), an outer 

 wrapper tied round the neck like a barber's sheet (adhivdsa), and a turban 

 (ushnisa). A bow was then brought forth, duly strung, and then handed to 

 the king, along with three kinds of arrows, for all which appropriate 

 mantras are provided. 



The Adhvaryu then, taking the right hand of the king, repeated the two 

 following mantras : (1st) May Savita appoint you as the sovereign of the 

 people. May Agni, the adored of householders, appoint you the ruler of all 

 householders. May Soma, the sovereign of the vegetable kingdom, grant you 

 supremacy over vegetables. May Yrihaspati, the developer of speech, bestow 

 on you power over speech. May Indra, the eldest, make you the eldest over all. 

 May Rudra, the lord of animals, make you supreme over all animals. May 

 truthful Mitra make you the protector of truth. May Yaruna, the defender 

 of virtuous actions, grant you lordship over virtue." (2nd). "0 well- 

 worshipped gods, Do you free so and so (naming the king), the son of so 

 and so (naming the father and mother of the king), from all enemies, and 

 enable him to be worthy of the highest duties of Kshatriyas, of the eldest, 

 of the lord of vehicles, and of supremacy. Through your blessings he has 

 become the king of such a nation (naming it). O ye persons of that nation, 

 from this day, he is your king. Of us Brahmans, Soma is the king." The 

 concluding line of the last mantra is worthy of note, as it exempts the 

 Brahmans from the sovereignty of the anointed king. 



A few offerings to the fire next followed, and the king was then made 

 emblematically to conquer the four quarters of the earth and the sky. 

 Making him advance successively -towards the east, north, south, and west, 

 the Adhvaryu said, " Yajamana, conquer the earth. May the metre Gayatri, 

 the Rathantara Sama hymn, the Stoma named Trivit, the spring season and 

 the Brahman caste protect you on this side." " Yajamana, conquer the 

 south. May the metre Trishtup, the Brihat Sama hymn, the fifteen-fold 

 Stoma, the summer season and the Kshatriya caste protect you there." 

 "Yajamana, conquer the west. May the metre Jagati, the Yairupa Sama 

 hymns, the seventeen-f old Stoma, the rainy season and the Yaisya caste protect 



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