w 



894 



Bajendralala Mitra — An Imperial Assemblage 



[No. 3, 



you there." " Yajamana, conquer the north. May the metre Anushtup, the 

 Vairaja Sama hymns, the twenty-one-fold Stoma, the Autumn season, and the 

 fruits of the earth protect you there." The king was then made to look 

 upwards, and while he did so, the Adhvaryu recited a mantra saying, 

 " Yajamana, conquer the upper regions. May the metre Pankti, the Sakvara 

 and the Eaivata Sama hymns, the three-fold-nine and the thirty-three-fold 

 Stomas, the dewy and the cold seasons, Yigour and Dravina wealth protect 

 you there." 



A stool, made of the wood of the Mimosa catechu (KJiadira) or of the 

 Metis glomerata, having feet about seven inches high, had next to be pro- 

 vided, and thereon was spread a tiger skin with the hairy side upwards 

 and the head looking to the south, the mantra for the purpose saying, that 

 even as the skin was the glory of the moon so should it confer glory 

 on the king. On the skin was placed a S'atamdna, a bit of gold of the weight 

 of a hundred measures,* or a coin of that name — probably the latter. 

 Seated on this bathing stool facing the east, the king had a vessel of gold, 

 weighing a S'atamdna and having nine or a hundred perforations in its bottom, 

 placed on his head. A piece of copper was also placed under his left foot, and 

 a piece of lead under his right foot. The vessel was intended to serve as a rose- 

 head for the fluid for the bathing falling in a shower over the head of the king ; 

 the copper as the emblem of the head of Namuchi, the chief of the Asuras 

 or Demons, who were inimical to religious rites, and the lead that of tatlers 

 and wicked people who had to be put down. The mantras intended to be 

 recited when placing the three articles indicate their character. The king 

 recited the mantras, and then kicked away the metals from under his feet. 

 After this, he lifted his two hands upwards, repeating appropriate mantras, in 

 one of which he promised to rise before the sun every day, and remained in 

 that position. Thereupon, the Adhvaryu came forward and stood in front 

 of him with the bucket made of Palasa wood in his hand. The High 

 Priest or a relative of the king stood on the right side with the bucket of 

 Udumbara wood, and a Kshatriya on the left with the bucket made of 

 Nyagrodha wood, while a Yaisya stood behind with the bucket made of 

 Asvattha wood, and each on his turn, in the order named, poured the contents 

 of his bucket on the king's head. The mantra to be recited when about to 

 pour the water runs thus : " May king Soma and Yaruna and the other 



* The Scholiast takes the S'atamdna to he equivalent to a hundred hrishnalas or ratis; 

 which would be equal to 175 Troy grains ; hut the researches of the learned Mr. Thomas 

 clearly prove that the mdna was nearly treble the weight of the rati, and that the S'ata- 

 mana was equivalent to 320 ratis or 560 Troy grains, which made it equal to four of the 

 well-known old coin Suvarna, which weighed 140 grains Troy— something like the Greek 

 letradrachma, but about twice its weight, and of gold. Marsden's Numismata Orientalia, 

 New Ed., p. 5. ■ 



