ACKNOWLE DG RJENT

My friends considered that, as Gagabhatta’s de-

tailed procedure for the Coronatltin Ceremony of
ShlvaJl the Grt•at ( q : ) possesses great
cultural, political and national I mportiint t', Its publ ica-
tlon should m›t b‹• 11 miti: d to tht' t'ircl ‹ uf tht' MaF.ith i -
speaking public only. I am impel It d to accept the1 r
suggestion. But lnstcad of rept ating my prefatt›ry red
marks in that cdltlon, t•val uating the concocted ter
imaginary stories tit’ Murath I writers, I prt•fcrrcd In
this edit ton to trace as nt ar‹ r a tru‹' picture' of the cere-
mony, wlth some historical background, of thu Institu-
tion of 'The Kin g’, The' Sanskrit tt xt, however, re-
mains the same.
The Sanskrit i i'xt has bt'en t›roduced f rom tht• only
copy of th‹' Prayoga so far trai!t'd. No iitt‹•nipt has
bt'en made elthcr at correctic›n or for improvc•mrnt of
tht' tt xt, cxct pt for its completitin by giv Ing rcfercncos. in
the foot-notes, to the Mantras cute. suggested by
Gagabhatta.
I again c'xprt•ss my dt•ep gratitude to my f rlend
Shri S. A. Dangc and the P.P.H. Bookstall, Bombay,
ter their kindly undertaking to publ ish this cdttlon
also. I repeat my 1ndcbtndnt•ss to Shri Manubhal Mehta
for the copy of the manuscript frum tht Bi kaner 6Ianus-
crlpt Library and to my l’rlcnds Prof. N. R. Phatak, Dr.
P. K. Godt•, Shr1 Yt•sh wantrau Phaph‹•, Mahnmaho-
padhyaya Datto Waman Pt›tdar and Shrl C. €i. Karwc
for their kind assistance in varlous ways in my study
of the text.

1st January, 1060.

1227/4, ShivaJlnagar. V. 9. Bendrey.
Poona 4.
 O N T E N TS

Part I: Preface:
1. Coronation : Its slgniflcancc 1
2. Aryan Consecration ceremonies 3
3. Hlndu Concept of Coronation: Its evol utlon 12
4. Hlndavl Swara jya : Nec d for Mahara]a-
bhlsheka c''rt'niony 18
5. Gagabhatta’s Procedure for the Corona-
tion ccrcmon y and his objective behlnd It. 27
7. Natural and otht'r obstacles In tht' way of
ot Coronation 33
8. Coronation Cercmon y . 35
9. MaharaJabhisheka and Its Importance...............5S

Procedure for the Corooatloa

›. fHfis4ik . . . . . ) e

*4
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I DRA WING BY A DUTCH ARTIST PREPA8FD JOB THE ourcn cover uox. von
VMENTYN. WHEt4 SI•IIVA)I NGT kIIH AT THE F \; \ gy g\jgj/q \g
sACx Or s‹/RAT . I6G4 . o. /
 PREFACE

1. CORONATION: ITS SIGNIFICANCE:

In the pal it ical, soclal and rcliglous 11 fe of thr•
human s‹›eJ cty, the coronet ton ter anointing cert•mon y of
a king had attained a very grt•at sign lftcancc. Politi-
cally, it caused ccntrallsatlon of power and contr‹›l of a
kingdom In the person of a king so consecrated. Social- ly,
the right of punishment or Danda ( ) (or al1
kinds of silences or Ill-dolngs st‹iod delegated cut lrcly
to the king’s pcrsr›n. In religious matte•rs,the king was
expected to guard the f recdom of perf ormlng proper
religious rites without obstruction. In short, all those
under tht• king’s subjection louk‹'d upon the person ct
the king, so consecrated, as thrlr truRce for the ad
ministration of justice in all the spheres of llfe, and
also as a source for thc• well-belng of the society as a
whole. It was not the land or property, but the power
and discretion, that was offered through such a ce -
mony for maintaining law and order in the country, so
that the community might lead a regulated life tn com-
mon with all tranqullity possible. The power or discre-
tion so vested In a king was absolute and lndtvlslblc.
No common f amlly conventions were applicable to this
trust. A king, therefore. could not divide the vested
trustccshlp without an approval of the people concerned
by a cercmonlous blf urcatlon. Those basic principles
tinderlylng the coronation ceremony had not been pro-
perly understood by the later local writers of narratives
in Maharashtra. nor dld the m1n1gters, who witnessed
the ceremonies In 1674 and 1881 A.D., realize the real
Importance of the Mahara)abhtsheka ( ) UF
consecration ceremony performed by the great jurists
of the timea of Sh1vaJ1 and SambhaJl. The writers of
 the Marathi narratives of the elghteenth and nineteentn
centuries had attributed wrong motives to the very lm-
pr›rtant event In the history of the great Maharashtra.
They though t that It was a religious function designed
merely to ralst' the' status of ShivaJl from Shudra to
K SllatrIya rastt•, and painted lhei r stories accordingly
without as y heed to facts or contemporary conditions
of life In the country. Eivcn the Sarkarkuns or minis-
ters, and in them stood includcd one to whom has nosy
been attributed the authorship of a Rajanocti — per-
haps wrongly, later attac'hed no lm\›ortancu to the cere-
mony and talked of di vlding the kingship r›f the con
secreted thrcnn of the Hindavi Sivarajya among the
sons or branches tif the Bhonsla family in spit c of the
clear rulings buth In the Sinriti Shastras and in the'
various traditions recorded ln hlahabharata and Hama-
yana. The misconi!ept)on of this great event ’was due
more to the ign‹›ranct ‹af the masst•s and evt•n of thosr•
thcn in employ about the conventions bchlnd such :<
coronation, as the' Muslim Sultans. who ruled in th‹
country for cr'n tUrics, had no traditions nr con ventions
of th‹' klnd and many of the Sultans were not even re-
cognised by their own religit›n1sts as independent kings.
Again , there wer‹• prar't ical ly no centr‹'s of lrarn ing In
the tract of the Konkan and Mawal to educate public
‹opinion in the subject. Ht•rire the wrong motive attri-
buted to the coronation ceremony of Shivaji had to bt'
accepts d by tht later European and other w ritcrs in the
absr'ncu of any direct inf ormation on the subject.

3. ARYAN CONSECRATION CEREiYfONIP•S:

The Aryan culture, for the regulation of the soclal
life of the c‹›minunity maintained for a very considera-
ble time Its tradition of the requisite Sixteen Sams
karas (or the three higher or Dwlja Varnas or casten.
For the religious or devotional life too, special Sam-
skaras or consecration ceremonies, such as Sannyasa
(p w), Vanaprasthashrama (am p yp ), Guru-
deeksha ( t) had been devised. For the reltglo
soc!a1 and political life also, where coordinated anal
regulated efforts weFe needed for an orderly colloctl ve
llfe of the community, somc Samskaras or consecr ion
ceremonies had been introduced. In the purely soclal
and religious llfe, thc ceremonies were intended for an
lndlvidual attainment of one’s own self , whereas In
the rellglo-social and political life, an lndlvdual was
subordlnatcd for the common wt'1farc of the pvoplc to a
person or persons, who were elevated to become lea-
ders or guides by special Samskaras or cercmon les. Tht›
special feature of these ceremonies was, therefore, that
the part les concern ed or all the pcoplu wlthoM mist inc-
tlon took part in the p‹•rrormancu with their own free
w1l1 and acknow lcdgcd the leadership of the person so
conscc rated or anointed wlth an Implicit obedience or
faith, and v‹•stcd In h lm all th‹• pow cr for control and
punishmt'nl in the ctimmon Interest of the society. Thus
the party concernk•d or the subJcct people created a
popular institution for tht'lr own protection and orderly
government of the country. 5’hc Aryan or Hindu tradi-
tion provldt'd for a. t r›nsccration or anolntmriit of a per-
son by a sacred bath for hls ‹'levation to become: (a) a
pri‹'st of a family, and especiall y of a royal tarn fly,
caste, vl llagc, (b) a rommandcr-in-chit f of all the mili-
tary or fighting force of a klng or kingdom, (c) an hclr-
apparent princ‹! Or king s rcprt'scntatlve or deputy
king, or (d) a king. But the tradition with Its Im-
portance was lost f roin the memory of Aryans during
thr long p‹ rl r›d of the Islami c Sultanats with their
di ffercnt practices for anointment.
The priesthood of a Iamtly, espcciall y of a royal

z , etc, ) was being granted to a Brahmin family as a

permanent arrangement fur the ‘conduct of all the re-
liglous functions of the f amlly or village people by
undergoing some oath ceremony or performlng some
1'tdh1 ( ) more in the nature of an anolntment, and
 thus by the declaration on oath, the grantor, whether
he he' a head o( a tamil y or a leade r of a village, bounds
himself and his succeeding generations to respect and
honriur tht' Brahmin faml ly as prlest and to maintain
the faml ly In eomf ort and contentment. Thost• famllics,
n‹›1 able to undertake this onerr›us responslblllty, ac-
cepted local priest frir the conduct of each individual
religious I unctlon, worshlpplng the priest and announc-
ing tht• performance for which gutdance fom the prlcst
was sought, The priest was ir› be para ror his guldancc
or services both in kind and cash , though such a pay-
ment was not to be regarded as sorvlce-charge but as
free gift ( or ). The vl I lage community was thus
required to patronise some one family or the other for
priesthood of the whole vlllagc and grant a monopoly
of the profession for th‹• village. In due course, such
e monopoly rlght of the family was belng recognised
by the government of the country als‹i. The vlllagr
community had, however, the right to do away wlth a
prlest or to require a substitute for htm, If the prlest
officiating In the village was found unsuited or unfit for
the guidance desired tn thetr religious observances. It
was qultc an old practlcc to anoint ( ) a priest
as an hereditary priest ( or ) of a
particular country or village by a king. In the Rama-
yana, we come across such an Instance." But this pre-
Session of priesthood was looked upon by the general
Brahmin community as not quite honorlflc or of any
dlvlne bliss even during the Ramayana pcrlod. The
prlestly family was supposed to lose all the heavenly
bllss by their receiving ( , or ) for thclr
services or guidance In religious ohacrvanccs. However,
this profession had been accepted as a fair means of
livelihood by many and sI1l1 many have continued the

• Vide Satgo l2 of Uttar Kanda. Ramayana. A very poor Brahmin

was anointed or bathed for priesthood by Rama at the Instance
of one Sarmeya ta dog) by way of punishment for the Injury
caused hy the Brehmln to the dog.
priesthood in spite of the fact that it is not aB lUCrattve
as It was before.
A commander-in-chief for the fighting force of a
country was nominated by the king, and the people
lolned the anointment cercmon y performed at the in-
stance of the king. By this anointmc•nt ( ) cere-
mony, all the power vested In the klng in regard to the
t ontrol and actions of the mllttary force could be ex-
ercised by the commander. But i I such a cerc•mony war
not performed, the commander was expected mcrel y t‹i
work under the direct orders and guidance ot the king
or his minister. Hence such an anointing ceremony wa*
optional, as the king could excFctst• the power vested In
hlm by the people .But this was considered sometimes
t›bligatory too, especially when the king, elther for dlf-
ficult communlcatlon un accouri;t of dlstance or natural
obstructions or for some other purposes, was unable *o
‹xercise his power and control uifcctlvely on the mili-
tary force. In order. therefore, to place the commander, v
he was to be on the spot, In such a position as would cause
the force to obey htm lmpl lcltl y, he had to be vested with
thc• rt quislte pow cr by anointment. Again. as the
commandershlp according to the Varnashrama- dharma (
) was to be entrusted to a person of
a Kshatrlya or warrior caste. he was not ordinarll y em-
pov•crcd, according to the Hlndu Shastras, to impose
punishment even on behalf or In the name of the king
unless he is so elevated to the status by an anolntment.
\Vhen a king, by his bodily defect or childhood, was
unable to exercise his direct control on war proceed- ings,
he was required to vest hts power to his comman- der-In-
chief, but once such powers were vested or dele- gated by
an anotnlment. ex-en the prince-regent ( gy-
m) had to obey him on the battlefields. lii Maha-
bharata, we have such Instances. Dhrutarashtra was
blind, and hence he had to anoint Bhishma as his Com-
mander-in-chief, and even the prince-repent Duryodhan
had to obey him. Bhtshma was similarly succeeded by
Dr‹inacharya, Karna, Shalya. Kumar. and they were all
anointed ( ) as Senapati ( ) with
consent of the people and the army.• Generallly this
anolntment was performed whenever a king was anoint-
ed whether for succeeding 8 deceased ktng or for an
appointment to a new kingdom or province conquered.
But In any case, the status of an etQJ §yq@
or Ttf»4sf or anointed commander-in-ch1ef was held
to be much htghEr than the prince-regent ( q zxi z )
or the chief minister ( ) so far as the con-
trol of the military force was concerned. He stood
well-equipped with the man-power of the country next
to the ktng. When ShlvaJl had his coronation cere-
mony, Hamblrrao Mohlte was his Chief-Commander
(w 5 q w) of the army, and perhaps he could
have been anolnted ( ) along
with the Queen, Prlnce-regent and Chief-Minister ,
had lt not been for some deficiency In his full Kshatrlya
status on ac- count of the lapse in observlng the
prescribed Sixteen Samskaraa for the Kshatrlya castes.
Again. the periods of ShlvaJt and SambhaJl were those of
great emergency, and hence the power had to be reserved to
the king himself. Hamblrrao had. therefore, to act as a
deputy to the king wtth the same statu8 aB th&t Of other
Sar karkuns or ministers.
The klng used to nominate his heir-apparent or
prince-repent ( ) or hte representative to look
after his affairs at home elther tn his absence from the
capital or for assisting h1m In his administration or
mvr ubron6. Generally, the eldest son from the wlfe of
the htgher Kshatriya caste was being nominated aa the
helr-apparent ( ) as soon ae he showed his abili-
ty to share the burden of royal duties. It was natural
that such an anointing ceremony of the prince shoutd
také place along with the coronation ceremony of the
* Vide f•tafiebfiarata, Udyoga Perw&, Sarga t66 for Bhtsma; Drong
Perwa, Sarga 7 for Dronocfiarya; Eama Parwa, S«rga t0 for Xama\
Shalya Parwa, Sargas 6 and 7 for Shalya, ata.
klng whlle succeeding his father to kingship. But tf
thts be not possible. such a ceremony would Jake place
later or. In the absence of a son, next elder brother was
aelectid for Yuvam)apada. In this case, the king-
ship need not necessarily be passed on to the Yuwara]a.
If the klng subsequently got a son to inherit htm.
Often, the king would await a male Issue before any
Yuvaraja was anolnted. Ra)a Dasharatha tliought of
anointing his eldest son Rama after hc was grovrn suffl-
clently enough to look after the affairs of the kingdom
and the welfare of the people,* though thte ceremony
had then to be postponed for some ulterior reasons.
Although Sugreeva succcmtied his eldeat brother Wall.
after the latter’s death, he anointed Angada, Wall’s son.
for Yuvara)apada.$ Rama anointed and nominated hl8
brother Bharata as Yuvara)a, since Rama had no lssuc•
tlll then. and his next brother Lakshman refuBed to
accept the position in favour of Bharatn, his step bro-
ther. There are similar Instances In Mahabharata
also and tn other Purana ( ) literature. 'rhc
tra‹lltton, therefore, was more ln favour of anointing
the eldest son as YuvaraJa, who was expected to suc-
ceed his father after hls retirement or deatfi. Thus by
the time the YuvaraJa became a king, h1s son was well
grown up to aasume the YuvaraJapada at the time of
the foFmer's accession to kingship, thereby enabling
the latter to galn sufficient administrative experience
and contact wlth all the partlee concerned before his
turn for kingship arrived. Apparently, thls practice
of iiomlnatlng a successor and then confirming thi:
nomination by anointing his person with the approval
of the subject people w£tB followed by petty Chleftans
also. at least ttll the mlddlc of the seventeenth century.
Shaha)l Ra)a’s eldest son fiambhaJi RaJa was bald to
have been anointed as YuvaraJa In hts early age. Jaya-
• itamaynna, Ayodhya Kanda, Ssrga, I to 5 and 4s,
§ Ramaysna, Kish£lndha Knnda, Sarga 96.
fi Ramnyans, Yuddha Kands, Ssrga 128.
 ram Plndye, a contemporary poet In ShahaJtRaJaé
Court, has, In his “Radhamadhavavllasachampuh Kav-
yarn, (q tqq@ atq9gt )" descrlbed hlm ai
having haa his body consecrated as ShahaJl's YuñaraJa
(H«omfit1+ zR acid ed3u:) ' obabJx aob3«J›
RaJa, when he waa twelve years old, was entrusted wtth
the admln,1stratlon of Shaha]1's Ra)ya ( ) or Inde-
pendent Jahagir In Bangalore. 8h1vaJ1 RaJa was aleo
slmllarly deputcd, under the care of his mother J1)a-
bhalaaheb with some special experienced ataff, to look
after the Jahaglr of Poona and Supa Paraganas, pro-
bably after performing the same ceremony as that
performed for Sambha)t Ra)a when Shivaji was only 11-
12 years old. Here It seems necessary to note the fact that
thls Poona-Supa Jahaglr waa explicitly ex- cluded from
the dlvlslon of the N!zam’s territory bet- ween the Mogul
and Adllahah in the treaty of lC30 A.D., and was kept by
ShahaJl RaJa as an altogether separate unit for himself.
Similarly. he had held In- dependently the
Bangalore Jahaglr also. l'letice It In qulte apparent
that, although Shaha)1 Ra)a waa assist- ing Adllshah, he
was coiialderlng himself a king of tht: two small tracts,
and In order to keep them so, he must have elevated
his aons to Yuvara]pada and lhua delegated powers to
rule over them for him. The con- temporary records
show that only a very few Ra)put fani1l!es among those
migrated to the Deccan were calling themsel ves Ra]as. It
ts, therefore, possible that they might have observed the
practice of raising eldest aons to prlncehood by some
reltgloua ceremony per- formed by their Kuladhlpatl as a
part and parcel ot their Samskaras. Thla appointment
of two Yuvara)as does not mean division of Shah8Ji
Ra)a’s kingdom. Shaha)1 had then three sons and two
Dasi-piitras. As he himself was not in a pmltton to
dlrectly rule over

Pp 231 232 2€ 261, TO, ”Jayuamxkavkut Ra4fiamaduya

vlawhampukavya,” edited by T K RJawade and puMtswd a
Dhulio, 1917.
 the two terrttorles, he had to nominate hts two sons
to look after them separately as the territories were far
too distant from each other. SambhaJi RaJa lost hls
territory to Adllshah when he was ktlled by Afzal
Khan tn a battle to repress hla rlslng against AdllShah:
and Shivaji. who survived the onslaught or Afzal Khan,
being then the next eldest son of ShahaJi’s first wlfe.
Inherited the kingdom after the death of ShahaJl Ra)a
without any share to EkoJl, the eldest and the only aoh
of hls younger wlfe Tukambabalsaheb. What EkoJt
got was the territory granted to Shaha)l Ra]a as a
Saran)am ( ) for hts aervlcee to Adtlahah. By
Inheriting It. EkoJt entered the servlet of Adllahah.
ShahaJi RaJa had several Pandlts, Shastrles, poets and
other learned men and family L padhyaya In his court.
and naturally In havlng the Samskaras ot Yuvara)a to
his sons, he must have been guided by them on the
strength of valld authorities of Htndu Shaatras and old
traditions Juetlfylng the action. It 1s this ceremonloue
delegation of the powers of the RaJa or Jahaglrdar to
hts Rons that obliged his old and tried oilleem and
followers to obey his aons In spite of their young age.
Shivaji also appears to have followed hls tather’a foot-
steps when he nominated hls eldeat son SambhaJl Ra)u
at the age ot 12 to YuvaraJapada and allowed hlm
special ataff to look after the affairs of the klngdom tn
his absence from the capital or whlle on hls deputation
for war in the south. SambhaJl RaJa was anointed aa
3’uvara)a ( ) at the tlme of the great Coro-
nation ceremony (qpeyJttitq or ) In
1874 A.D. . No more Yuvarajabhlsheka ceremonies
were, It appears, performed In ltte Maratha kingdom or
the Hlndavl Swara)ya thereafter.
No sooner than a community was formed. the
need for leadership was felt for safety and teamwork for
the common welfare and smooth working of each
tndtvl- dual. In the ancient Yalna(nv )soc1ety life. a
Hotara ( ) was being selected and implicitly obeyed for
 accomplishing the YaJna Karya to their enttFe satis-
faction, so that all of them might ahare the common
benefits of the YaJnya for their peaceful existence and
blissful community life. The person possessing expert
practical knowledge and experience for leading the
Ya)nya society was selected and acknowledged an Ho-
tara by a performance of a reltglous sacred ceremony
for his nomination ( ). Here the Brahmins were
mostly concerned tn the selection and not others. Thr
YaJnya society was later broken Into a famlly life and
the need for leadership ot thle new community tit
families was equally felt for their protection both In-
ternally and externally. Naturally the leadership had
to be Bhlfted from a Brahmin to a Kehatrlya clan a.e
thls leadership Involved duties for ensuring protcctlon
and safety wlth the strength of manpower both (a) for
warding off incursions by the enemy clements and for
expanding the field for the means of livelihood and
other needs of the communlty, and (b) for maintaining
order among the society by keeping himself strong
enough to regulate tt by punishment (@ ). The com-
munity thus selected to have an tnstltutlon of king, and
all looked upon thts Institution as their own for their
safety and comfort. They placed an Implicit faith In such
a leadership. This leadership commenced to be vested In
a person of a famlly havlng at its command a large man-
power and sufficient wcaltn to maintain lt. The prin-
ciple of selection underwent a change In due course
Into that of acknowledgment. Under the Varnashrama-
dharnia. however, It was made obligatory on the part
of the person desiring to be a king to ralse himself to
the status higher than an ordinary Kshatrlya, so that
under the Dharma Shas2raa he should be qualt0ed to
administer punishment ( ) even 2o those belonging
to tbe Brahmin castes or Varna. 7ti1s legal status
and its practical Importance was really responsible for
ratslng the standard of the moral obligations of the king
towards his subject. Thus we ace that Rnma was
 nomlnated b3 hts father Dasharatha and people accept-
ed hlm and bathed hlm with sacred waters and anolnted
htm Wtth sacred earth accompanled by Vedlc rltuals
to purlfy hls soul and body to elevate hlm to the
hlgher status requli-ed to become a king.* Rama got
Sugreevo anointed after defeatlng Wall stmply to galn
his frieudahip and help.$ Rama anolnted Blbhishann
cven before the death of Ravana and got tt regularly
performed by the people o,f Lanka agaln ln conflrma-
tlon after hls succcss ln the war slmply bccause Rama
deg1red and was assured of asslstance ln war by Blbhl-
shana. Rama sent his brother to conquer certaln
eneniy country and made hlm a klng of that country
with an anolnting ceremony before he actually started
on the invaslon.>< Ravana, whlle proceeding to re-
occupy hls fost country, got hlmself anotnted as king.N
Further, Rama’s two sons, Lava and Kusha. and brothers
Bharata, Lakshman and Shatrughna were anolnted
and glven separate kingdoms.' In Mahabharata also,
we get lnstances whlch show the lmportance of thi•
anolntlng cercmony. Pandu wae succeeded by hls
elder brother, although once disquallfied for hls bodily
defect (bllndness J, aud got hlmself anolnted. But Yu
dhlsthlr was anolnted tO Bucceed hls father Pandu'a
ktngdoin aftcr rellnqulshmcnt by Dhrutarashtra after
the great war.' Karna was anolntcd for kingshlp of
Angada, though hc had no right to lt by tnher1tance.•
JanmeJaya although very young succceded hls father
Parlskhltl lmmedlately after hls father’a death ob e-
qules.• Puru though youngcst chlld was anotnted for

• Ramayana, Yuddha Xanda, Sarga 128, Ayodhaya Xandg, ggrgg yg.

ț Ramayaaa, Kishklndhx Kanda, Sarga g6.
A Rsmayena, Yuddha wanda, Şargas \9, 1 l3 and 182.
0 Ramayana. Uttar XBnda, Sargas 62 to 66.
;> Ramayana, UKar Xanda, Sarea ll.
* Â amayana, Uttar Xanda, Sargas 10fl, J07 and l0B.
* Mahabhsrata, Shantl Par•ra, Adhyaya ttXı.
^ Ma8abharat, Adi Parwa, Adhysya I37.
^ fitahabtterata, Adi Pcrwx, A5hyaya H.

11
 kingship dlscardlng the claim of his elder brother
Yadu.> But generally In the Mahabharata and £farl-
vamahn period, the principle of succession by the eldest
son appears to have been observed. All these instances
show that tt ts not the territory or Kingdom that ia In-
herited or acquired by the person through the anointing
ceremony but It waa simply meant for the elevation of
the person to the status of a klng. People then accept
the person so qualified as flt to be thelr king and bathe
htm wlth aanred waters again with aome appzopr1att•
Vedlc rituals In confirmation of their acknowledgment.
The preliminary anointing ceremony instils In the per
son all the best qualities required for a Plug. The
tradltlon of the Varnashramadharma requires k1ng'a
atatus ralsed higher than the Bradman Varna before he
can be accepted to rule over and punish the h18her
caite people. Thus a were strength of power dld not
qualify a person for glngshlp under the Hindu Shas-
tras or Law. The royal family was not ordinarily al-
lowed to dtvlde kingdom among sons or brothers.
They were provided for. if necessary, by acquiring new
terrl" torles or kln8doms.
3. HINDU CONCEPT OF CORONATION : ITB
EVOLUTION :
A natural instinct to abide by some kind of
lcader- shlp can be seen in every grouping of living
beings, and the mankind 1s no exception to It. The
man, however, developed this Instinct to suit his ever
Increasing acti- vities ter all the complex problems of
llvellhood and eafeir. Every group or community of
mankind had, therefore, to evolve aome means or
principles accord- ing to the prevailing circumstances.
The lnstltutlon or
a king 1s almost all universal though Wlth Some devta-
lton tn aetails. But the need for aome solemnity In
the inauguration of sovereigns tn ofttce was deeply felt
;> ñtahabbarata. Adl Parwa. A4hyaya 8s.
 by all the groups concerned. The main aspect of evo-
lution of kingship, as aeen from the Aryati tradition,
is Its lOcal Importance. In fact, every social connection
wlth man and man was betiig ! lnked up by some sort
of ceremony — either pri 'ate or public —)ust to ensure
that every such connection was formed wlth free iv Ill
and moral blndlng by the parties concerned and Jhat
t°° In the presence of the community malnly affected
by It. This mutual understanding safeguarded the
comm unlty from emergence of the race from savagery.
In an ordinary community, we sec that the family re-
cognised Its offspring by its head applying honey to the
lips of the newly born chl ld , community accepted a boy
by a thread-ceremony to belong to Its told, contracting
paroles mutually under went a marriage ceremony In
the presence of the publtc In confirmation of the con-
tract with f ulJ falth and moral obllgatlon and so on.
Similarly, as we have seen bcfor‹i, the anointing cere-
montes in the case of those creating new soclal Ales arc
designed to malntaln mutual understanding for some self-
Imposed moral obltgatlon between the partles con- cerned
for the common good of the community as a whole.
What had to be avoided for peaccf ul llfe was the
practice of forced social conncctlon8 or tles amongst the
society. As a community has to accept the need for
social relations. so had a country or nation to ac - cept a
ktng for governing lt for the Creator. In Maha- bharata it ts
said: "It 1s the prime duty of a natlon to anolnt or bathe
with sacred waters somebody for king- ship, heeause In the
absence of a ruler, the natlon becomes feeble and the
enemies easlly destroy It; reli- gion could not survive
longer : further on, the country- men or nationals fight
amongst thcmsei ves to thelr utter deatructlOn. Ple
on sUch a lawlessness 1 To accept a king 1s really
to acknowledge the God IndFa, eo says Smritl."*
Ya)nyawa1kya also observed: ”For, when these creatures
hetn8 without a ktng, through fear dispersed
 In all directions, the Lord created a Klng for the pro-
tection of the whole creation.” Thus the ktn8 1s recog-
nized as a personl8ed power for punishment. Ya)nya-
walkya points out : “Punishment alone governs all
created beings. punishment alone protects men, punish-
ment watches over them while they sleep, the wise
declare punishment to be ldentl8ed wlth Law.”" Natur-
ally, such a king ouglit to possess all the superior qua-
lities to control and protect the kingdom whlch ari•
defiled In the eight Gods or ( ) Dlkpalas by the
Crcator for his control. Ya)nyawa1kra observes : “Tak-
ing for that purpose eternal particles of Indra, of the
Wind, of Yama, of the Sun. of Flre, of Varuna, of the
Moon, and of the Lord of Wealth Kuber. Because a
irlng has heen formed of particles of those Lords of
Gods, he, therefore, surpasses all created beings In
lustre.”g Thus the Hindu’ concept of a king Itself is
responsible for (aj accepting one person or the other,
who satisfies to a greater extent all the qualltles re-
quired for peaceful government and protection of the
kingdom, and (b) devlslng such ceremonies as will lnetll
In the person of the king such qualities as are required
for kingship. Hence the people Brst elevate the per-
son to the required statua, of course thepretlcally, of
kingship, and thereafter adopt him as thelr king. In
the tropical countries, bath wlth sacred waters z•as the
recognised source for washing all the dlrt physically.
It waB not so in the cold eountrles. Naturally they
looked for some medlclnal oil for rubbing the open
parts for purification. ’ Thus the main concept behind
the practice was to purlf y the body and soul of the
person to make htm endowed wlth the higher qualities
necessary for jugtly governing his kingdom. Thus wlth
the Increased responslbllltles and expansion of the Ins-
titution of the klng and the development of the Achara-

A Yajnyawalkya Smcili, Chapter VII, verse g. Ktng.

* Yajnyawatkya Smritl, Chapter Vlj, verce jg.
§ Yajztyawalkya Srariti. Chapter VII, v¿raea 4 «ad L
dhnrma for a more regulated religious and social llfe,
the ceremony for sacred bath or anotnlment aleo deve-
loped Into an enlarged scale wlth a more detailed pro-
cedure and in the number of the rituals to be clted. In
the Acharadharma, more tmportance was given to
Achara and Samskara ( and one receives
) of coronation
through such ceremonies . Three kinds
introduced : (lJ SamwBt-
that 1s performed by
Samvanara-Purohltas succession to
the throne already in
king 1s diseased or retired. In Marathi, it 1s called
Manchakarohdna ( )¡ (2) Perloalcal Le. Annual
or monthly ceremonies (
ie per1’ormed respectively every year and month on the
same Nakshatra, as the ono on which the first
anotntment ( ) was performed. Thls 1s undergone for
fur- ther r purification of the body and soul: (3) MaharaJa-
bhlshcka or Alndryabhlsheka ( or )
ceremony. Thla last was belng specially designed
either foF creating a new line of Indra with a new
kingdom and throne or for rafting the status of the
kin8 to Emperorshlp( ).For cmpcrorship, Ashwa-
medha ( ) had to be gone through unchallenged
prior to Mahara]abhlsheka.
”As Vyas says, coronation ceremony 1s to be per-
formed withln thirteen days after the death of the last
ktng and prtor to hts Shraddha ana other obaequtea."’
Gagabhatta quotes Shrivlshnu-Dharmottar (verses 80 '
4fl) to support this view. Several Acharyas, however
oplnc that when a king dfcs, the new monarch should
at once be placed on the throne and Ra)ya Tllak should
be done to hlm,' and his coronation may take place
after the Shraddha and other rltes of the dead ktng
be over. “The period best recommended”, according

• by Rapovaidya Jeevatrwn Kalidos

 In 4 yaz, ”ie wlthln 60 days of the last k1ng'e death.
Installation after 00 and within 100 days is mediocre.
After 100 days, the period Is Heena, not auspicious.”*
Thr coronation ceremony for accession to the throne
1s thus of a short duration and not extensive. It Is per-
formed by the family prleita or Samwatsar and Puro-
hlt wlth the assistance of other officers around the king
In the Court.
The periodical ceremony ts of two kinds: (a) that
performed on the Janma Nakshatra of the ruling king
every month, and (2) that performed every year on the
Nakshatra on which the first Ra)abhlsheka ceremony
was performed. The former 1s a very short one. and
the latter 1s )ust similar to the acces8lon ceremony.i
The Maharajabhlsheka or Alndryabhlshcka 1s an
extensive ceremony. Gagabhatta and Anantadeobhattn
had drawn up a very detailed procedure for this cere-
mony. They have Indicated In detall all the hlantras
to be cltcd by ench of the several Vedic schools and
braneheB ( ). Anantadco’s procedure tallies wlth
that of Gagabhatta’s Prayoga tn this book.
The works published Dn this RaJabhlshelta cerr.-
mony arc :
(1) ' In Marathi by Kashlnath Lnkshman
allaa Bhausaheb Lclc, Wal. This book 1s otherw1st-
called ”Altarcya Brahmanantll RaJyabhlshekachya
Mantravarll Charcha.” Thus It 1s merely a commen-
tary on the procedure suggested In the Altareya
Brahmana. This was Intended for lnformauon or
Ibe publlc at the time of the Coronation of the King
gdward VII and Its simultaneous celebration In
Delhi. It exp1atns the principles of the Indian eo-
mation ceremony.
(2) • 'or I iperlal Coronation, Part I
and 11, by T. S. Narayan Shastri, Madras. It 1s

Oaecawad Series, Rio. I..XXII, pp. 378•9.

DC
 merely the description of the ceremony held for 1h‹i
Coronation of the Brltlsh Emperor. This Indicates
not the old Hindu tradition.
(3) '#hia ' hy Govlndlnl
Hargovindbhat. and 'p t' by Da)l Nagcsh
Apte, Shr1 Sayajt Sahityamala. No. 312 and 314,
Baroda. 1950. Thls 1s merely an accession cere-
mony. Apparently. It was not much tn detall from
the rltual polnt cut view.
(4) " : q:" editor B. Bhatta-
charya, Gaekwad Oriental Series, St o( LXX 11,
Baroda, 1B35.
I ) " ‹i M:, iit9is i, ” . PP 57-58
published by Mahadeo Ganrsh Dongre, Kolhapur,
1808. Orlglnal man uscrlpt of l4th January, 1837
by Parasnls. Els. No. 3091. Royal Asiatic Society.
Bengal, Calcutta. This was specially prepared for
the Coronation of Pratapaslnha, the last king of the
Maratha klngdom.
(6) " " by Uka Vyas, Original Man us
cript completed on 13 Aprll 1844, edited by RaJa-
valdya Jccvatram Kaltdas Shastri, Gondal. 1944.
The last three works only 8tve the procedure for
the ceremony ln some detail . though the n umber of
Mantras differ and some minor ceremonies omitted In
one or the other.
There are also some manuscripts on Ra]abblsheka
ceremony available In dlflcrcnt manuscript libraries.
They, however, arc not as detailed ones as those of
Oagabhatta or Anantadeobhatta. Some of them are:

#*«#L (3) 1°m *, (4) -

q (0) of and so on. Although some
of the manuscripts arc named , the correct
word for the ceremony used actually In the texts is
t Re)abhisheka).
 Pzeeldent with a note or casting vote J‹ In efi'ect a kind
but bls i omlnat1on has an altogether different proce
dune, perhaps a further advance on the old InstIt utl ‹:in
of the king under the new cite.uzastances created by a
different system of control and admlnlstratlon wlth the
altogether changed conditions of daily life.
4. HINDAVI SWARAJVA : NEED POR MAHARAJ-

During the Islamic rule, Justice was administered

at the hands of Kazls according to the Islamic Law, and
Deshmukhs and Havlldars were ordinarily invested
with or used to exercise the power of arbitrary punlsh-
ment ln the backward c›r sparsely populated area of th
LIawa1 and Konkan. Ma1o)t RaJa and Shaha)1 Raja
exe rclsed all the power ‹'lther as Oahaglrdar or Dlwan
of the Nizamshahi Sultanat. In those days, the disputes
of rellglous or communal character had no support
clther way. Evefi Shivaji RaJa. on th • strength of thv•,
former tradltlD£l of lits parents, was exercising all the
powc•re for punlshmt nt wlthottf question, because un-
der the Muslim Law, Htndus of all castes and oth€rB
were being held on the same level and no caste superio-
rity was recognised. Henry Oxlndon observes on 30
Play 1874. “they cannot graunt (their request) being
positively against the Laws and constitutions of their
country now and formerly the Nlsamshay Kingdom, by
whlch they arc still governed”.' From these remarks, it
seems that there was a general presumption that
Shlva]1'a away was Just as the one exercised by Shaha)i
before. This presumption 1s f urther supported by
Narayan Shcnavl’s remarks of 4 Aprll 1B74 : “tt 1s
not known whetht•.r he will be crowned In person or
some other prince, for it 1s reported he hath a Prince
of the Nlsamshay Face In hls custody.”' But when

• t4enry Oxindon to Bombay. 30 May }67t, Engllsh Recor4e o«

SsivaJt, No. 481, p. 365: Shiva Ch•riira Karrala7•. ••••. ›o›
 Sb1va)i Raja declared lndependence for the Hindu
soclety to hla own people, recognltton or Adoption.
even If it ls to be gradual, of the Hindu Law and
practices for hls admlnistratlon consisteN with his
avowed obJect was a moral obllgatlon. The more was
his effort for conßolldatton of the Hindavl Swara)ya.
the more was the problem of admtnlstratlon and punlsh-
ment becoming complicatcd by monopollstlc tendcncles
fostercd In the Varnaehramadharma or Acharadharnia.
The right of punlshment for the Regulation of the soclety
s•äz, according to the Hlndu Shastraa, vcsted In the
Abhlshikta Raja oF king and got In a Kshatriya or a
leader, as the lattcr could not punlsh a hlgher castc
person bccausc of his inferiority by caste. No doubt,
ShahaJl RaJa and ShivaJl RaJah obere acceptcd as klngs
by tradition and practlcc, but in the changed condi-
tions, Shiva) l commenced to ht!sitate uslng hts 1ra;tt-
tional powt!r as he t’clt he was not lcgally vcstcd wlth
tt under the Hlndu Shastras. HU rcfratned from punlsh-
Ing a Brahmin evon though the Brahmln was trea-
cherously lnvolved In an attack on him by Afzal Khan
and In the dcath of hls brother. He could not but look
to ter depcnd upon the Brahmin officers to exeeute cer-
tain orders In the name' of the Htndavt Swara)ya and
not In hls own name. Again, his relatlves and other
Kulcen Marathas of his equal status by castc, who wer.•
also calllng themsel ver Rä jas, werc naturally proclalm-
lng them lndependencc and Equality wlth Sh1va)1’s
famlly though valour and powc rf uf i orce mlght hav‹•
suppressed their open confllct against ShlvaJi’s autho-
rity. For Instance, Ghorpadc, boing the ktth and kln
or belonging to the same famlly Stock, were )ealous of
ShahaJi Ra)o’s supremacy. This cquattty of other
Marathas and lnabllity to punish htgher caste crtmlnals,
both ctvtl and political, under the then exhaling
Hindu
Law was naturally a great impediment In his way to
Na,ayan Shenavi to Dy. G«yefzt r, Bombay, 4 April i6 4, No. ‹6t,
p.328, lbI4.
 bulld up an Independent Htndavl SwaraJya tn the face
of the Islamic Sultanats. Also In the field of the admi-
nistrative services. this Inability commended to be felt
the more when there arose competition between the
Brahmins and other advanced castes in his services.
Brahmins claimed monopoly of all these services
denouncing the right even of learning and writing of thetr
competitors under the Acharadharma, as also for no'.
being subordlnated to non-Brahmin ogiccrs. Thls last
trouble, ShlvaJt could well suppress by retorting them
by showing hls desire to absolve himself of the sln
of having any Brahmins in his direct service. But the
inaln question was whether the other element of the
society useful to hlm had or had not the sanction to
learn and write. ShlvaJl got this problem solved by
referring It to assemblies of Brahmins under the leader-
ship of Gagabhatta and Ananladeobhatta. He allowed
Sonopant Amatya and other Sarkarkuns some more con-
cessions, not deserved by them, slmply to appease
their revolt. He suppressed the rlslng tendency In
them for monopolising the services and appointed
Kayasthas to auch clerical service where the servlet!
had to remain subject to a subordination of a non-
Brahmin mllltary officer. Any way this counter mov‹i
broke thelr monopoly and power, but the danger re-
mained unabated. Espcclally this state of affairs took
some serious stage when SambhaJl was made to work
ac Heir-apparent to hlm i» ls7s A.D. at hls age of 13.
following th lradltlon of hls family In this respect.
Officers trlcd to hold SambhaJl back from using hts
authority In the polltlcal field and Sambha)1 was In an
unyielding mood. AnnaJl Datto had h1s defiant attitude
against SambhaJl, and even other aged officers did so,
either directly or indirectly, as will be seen from
’fhomas Nicholls’ remarks on "23rd May 1873: I had
atayed here a whlle, Pelagic camo 3o see me and
acquainted me that Sambagec Ra)ah was a young man
and of llttle experience in weighty affairs and whom hts
 fatber dtd not tzust w\tb zaattere of 1raport . . . 24tIt May.
Sambhagee sent for inc to goe sitt In a place wbere tie
woultl come presently to me, where Sevagees secretary
was, who began to discourse about many fri- volous
questions. . . . Then the Ra)ah Sumbhagee coming, we
left of discourse. and when I saw he expect- ed to hear
my business. . I told htm I had order.
)n hls father's absence, to acquaint him. . . . To all
whtch the young Sumbhagee RaJah answered he could
say nothlng to these affairs more than that he wouiil
send to hls father to acqualiu hlm of my being there
and that might hasten his return . . . and desired mo
to go down again In regard of the unhealthf ulness of
so high a place . . . And June. 1 sent up the hlll
Samgee to Sambhagce Ra)a to take his orders about the
salt business and wood,”' In fact. SambhaJee had
made a good impression run the English ambassadors
at all times. Shivaji on the other hand was pleased wlth
the behaviour of SambhaJce and when there was a
tussle between Anna) i and the English, SambhaJl wae
sent to look Into the aifatrs and manage. Shivaji waa
thus In a much complex mood on account of the tend-
ency growing In the Sarkarkuns to assert their age and
caste over the RaJa’s family. The state of affairs had
not yet developed to such a seriousness as should call
for drastic measures. By this time, news come from
Naslk of the arrival of Gagabhatta In whom he had
confidence In his progrcsslve and national outlook, as
he had shown boldness enough to authoritatively de-
clare that lapsed Samsbaras can be recommenced by
all the Dwl)a castes in splte of the protest from some
orthodox Brahmins. In fact, Brahmins under the
Islamic Fule had forgotten their own tradlltons and
adopted to the circumstances under that long rule and
even served and bowed before them and received fav-
ours both In cash and kind. In these circumstances,
what was desired by Shivaji, for a solution of the great
 problem, was the power Io punish and direct In all mat-
teri Including religious and soclal affairs of the coun-
try. 'Phis could have been secured through his getting
himself consecrated aa a klng, which Oagabhtta made
htm apprlsed of and offered help of hls own free will
to see It through In the interest of the Hindavi Swap
raJya. As a true and 8rcat jurist of the time, lie could
well see the baneful effect on the Hindu society as a
whole, as against the perpetual subordination of his
rellglon and soclety to the Islamic culture and rule.
Thus the ob)ect1ve In undergoing the coronation cere-
mony was the rcgularlsatlon of his kingly power, as has
been observed by Henry Oxlndon and noted in his des-
patch of 21st May 1674: ”when the Rajah was crowned
he would act more like a king by taking care of his sub-
,lects and endeavouring to advance trade and commerce,
on whlch he well know depends the happiness antl
flourishing estates of the Prince.“* An Englishman
could not then understand the real reason behind it.
although he realised that Shiva j1 had aimed at getting
supreme powers which he could not exercise tlll then.
It wae for better understnndtng and moral approval of
the people that his power to control and administer
over all of them without exception should be according
to the Hindu Shastras and the best tradition ot the
country. He was z'ell aware of the unstcadtness of th‹•
rule by force ,

S. GAGABHATTA : THE PRINE MOVER AND

DIREC2'OR OF THE CORONATION CEREMONY:
Vlahweshwarabhatta, better known to Maharashtra
by his pet name Gagabhatta, belonged to Vlshwamltra
Gotra. Gadhi Vamsha and Bhatta family , having God-
dess Bhawani of Kolhapur as his family delty. Thi'
earltest mention of his line of the family la known from

* Henry Oaindon fo Bombay. 2t May 1674, Xo. 479, p. @1, ibid

and Oxlndon’s Narrative Igth h\ay \o 13 June t674, No. t86, p.
SZS Ibid.
 that of Nagapasha, who had Changadeo as son and
Govlndbhatta as his grandson. Govlndabhatta had :i
son by name Rameshwarabhatta, who was a well re-
puted teacher of Vedanta and Dharoiashastra. Ramesh-
warbhatta lived in Paithan, hts native place. In 1514
A.D., Rameshwarabhatta v•en1 to Sangamncr on his
way to Kolhapur to visit the shrine of his family delty,
where he had hls ftret son, Narayanabhatta, born. Later,
Ramcshwarabhatta proceeded to Dwarka on pilgrimage
by about 1518 A.D. and stayed there for four years. He‘
returned to Pat than and was there for fotlr years. Bu:
he soon left his native plare Pailhan for a permanent
residence at Kashl or Hcnares In 15fl5 A.D. . Ramesh-
warabhatta died vrry old at Kashl leaving, besides
Narayanabhatta, two sons named Shrldharabhatta and
Madhavabhatta behind. Narayanabhatta was widely
renowned for hls learning, and cvtin today his authority
1s being equally wt'l I acknowledged. Narayanabhatta
was responsible for getting the temple of Kashtvtsh-
weshwar rebuilt after its destruction by Muslims, and
also for dcvtslng a special proc‹'duro ( ) for re-
novating a Shivlinga (kept) In ltte new temple.
This Prayoga is still current and used on such Linga-
pratlstha occasions. Narayanabhatta was recognised as
“Jagatguru” ( ) throughout India and also by the
Mogul monarchs. His old famlly tradition for great
learning, which was further brightened by Narayana-
bhatta. was continued wlth the same zeal and authority
by all his descendants wlth this special title of “Jagat-
guru”. Narayanabhatta died sometime after 1575
A.D. He left three sons by his wlfe Parwatl, named
Ramakrlshnabhatta. Shankarbhatta and Govlndbhatta.
Ramakrlshnabhatta died at the age of 52. when hls
wlfe Uma ascended his funeral pyre with htm. Rama-
krtshnabhatta had three sOnS, C2lled DlWakar alias
Dlnkarbhatta, Kamalakarabhatta and Lakshmana-
bhatW DlRkaPbhatta appears to have lcft only on‹•
BOn named Vishweshwar alias tlagabhatta. It ts really
 to the great credit of thee renowned Bhatta famlly that
every male member of all the branches, rlght from
Nagapasha to Gagabhatta and further down to three or
four generations, should cach have left behind very
valuable treasure to Maharashtra or Bharata of
learned athorltatlve treatises In Sanskrit on all Shas-
tras and subjects of learning. Such a famtly traaltton
for learning ts very rarely to be found even In the hiss
tory of the whole world.
No certain data 1s available about Gagabhatta’s
birthdate or of his early life. Roughly he must have
been born some time before 1600 A.D. . The earlier
mention of his namt! fs found among those In the as
aembly of learned Brahmins In Kasht deciding upon
the rights of a Shcndc Golak family according to Brah-
min Varnashrainadharma held in about 1B40 A.D. .
Next we come acro8s hls signature on a Sammatlpatra
( “cant i 8eñ iét i arfiee4 «ivi•9-
} ) In regard to a slmllar dlsputc “Chltalebhatta
Prakarana“ among the Brahmins about their religious
rlgRts. Sammatas of Anantadeobhatta and some Brah-
mins from the Sangamcshwar-Konkan stde appear also
on the Patra.’ This also Indicates that Gagabhatta’s
residence was then In Kashl. In 16B3 A.D., Gaga-
bhatta came to the Deccan and, along with Anantadeo-
bhaua, he visited Ra)apur-Sangamcshwar slde. ShtvaJt
then melted hlm to declde upon the rights of the She-
navl or Saraswat Brahmin community to end the local
dispute among the Brahmin communities of the Kon-
kan. Gagabhatta presided over the assembly of
learned Brahmins renowned In the Konkan Districts
and h1s brother dlsctple Anantadeobhatta, and aome
others from Kashl took part In the discussion. To the
decision @ O") arrived at Gagabhatta has
• ”Chltaleblsattn Frakaranam,” Parishlahts Z, p. T9, by R. fl.
prefaced a praise or Prashastl ( )
described ShahaJl atid Shlva)1 as

There was then a long stay of Gagabhatta In the Dec-

can. It seems from the coNents of the Nlrnaya that
they had to await some authoritative. works on Dhar-
mashastra from Indore. Since, In less A.D., a local

• 8i, Shivakaitn 5itsstti ma Pandtt", 8. I. G. Mandal wareh¡k

 Pandlt named Raghunathbhatla had to be sent to
Mlrza RaJa Raising, It appears that Gagabhatta had left
for Kashi before then. It 1s. however, probable that Shivaji
must have met Gagabhatta In Kashi when he went theri•
on h1s way back to RaJgnd after h1s escape from Agra
In 16B8 A.D. . ShlvaJi used to refer disputes of Dharma-
shastra to Ciagabhatta In Kashl, and the dcelston gtven
by Gagabhatta In regard to the C. K. Prabhu commu-
nity sometime between 1B8O-1872 is quoted by Raghu-
nathbhatta Pandttarat in his orders for Ohr execution of
the declslon.* In this decision, he appears to have been
assisted by Anantaacobhatta also. Later at the end of
1673 A.D., Gagabhatta had presumably arrived tn the
Deccan to vistt hls natlve place Palthan as also to pay
his homage to tht‹ shrine of the family Ooddess Bha-
vanl of Kolhapur. When he arrived at Naslk, which
country was then conquered by Shivaji, his arrival was
duly intimated by his offlccrs to ShivnJl and Shivaji
Immediately, as was customary In those days, sent Pan-
dlis to receive and invite him to the capital. Gagabhatta,
along wlth Anantadcobhntta, called on Shlva)l at Rai-
gad and al I homage due to the great learned man of
’Jagatguru' family was paid. Here Gagabhatta dis-
cussed t!ie need for coronation and subsequently per-
formed the ceremony under hls direction in June 1874.
As soon as the monsoon in the Deccan subsided, €iaga-
bhatta appears to have left for Kashl. Shivaji requested
htm to compllc 'Shlokavartlka’ gr ’Shlvarkodaya',
which he completed and sent to ShivaJl, but by the
tlme of his writing. It appears from hlB remarks In thc•
work Itself, that he had then entered Chaturthashrama
or Sannyasashrama. When SambhaJi Ra)a thought of
having MaharaJabhtsheka to himself wlth the same cere-
mony, he sent some learned men to brlng him down to
Raigad. But he was then quite old to undertake the
Journey. Besides. he was thcn a Sannyasl. Thc ccre-

• p. 44, Dandeneetiprakarnam by Keshavdbhatta, ed. by V. S.

Bendrey, B. I. S. Mandnl, Poonn.
mony was carried out, on the basls of the same Prayogn
Pothl by the Kuladhlpatt of the Bhonsla famlly as
before. Gagabhatta, however, complled a work on
Vratas called ’Samayaiiaya at the request of Sambhajl
and sent it wlth those who had gone to bring hlm to
Raigad. This was compiled by htm In 1681 A.D. . Gaga-
bhatta appears to have dlcd sometime before l68iS A.D..
Gagabhatta’8 work, so far as they can be traced
to the various manuscript collections.pare : Q,
› T› I- M ,W

his,win e8f, cm m, M ,
3’•
8. GAGABMA'FTA’S PROCEDURE FOR CORONA-
'PION CEBEMONY AND HIS OBJECTIVE IN ITS
COMPILATION :
A protogonJst of Nlschalpurl, who was seriously
oflcndcd hy Gagabhatta by not allowing Shivaji to ad-
mit hlm or his Japaka end 7’antrlka followers in the
ceremony," wrltes “ gig
j$
which indicates that Gagabhatta had come to the Dec-
can o( hls own accorded and as was then customary,
Gagabhatta, with Ananladcobhatta, was received wlth
great reverence at Ralgad. He, being a great )ur1st of

* The writer n) "ShivaraJyahT ish«kakaIpa1aru" says that Shivaji

wag eBked n@‹ to pay Itie usual 1Jnr\Jape to Bra)JnJin XisclJalpuri,
though he was a Brahmin well vrrscd in Jagok: and Tontrlke
practices in the ceremonies, etc. .

§ "Shlvarajyabisftekakalpataru", /\4s. Nn. IOI 8fi, Bengal Royal Asia-

tfc Socie published In the B. t. S. N. gttarterjy, Vol.
10, I, P0ona 1929. p. 31 .
the time and having been Impressed of Shtva)l’s ablli
ttes durlng hle last visit to the Deccan In 16C3 A.D.,
naturally felt proud of the great achievement of ShlvaJl
for rcsuscltattng the Hlndu rellglon and Its supremacy
tn their own land. But at the same ttme, he dld not feel
very happy about the conditions In the Hlndavt Swa-
ra)ya arisen from the communal dlsputes referred to
hlm for decision and from the manner In whlch Shiva]1
and SambhaJl were being looked upon by the envious
relatives and selfish Brahmin Sarharkuns. He at once
realised the Inherent defect In the Swara)ya. It was,
no doubt, clear from the old and then current tradulon
!n the Konkan and elsewhere that ShlvaJi’8 family be-
longed to tht' ancient RaJaput clan§ and to the Slsodla
Vamsha and had the tradition of Samskaras of a ml-
Ing Kshatriya famlly.$s and Gagabhatta himself had
been convinced at the tlmc of his last visit to the
RaJapur Kokan Prztnt that Sh1vaJ1 was actually ruling
( ) his kingdom as a Raja or klng. But he, however,
found that the tradition thcn current about his powera
was not in accordance wlth the old Hindu Shastras, and
hence a consecration strictly adhering to the old Shas-
trtc tenets should be gone through to dispel the illu-
sion created. He was entirely opposed to the view that
all Kshatrlyas, on account of thclr deterioration or
lapses in the observance of some of the Sixteen Sam-
nkaras for reasons beyond their control, lost their right
to call themselves as belonging to tht' Kshatrlya Varna
Sttahaji Reje used to write In his correspondence "He 1s Rajpttt
fry caste", vide Patrasarasangraha, No. 710, p. t53: atso see h'fi›•
dhott:ar Gliaranyacha Itihas, No. 12S, pedigree, etc.
Pttase see pp. 3, 6, t02 of Bhush&napr8ntkawaIi" writiten between
166\? and 1672 fry Bkushanakavi and edited fry Shyamvihari
Misra, etc, and published by tire Kashipracharinf Sablta, Ser. No. 17,
Beneres, }g12.
Samfihaji and Shivaji were called "XshatriyagotrJ" and Sambhaji
lfas been described as "Yeuvarajehhishe)capavitragatro Raja-
putrah"—pp. 231, 232, 264, 261 to 270. ”R«themadhe vavI1asa-
chmpyh" by Jayaram Pindye vho was wlth SbahaJi In kis Court,
edited b1y V. Rajawade and pubti¥lted by Satkaryottejak Sahha.
Dhulla, 1917.
 have been no ttinoencc or

rama’s extinction of the Kshatrlya race tor twentjone

ttmes. Nobody, who is sane enough, could have believed
In the utter destruction of the Kahatriya race in the
whole world especially when Parashuram himself was
believed by the same storytellers as qultc tinsucccssf ul
twenty times before and also when the same storytellers
relate that Rama, who had been unlveraally accepted
as the beef example o( a ktng, was a KshatFlya and it
was he who destroyed all the fire of Parashurama’s
mlghty instrument to his final extinction from the world.
Rama had a large family and so were the Kshatriyas
around him and ruling elsewhere. Again. nobody could
have faced argument of Gagabhatta on the strength of
Smrlti Shastras and Puranetlhasa. In fact, he had prov-
ed himself the foremost amongst the Pandlts and Ju-
rlsts of the tlme and was directly responsible foF the
restoration of the original rights to Saraswat Brahmins,
socallcd Devrukhc Brahmins, and others. Hence. In the
Interest of the Hindavl Swarajya, Gagabhatta sugges- ,
ted to Sh1va)i that he should get himself consecrated.
according to the old tenets of Shastras and tradition
of the Aryan culture, as a klng, so that he could then
exercise all the poWt!rs for punishment and control
over the whole universe even Including those of the
Brahmin caste. Shlva)l Immediately gave his consent
and requested hiifl tO BBGlst in getting It through. Thls
was all but a natural outcome of Gagabhatta’s vlslt to
the capital of the Hlndavl Swara)ya.
Shivaji knew that the non-Brahmin advanced com-
munities. who were affected by the recent uprlse of
certain Brahmins for the monopoly of services and con-
sequently agalnst thelr Acharadharma, would be wholly
supporting thls move, as they were aware of Shivaji’s
Inclinations towards them and thelr rights. Those
 working in the Bghtlng force, as also Subhedare and
Havaldara, were similarly affected by Amatya’a Karkuns
under the lead of Sonopant Amatya for establishing
lhelr superlorlty on them In all the walks of life. Even
a large number of Brahmins, who felt oppressed to red
celve orders 1'rom Pandttaraya" In his personal
capacity, were lncllncd to prefer orders directly from
Sh1vaJ1. If there be at all any opposition, as presumed
by tha later story-writers, It must have been a very
feeble ono and that too from that small section of
Brahmins who were afraid of losing thelr prestige and
freedom ot action under the garb of
Brahmlnhood. But this
section was too small to be of any Importance and what
could not expressly offend ShlvaJl for thetr own ends
and atand Gagabhatta and Anantadcobhatta In
opposltion to the Gagabhatta’s proposal as has been
imagined by the Uttar-Pcshava period writers. Had It
not been so, there could not have been such a lack of
information or news of such a serious quarrel or
Gramanya at least In Pachad. where the familles of
Snrkarkuna resided. Th‹' writer of
‘Sh1vara)yabhlshckakalpataru’ would hav • certainly
taken advantage of such a quarrel wlth full slgnlflcance
In his favour and Nischalpurl would not have offered to
Improve the Importance of the ceremony In hls own
way later on, Hundreds of Brahmins, who had gathered
for Dana and Dakshina, and those experts in 1'edtc
rituals, who took part In the ceremony, would not have
gone there to partake in the celebration with- out
hesitation. Even In Pachad. there z-as not much talk
about It before the ceremony, as wlll be seen from
Narayan Shenavl's reil›arks in his letter of 4th April
1874: “Sevagee is making a throne very magnificent on
which he spends much gold and jewels, intending, to

set) 1 11 M 11 ”- J••r°r•••, br
Patemananda end Govindra havindra, Gaetiwad Orientat Serles, No.
CXX, p. lab.
be crowned In June next, being the beginning of the
New year. To this coronation he hath Invited many
learned Brahmins, and will llbcrally bestow on them
many elephants, horses and money. but It 1s not known
whether he will be rrov.'ned In person or some other
Prince, for it is reported he hath a Prlnce of the
Nlsamshay race In his custody . . . .” $
This shows that Gagabhatta’s suggestion was taken
serlously by all on the politic ml and social grounds
rind, as such, the secrecy had to be matntaincd to avold
cnragcment of lhe surrounding Sultanats or Islamic
powers, oven perhaps at the instance of those 8tarathas
of his equal standing In their employ. Such ’a secrecy
would have been impossible had their been any tussle
between Brahmins and Shivaji i›n coronation. A some-
what contemporary wrltcr, Sabhasad, writes:

This sho;s how the suggestion was rccelved at the

capital unanimously. Even tf there had been any dis-
inclination, it could not have been given expression to.
§ Nara an Senavi to the Deputy Governor, Bombay, tth April 1674,
English Records on Shivaji, p. 328, to. 451, Shivachariire kar.
yalaya, Shake 1831. z
* P. 88-70, Sabhasadl Bakttar of Shivaji.
 monles. He came prepared wlth a detalled programma
and procedure for all the ccremonles required to bt•
undergonc for ralstng a new klngdom or klngshlp to
Samra]yapada (for the lattcr only an Ashwamedha was
an addltlonal prcllmlnary) In Fcbruary 1874. He
thoughl of golng through the cercmonlcs In March.
ShlvaJl rcturncd to Ralgad In the hrst week of March,*
but such a plan had to be postponcd as ShlvaJl's wlfc
was serlously 111 and later on for her death on 18th
Mareh. Namyati Shcnavl wrltes: “. . . with order from
Neragy Pundit that l should rcmaln in the house untll
the time of mournlng was over for the death of Ra]a
Sh1va]1's wlfe, which I dld, testing these five days
J24th March to $8th March} without operating anj-
thing .. . ”L Naturally, no risk was taken by commcnc-
Ing the ceremony bvforo then . even if tht• anxiety
felt by Shlva)l pcrsonally for hls wlfc’s i llness be left
aslde. No cercmon i 1s al lowcd cvrn to procccd durlng
the mournlng time. Kashtbai's death, thus, dolayed the
ceremony for a month more. Hut In the meantlinc , the
border Issue bccame very scrl‹ius by the death on the
battlefleld of Prataprao Gujar, his lricd and trusted
commander.§ Shlva)l had to leavc early In April to
face the )otnt lnroad Into hls terrltory by the Mogul
Subhahdar Dller Khan and the Adilshahi Vajir Bahalol
Khan and thetr obJcctivc to fay slegc to the fort of Pan-
hala. Both of tht•m wure dcfcatrd and Dller Khan
had to go bark because of the Mogul’s dlsplea-
sure. The approachirig rainy scason was, as usual,
Io allow rcspltc to Shlva)l for domestlc affalra. Shlva-
J! returncd to Raigad on 15th Met 1s74 after taktng
KelanJa and lootlng Sampgaon." Immcdiately on hl8
arrlval, he dccldcd to go through the ccreniony. But
Gagabhatta had the dlfflculty of how to compmmlae for
not gettlng sufficient period to lntervene between lh•
' COrISuIt2tiOI1 ifi BOzIi bay, tikt Na£Ch ]674, nO. 448› p• 3Sb, Eftlzl lsh
Records on Shivaji.
§, shakawalis, g 3ü nO8. 447. 45t, 16 t, t78 etc., Eo4tlsh Re¢ordS Okt
Sh1vn]l.
penances and other ceremonies. After further deli-
beration, he decided that the penance-ceremonies
should be gone through, but the actual part of the
ceremony of Dana or Pratlgraha or the dlstrlbution of
the wealth uaed for weighing should be performed
after the Ra]abh1sheka ceremony was over. No doubt,
a detailed procedure had been drawn up by Gagabhatta
for all the ceremonles, and thls could have been well
acted upon by the K uladhlpatl of ShlvaJi. In fact, it
waa he who had actually performed the ceremony wlth
the assistance of other brahmins. But Shl vaJ1 was very
keen on seeing that thc ceremony should be gone
through under the dlrectlon of Gagabhatta. This was
because Gagabhatta had his special fame in the wholi:
of Indta and his authoFit y was well respected even by
iht• Great Moguls. Therefore, wlth all the calamities
befallen on ShivaJl. he al lowed all the prcllmlnarles to
be completed as immcdlatt•1y as possible. Fetching
water and earth from sacrcti places all over India In-
volved tlmc, as also for securing Brahmlns and Brah-’
min Dampatyas from distant places for the ceremony.
Not less than I ,OOO Brahmins were required only for
Dhakshlna and Bho)ana. and still more difficult was
the Jub to secure Brahmins well-vt•rsod in dlflercnt
Vcdas and thrlr various Branches or Shakhas to which
they belonged. They ivcru all to be given facilities
l’or their travel with thcn r wives and children. A throne
was also Jo be prepared, which was then under con-
struction and dt'coration for some months. Shivaji
surmounted all the obstacles and was ready to undergo
the RaJabhlshcka ceremony from the latter half of May
1B74.
8. CORONATION CEREMONY:
Unlike ;thc present publle coronation ceremonies,
the ceremony performed by ShlvaJt was purely a reli-
gious one. Shlvajl was thcn already the king of hts
A See nos. 403, 470, 48), etc., English Records on Shivaji.
3tf
 •‹BP'W ''/Z¥@’ feJ'7'/tory ]n the Xon a» and Obat
ff1C(sof(be
*#sy y/e.

the territory. However, as has been observed before,

fOP aR Orderly government of the masaes and
especially for maintaining the social and religious order
In the country. the klng had to be vested with power to
rule over them In all the spheres of thclr activities. which
ShlvaJl could not exercise without having hlmse)f been
duly consecrated. Thls is ali that he dld, and thereby
got the Hlndavl Swara),ya and Its Institution of the Plug
established on a permanent basls. He also got power
to admlnlster Justice In all matters of social and reli-
gious importance.
The most dlfflcult lhlngs to arrange for in so short
a time wt'rc: t 1) the preparation anlt dC COFtt(lOh t2( d
throne. (2) the cnllstmcnt of thr: services »r
well•versetl Brahmins belonging to the differed schools
of Vedas and their branches or Shakhas tti asstst In the
perfor- mance by the correct and proper recitation of
the Man- lFaB prescribed by Gagabhatta in hls
procedure for the MaharaJabhlsheka or
Alndryabhlshcka (great sacred bath), (3) the
construction of Homa-k undas or Homa- shalaa and
Vidhi-Cruhas {Halls for ceremony), (4) the collection of
sacred waters (Fom the great rlvers and Acas of Indla
and earth from the great mountains, (5) the
arrangement to get all the varied material qulred for
the ceremonies Including horses, elephant, etc. up on
the hlll-fort. and (6) the provision for the fecdlng of
more than 1000 Brahmins and their families ror all the
days of the ceremony.
Men and messengers were sent out Immediately
soon after’Ragabhatta’s decision and departure for
Pal- than tii the very beginning of 1B74 A.D. . These men
were, however. quite auceeasful In bringing the eacred
material and learned and other Brahmins considerably
more than the minimum lald down.
Artists were set upon the designing and decorat-
ing of the golden throne )ust to cover tht• Asandl, a
aent of Ood Indra, made of the branches of the tI mbar
(Flcus) trct'. The work of this throne appears to have
been much advanced by the end of March. as Narayan
Shcnavl tells us: “ Sevagec Is mnklng a throne very
magnificent, on which ht' spends much gold end
Jcwells." " Appart Nly Shivaji had act In the golden
throne many dlamonds and Jcwela but appears to be
very anxious to secure all kinds of them for hls wear
or use at the 11me of’ the coronation. as Hlndu tradition
says that teach diamond or Jewel has a special powi!r
and Influence of its own. ShlvaJi had, no doubt, abun-
dant In hls treasury. Stlll bls deslre was for more
vartetlcs as can bt percciv‹•d frem Narayan Shcnavl's
remarks: ”I answered htm (Neragy Pundltt) that Mr. H.
Oxlndon would bFlng an Arrabb Horse wlth htm of
considerable' val uc, whti d‹ slrr'd m‹• to wrltc to Your
Honours not to send any, but that ln Hen thereof you
would please send to htm some precious stones, clthcr
pearls or diamonds. which may be worth his wearing
at his Corona;tlon , wh‹•refure I desire Your Hon‹iur to
send him some rlngs of precious stont s ‹›r pearls or
some eiiatns of pearls.”i The English Factors sent
some as present. “The contents ot the present are as
follOW@ vZt.)i
To Sevagy Rajah (vzt.)
One head )uwell Nett wlth
dlamonda etc. cost
'i Two Braccletts sett wlth
diamonds etc. cost Rups. 450
Two pearle 1/10 utts Rupa. 510

Rups. l85tl
 7o Sombagee RaJah fievagy Ra)a's som
Two Braceielts sett wlth small rub's 125
One breast Jewell of 8 diamonds $50

Besides, there were small presents

for other occasions or vlstts.”$
In addltlon, “the Chalrc of State very epportunely to
be presented” was received by Henry Oxlndon on 27th
May. All these presents we're given hy Henry Oxlndon
and his party to ShlvaJl and his son Sambhajl on 28th
May. Henry Oxtndon says: “ 1 present cd htm and his
sonne Sombagce Rajah wlth those particulars appointed
for them by the President of Counclll whlch they seem-
ed to take very kindly. These articles were presented
before the Coronation because there wert• not to be out-
side invitees for the occasion. But Oxlndt•n and hls
party got leave on 5th to attend the Darbar ceremony
on the next morning when “ShivaJl intended to ascend
his throne” ( ). Oxtndtin along wlth John P•ryer
and others of hls emhassy visited the Darbar and noted
In his Narrative what they founb there as: “I unc 8th:
About 7 to 8 of the clock went to Court and found the
RaJah In a magnlftccnt throne and all the! Nobles
waitng on htm (In) very rlch attire, his Sonnc Sombagy
RaJah, PeBhua More Punditt and a Bramlny of great
emlnence seated on an ascent under the Throne, the
Fest, as well officers of the army as others. standing
with great respect. I made my obeysenee at a dlatance
and Naransinay held up the diamond ringe whlch was
to be presented him. He prescntl y took notlce of us
and enordered our comelng nearer, even to the footc
of the Thronc•, where belng vested, we were desired
to retire, whlch wcc dld, but not so soone but that 1

$ No, 4T4, p.H9-50, Surel Consultation, 8J11-5-1674. ',RS.

A No. 480, 481, p.361, Hen. Oxindon to Bonn. Daily 27-b•74 and
MS74. IRS.
O No, y6, p.B3 Oxnbns Nswativm RRS
tDOk J2otlce on each stdc of the throne: there hung (ac-
cording to the Moores manner) on heads of gullded lan-
cen many emblcms of Govcrnment and dominlon. as on
the right hand were two great flshos heads of Gould wlth
very large teeth; on the lcft hand severall horses talles,
a pa1rt• of gould scalcs on a very rich lanct• head polzed
equally, an emblem of )ustlce, and as we returucd at
the Wallace gatc there was standtng two small alephants
on each slde and iz'o f‹ii re horses with gould brldles
and rich f urnlture, which made us admlre whlch wax
they brought them up the hlll, tht' passagc being so di-
fflcutt and hazardous.’ " All thls shows how the golden
tiironc was prepared and decorated by the goldsmlths
and artists speclnlly appolnted for the purpose.
Other arrangcments for sccurlng material requir-
r'd for the cert•mony wert equall y well attended to.
Gagnbhatta. along wlth Anantadt'obhatta, had also ar-
mved In tht• eapltal l ‹›r the ceremony In February 1874
to supcrvlse and dlrect the preparatlons. Sh1vaJ1 was,
however, busy an war wlth thu Mogul and Adilshah til1
hc• rcturncd to Rayagad on l5th May 1674,£ as it wes
ßxod wlth Gagabhatta before he lcft, that the Ra-Jabhl
sheka eeremony was to take place “In June next by the
beglnning of th‹• new yt ar”’ (Phasall yt'aF beglnnlng
ten 24th May), as Narayan Shcnavl tells us In bis lctter
of 4th Aprll.
The ftrst thing one has to nttend tt›. before any
great rollglous ccrcmony ls commenccd, ls to visit and
pay homagc to the shrlnr of thti famlly dclty and have
a blesslng from the dclty ror a succcssful attalnment
of thr ccremony. IIhlva)1 on his return to the Capital
left for Pratapgad and rt•tiirned to Rayagad on 21st
May. The Ashtaml ( aa qv i) Sunday night
of the 171h and day of the 18th was ausplclous dax for
offerlng speclal worahlp to Goddess Tula)abhawanl of

• Osindon's Narrative. p. 375, no. 48fi, EPS.

§ Ozindoc to Bombay of Ib-5-t674, no. t78, p.369, ERS.
 Pratapgad arid probably no sooner he came to Ralgad,
he, having all tire material for worship etc. collected,
left wlth hl8 family Brahmin for Pratapgad on 18th
JSaturday) and after hls worship on 17th nlght and pre-
sents offered on 18th and lBth returned to the caplta!
on flat IYIay (Thursday). Oxlndon writes: ”Sevagee waa
departed thence to Purtabb G urr to vlslt the shrlne of
Bowany a Pagoda of great esteem wlth hlm, and cele-
brate some ceremonies there ln order to his Corona
tion, having carried with htm several presents. and
among the rest a Sombrcro of pure gold weigh Ing about
1'/• mds. whlch he hath dedicated to the aald Pagodas
use.”‘ What Oxindon names as i>“ombrero, John Fryer.
who was with him, calls )t Lumbrlco. It appears that
what was presented by Sh1vaJ1 was Jhc goldt'n Kalas
(top of the temple) and not an umbrella.
As the 13th, 14th and 00th ot’ Valshakha month
were not auspicious days, no ceremony was fixed for
them, nor dld Shlva)i meet the Oxlndon party for talking
Important political business. The days were. however,
busily spent by Shlva)1 in soetng through the arrangr-
ments made and fixing a detailed programme to be
carried In the 8rst half of Jcslha month. On 20th
(JeBtha 1, Tuesday) Oxlndon was lntc!rviewc d. Oxindon
says: “He and hia Sonne took their leaves and retired
Into thclr prlvate apartments, where they are bushy em -
ploled wlth the Banyans iBrahmins) in consultations
and other ceremonies“.I Probably they were busy In
performing the usual worshlps for K uladeopratistha etc.
for the thread and marriage cercmontea. Ocncrally
such ceremonies, buth religious and soclal, were being
gone through In these Samskaras.
88th May (Prtday, Jestha Shuddha Chaturthl):
"Shakavalls" mention that “Ra)a had his Thread cere-
mony accomplished by slx Ghatlkas of Ranchaml“.
* to 451. p. 328, Narayan Shetiavl to Bombay, 4th Apfll 16f4, ERS
§ Onl ndon’s Narrative. no. 46fl, p. 371. l9lh day l8f4, ERS.
But some writers describe It as: "the ceremony began
on Chaturthl and ended on Parichaml”. Both the ex-
presalons Indicate the same tlme. According to Shae-
tran, Chaturthl lB barred fur thrend ceremonies. But
although the fl8th commenced wlth Chaturthl, the Cha-
turthl endcd on 8 ghatlkas 7 palas after the sunrlsc and
Panchaml commenced. According to tht Indian calendar.
the whole day is counted as Chaturthl for account and
other buglness purposes but not for r‹'llg1ous ceremtinles.
For religious ceremonies the Thithts are calculated ac-
cording to the Joti rganl ta. Hence, although the thread.
ceremony commenced early morning on the fl9th. 1.e.
Chaturthl-day, the maln ceremony, for which ausplcl-
ouB tlmc was flXod, was actually performed after 6 gha-
tlkas of the Panchaml tithi elapsed, or by about 10-30
a.m.. Thus the whole ceremony m ust have taken all the
tlme from very t•arl y In the morn Ing to noon of the
39th May. A Dutch factor in his lt•ttcr of lsth Octo-
ber 1874 writes to h!s tiovernor about the information
he got of the thrt•ad-cerem‹›ny: “. . . iSua•y {ShlvaJl)
. said that he could not be' crownt'd uiitll he had
abandoned his present caste of Bhonsla and taken the
caste of Kettary t Kshatriya), and it was fitting that
they should lnduct htm Into that C2Stc. Thereupon the
learned men answered that that could hardly be as hls
ancestors had always bt'en Bhonslas. Suasy replied
that the Bhonslas were dt•sccnded from the Kcttary
(Xshatrtya) «aste and that that he wished could ccr-
talnly be done. So the other party, taklng Into consi-
deration that Suasy could not be crowned unleaB he
first becamr a Kettary (Kshatriya), and that he ha-d pro
mlsed not to act or rule tyranically and badly aa be-
fore, on the 8th June (New Style) laat wlth great cere-
mony, they granted htm the caste of Kettary {Kiha-
trlya), and Intended also to Initiate him Into the rules
of the caste. but he demanded to be t8ught Bradman
rule. This, however, they refused, but one of the chlef
among them completed. . . .”.i The Dutch factor has not
apparently understood the implications of the problem
because of his Ignorance of thu Hindu Dharmashastras.
ShlvaJt never desired tu be a Brahmin, as that would
have debarred him from klngsh ip. What was neces-
sary was tt› recognise hls Kshatrlya caste as qutte lit
the fold or‘ Owl ja ¥’arnas, z'hic h the thrc'ad-cert mony
dld accomplish for him iis desired.
Having g‹›ne through the thrt•ad-c‹'remony, Sh tvaJl
bt came ellgible to pcrf orin the Pra yaschi tta or penances
)3r(!S(irlbed to absol ve hint from th' I rrcgularltlcs ln the
observance of Samskaras and from knc›w1ngly or un-
knowlngl y f:ommlttc'd sins. These pcnanc es followed
I mmcdlatel y the' thread-cr'r‹'mony. Afternoon ( )
1s considered auspJ r lotis fur such performances. The
penances he had to go through were cal)ed Tulopuru-
shadana“( ) :ind Tuladan ( ) Lu. in the first.
ohe has to pr‹•par‹' an Idol nt' g‹›l d of Shri V ishnu and
after worshlpptng etc:., to glve it tu l3rahmlns asslsttn8
the ccremony. Tuladan mt ans wr ighlng hlmsclf , In
the presence of tin' ( Jq) a8alnst gold. sllver, t-opper,
tron, etc. and also against S‹'sam um , and otht•r var1t'-
ties of corn Me, and givitig all the' stuff, so wei ghed,
to !he Brahmins t'npayed in th‹• r'erc'niun y. Gag•u bhatta
haö a special!y pr‹•parcd pr‹›cedure for the se two
Vldhls or perf ormances, and tht'y wer‹' gone through
according Io his procudurr'. Gagabhatta's particular
notc of not rccogn islng ›thcr Brahmlns for this Dona na-
turally created somr d1spl‹'asure among them, cspeclal-
ly amorig the Japakas and Tantrikas and such others."
§ Leiter from A ters ha in le l’c leer, I3iitcli fi actory, Vengur la fo Gover-
nor Gent•ral fur th‹ 2ost, l3lTi C\ctol›c'r lG7l—Dutcti Records. Dagh
Register, Vol. XXX f\*, nu. ß4 I .

i i& ] "—p. 23. 7uls purushadanavidhi etc. by Gagabhrtta.

Copy uf the Yanustript is in the Collection of Pandharpure Shaatrl
cf Chinchwad, and a capy of thie has heen preseved in the Bllandarkar
Oriental Research Institute's htanuccript Department. Pootta.
However, Oagabhatta was to be obeyed and everythlng
was done according to his direction. Th.xigh the cere-
mony was performed, the actual dlstrlbutlon took place
after the whole RaJabhlshcka t!eremony was ovcr. 7’hus
he came over the dlfflculty of finding duration betwc en
the penance and coronation ceremontc's. Oxindon wrl-
tes: ”Thls day the Rajah according to the Hlndoo eus-
tome was weighed in gould and pol zed about 10,000
pagothas, which money. together wlth onr' hundred
thousand more. Is to be dlstrlbutvd iiftor his morons-
tlon unto the Brahmins, whti in great numbtir art• f lockt
hlther from all the adjacent countrys. . . .”* A Dutch
factor from Vengurla also observes: “ . . . This froc-
bootcr Suasy has been mak lng preparations for some
time for having himself crownc'd king, and In the month
of June (N‹iw Style) cvt rythlng was ready and the Bra-
mins and Bhutts (who are learned men of the hlghes.
caste'), and 11,000 p‹•rsuns from many plact s ruund
about, wlth thelr wlvcs and chl ldrcn, were assembled tti
perform the ceremony. according to the t:ustomc of th‹•
country, nrar the cast le ‹if Ralry. . . . Suasy ordrrt•d
Y,0fJ0 pagodas to bt' gJvcn to htm (Clagabhatta) as a
present. Thls day was gl vcn up to tb.t• ec'rcmon y (Llpa-
nayan and Prayaschltta) and a sum of 17,000 pago-
das dlstrlbutcd to tht• crowd which had c‹›lI ected to wit-
ness it. On the 14th June {New Style, 4th) Suasy made
a grrat distribution to the learned men, for the washing
awoy of the sins he had romm l;ttt•d, of gold to tht•
wolght of his body (Welghlng 17,000 pagodas or about
1B0 pounds) and thr samt' of sllver, copper, spelter, tin
lead, and iron, and of very flnt• llncn. camphor, aalt.
nalls, nuts, and mace, with the same quantlty of other
nnt!ve spices, butter, sugar, t•tc. Of all frultB and all
sorts of eatables, b‹qcl and arrack Included, he also›
gave to the weight of hls body. Two of the learned
men proposed 1800 pngodas In addition on acoount of

•f.’xindon a Narrative, p. 374, no. 486. IRS.

 tbe stn 6uagy mtgbt have cozsznjtted
Involving the death of women, children , cettle and Bra.
hm1na.“$ From this Information, It seems that th
welght of ShlvaJl was 160 lbs. and th&t Of JQ go lden
Idol of ShrJ Vishnu for Tulapurushadan war 330tl
pagodas or 3fl to 33 lbs. .
30th May (Panchaml and S basthl Jestha: 8atur
day): 'I'hc cbief wJ/e i:lad to act as Ra/nce In the Coronu
tlon ceremony. It was, therefore, necessary that she
should undergo a marrlage ceremony agaln wlth the!
Vedlc rltual. Gagabhatta decided to perform the Saman-
trak marriages, as Shakawal s say. wlth all the four aur-
vlvlng wl ves w ltli the Vedtc rlt uals, so that they mlght
take part in the coronation ceremony freely, and that
their progeny should be recognised as true Kshatrl ya of
the k lngl y ordt•r In feature. Henry Oxlndon Inf orms “on
37th May that RaJah was s‹› busle about hls corona- tion,
marriagc wlth tivu other . , . . w omen“.* Probably he
means that th‹• marriage was to take place w'th the RaJnee
or chlcf oF eldest wife, as also wlth other two wives,
bccaust• on the 8th June he has noted In his narrative that
“’£he RaJah was married to a fourth w1fr* without any
statt' ofi ceremony.”> 7’hus, it 1s clear that ShlvaJl had to
marry agaln ( a as Shakawali
puts it) with all hla aurvlving wlves. Perhaps thls last
marriage wlth the feurih wife was delayed for some
reasons beyond the control of his wlfe such as monthly
course, the period of which Is strictly forbidden for
any rellglous and soclal functions.
After the mgrrlagi• eelebrat Ion, the ceremony for
MaharaJabhlsheka commenced. In the Sanskrit text of

g Letter from Abraham ie Fet›rr 8t Venettrla to the Governor

tene- rat etc. dated ]3th October 1674, no, Btt Dutck Recall
Dagh ffegister. Vol. XXXIV.
* Ffenry Qrindon to Bombay, 27th J\4ay t674, no. 480, jxd62, EItG.
A Oatndon's Narrative, no. t86, p. 376, 8th Juoe t674, BRS.
ceremonies were held. It is unnecessary, therefore, to
give detailed synopslB Of thr procedure followed. A
brlef summary ot the matn events may suffice.
30th May: Saturday, Jeshtha 8th: The declaration
made by Shivaji Raja at the commencement ot the
cere- mony contains his objectlvc for going through Thu
ceremony as: " qq mi[
... ....,.. J " Tbls makes It quite
clear that ShlvaJl dcslrcd to have power to govern h1s
subject and to obtaln tire br!ncflts of 8amraJya or em-
pire. On thls day, the ceremonies performed were:

sacred 8rc was extinguished for the day, and the Brah-
mins engaged l'or the ceremony were glven Daksh!na In
cash and klnd (cloth etc.).*

Vlehwcshvor

the Library, through I) e kindnes.s of Shri. Manubl›ai Mehta thert

Diwan of the State, has been deposi red in the 8h8n darker Orien:st
Research tnstitlt‘.e’s Nanusctipt Department, Poona. The numbers
for the verses and notes indicafinp the sources of the Nantrxs
are given by the eulllor of this t›ook for reference.
* In the text of the #rst day ceremony (p. 24 [›os’-) here \s e
mcation o/ Shivaji ••- " ft e a IP... «r act kc•zi

It i8 thus clear tha! the fifigitial manuscripl was the same es

was prepared for Shivaji’s coronation and according to urhich the
whole ceremony was carried out at Raigad. Another reference
to Shiva)I occurs in the text of the aecond days ceremony as.
 3tsI Mey: 8aaday, Jeihtha 7th: Shivaji had to
observe faat on 80th (evening and night) for this day’a
ceremonies, which Included " ". For this, a
sacred tire was prepared agaln before the worship of
Indranl. After the worship, qgJvt q9 and
g@ qJ were performed. On the completlon of this
day'a ceremony, the Brahmins employed were given
In gold coins.
1st June: Monday, Jes£tha 8th: As a subsequent
part of the " " wcrv perf ormvd " " and
" " before ghee, cows and were distri-
buted to Brahmins as the Dakshina for the day.
Zad 8tzoe, ’T'uesday, Jesbtba 8tb: Both ’I'u«sday of
the week and the 8tli day nf tht' Hindu month were con-
sidered inauspiclous for tht• ceremony. No ceremony
was, thc*rtiforc. gone through un this day.
8rd June: Wednesday, Jeahtha loth: On this day
also remaining part of the “ " was gone
through. This consiste'd of q4Ut8ii " a' nd "
4th June, Thursday, Jeshtba 11th: MfiiApt:
was performt•d at ntght. In th1s pcrf‹›rmancc, all thtngs,
Incl udlng the anointing material to be used for wor-
ship wt!re to bt• black. Evt'n the p‹'rstin pcrf ormtng thls
V1dh1 had to clothe hlmsulf wlth black clothes. In this
ecrmony, both raw and cooked fi esh and fish were to
be among the offeFlngs alring wlth wlnc " ".
Sth June: Prlday, Jesbtha Shuddha IN upto fl3
€ihatlkas and 35 Palas (1.c. upto 3-30 p.m.J: In the
mornlng, the Alndryashantl’, whlch was commenced
on 31st May, was romp1c'trd. As a mark t›f the ac-
complishment of this Vldhl, mori' than 1000 Brahmins
were given a dinner party with the usual Dakshlna for
the occasion,
In the evening began the principal anointing cere-
mony (MaharaJabh1sh‹ ka). The auspiclous day fixed for
thls was the 13th day of Jcshtha month. Tlila cere-
mony continued tlll morning of the Bth of June. The
ceremonies performed durtng the fright were {1) Raja-
bhlahcka or anointing. t3) Slmhasanarohana or ascend-
ing the newly created throne and (3) RaJadarshana or
Darbar or Court. Clxlndon wrltrs: “June 5tb: Naragy
Punaitt sent inc word that on the morrow about 7 or O
in the morning tht- Rajah Sevag‹'t int‹•ndtid to asct nd
his thmnu. and hr would take it klndl y if 1 camt' to
congratulate hlm there in. that it was necessary to prey
sent h1m wlth gume sma11 thtng, it being not thc cus-
tome of these Eastornt• parts to appt•ar bef iire a Princr
empty handed. . .”* A Du1t:h factor l’rom Yengurla also
Informs hts Governor that “(3n the 15th of Junt' (New
Style t.e. 5th Junt' Old Style j al1 the fitting ceremonial
havlng bcrn a omplished ht' ISuasy I washt•d his body
with water from tht' Ganges, which had bcf•n brought
ftir the purpose, and gave to ‹'ach Brahmin that day 100
pafiodas and to the ‹ hl i!( '›f I hem 5,(l0u pagodas, and
promised to give hlm 2,000 pagt›das a year. On the-
16th (Bth O!d Stylcl of J un‹! he s‹'at‹ d himself on thu
New 'Phrone svh1‹-h had been made r‹•ady. rind was in-
vested by the assembly with tht' name: Shlvajl. .”.1 It
appears that both (he Rajabhisht'ka and Slmhasana-
rohan ccrcmontc s were perl’ormed z'ell before the dawn
of the 8th of June. Shakawalis alsti tntorm us that:

According to this entry, Shlva]l ascended his new

throne about one and quarter hour before the sunrise
on Saturday the Bth of June 1674. Thls particular
time ( 'g ) 1s considered to be auspicious
for all the days of the year and fur all purp‹›ses. Thus,
the main Ra]abh1sheka ceremony was performed on
the 13th day of the brlght half of Jcshtha month of Shaka
1598 Anand Samwatsar according to the calculatlons

* Oxtndon’s Nari ative. no. tfi6, p. 376, ERS.

C f'/o. 8fi1, Dutch ñactoi y Records, Vol. XXXIV.
of Jyotlrganeet: and Sh1va)l had, from thls thtthl day
Introduced tbe new era of the foundation of the Hln-
davt Swara)ya and named II Ra)yabh1sheka Shaka’.
Thls era has not been introduced in Imitation of the
Mogul’s Jul us or for lndlcatlng the year of hls personal
rcgtmc only.
The preliminary Vldhls : Ciancshapujanam, Swas-
tlwachanam, MatrukapuJanam. ¥'asoddharapuJanani,
Nandlshraddham, Narayanapu)anam, and A]yahomam
were first gone through. Shivaji and his wlfe then enter-
ed the hall wht•rc' RaJabhlsht'ka ceremony was to take
place. )Icre amidst many other artlclcs kept ready for
the ceremony were four Kumbhas or pots, whlch were
placed on spots duly dt'coratcd wl th anolnted wheat
seeds, etc., on the four s ides of Mahavcdl. The pot on
the cast was a golden one ftllcd wlth ghee, the set ond
on the south was a silver one wlth milk, the third on the
west was of copper »'ith curds and the fourth on the
north was an carthon one wl th water. On the eastern
side were pJac‹'d some Kumbhas or puts wlth honey
and on the other sides several pots were kept ready
wlth waters from sacred rivc*rs and seas. All the pot.s
were decorated wlth Kumkum powder and leaves and
flowers. An Asandl or Indra's seat made of Flcus wood
was also krpt ready nearby. In the Mahavcdt, a sacred
fire was prepared. The Flrc God and Java Graha or nine
slars were then Invoked and worshipped. The Kalashas
or water and earths brought from different places were
also worshipped. "Sarwapradhan Homa” was thcn
performed. All Brahmins chanted their prescribed Ve-
d1c Mantras on all occasions. After offering oblutlons
to the Fire God wlth the Mantras, Shivaji went to the.
separate hall prepared for the sacred bath (Abhtshe-
kashala). He was anointed there with scented olls,and
powders. Shivaji then took bath wlth hot water.
Brahmins of different Shakhas chanting their Mantras
appropriate to the occasion. Shivaji dressed ggaln
In white clothes and came out to a Peetha,
another decorated aeat, there he was anointed
wlth the earths from sacred places. He was
then bntbett wlth Panchomruta or a mixture of honey,
mtlk, curds, ghee and sugar hFBt Rnd then wlth
hot water. Panchamrutn bath was repeated thrlce al-
ternate to hot water bath. Such a Panchamrut bath ts
permissible under the l3harmaShaBtFas for gods and
goddesses and by givlng this bath to Shivaji wlth the
appropriate Vedlc Mantras, he was being elevated to
the htgheF lcv‹*l to become a representative of Indra
or Vishnu. Shivaji agaln dressed In whlte clothes and
havlng got himself anointed (Gandhanulepanal wlth
sandal powder etc. cami• out alung with the Brahmins
chanting their Mantras , and ascended the ABandl (In-
dra’s seat) placing hls kncus first on It and seating on
the hlnd lt•gs, without allowing his feet to touch the
Asandl through reverence to God Indra. The family
prlest, astrologer and Purohlt sprinkled water on
Shivaji as representing Indra. Shivaji thcn descended
the Asandi and golng near the Homa offered his prayers
to Fire God. Then he went to the golden scat and there
went Brahmins, Officers, Ministers. merchenta and
others to arknowledge htm as their King, a true repre-
sentative of God Indra or one poaseased of all the par-
ticles ot Indra and otht'r fiods for Kingship. They then
took hlm to the bathing hall again sayl'ng : qspt
edit W M • 4t nun uat ét4'is Riietixi
ttat ",thus making htm the king o( Brahmlns. When he
was seated on the specially prepared seat for third bath,
amidst the chanting of Vedtc Mantras, the Brahmlns,
Mlnlsters and olfleers poured gbee from the easislde
golden pot, Senapatls and Kshatriyas thorn the south
poured mllk from the silver pot, merchants and Valshas
poured curds from the went from the copper pot and
other servants and Shudrga poured water from the
earthen pot on the tiorth, all at the aame time
chantln8 the “alogan" '• @ etqq t q txt
TO .•. W R't M M éi4l
ciReui itxf..." thus by thls special bath they mcept-
ed Shlva)l MaharaJh as the King of atl lnclud-
1n8 BFahmins. After thls bath, an ordinary Myth was
taken and having dressed himself ageln, he ñt ritiutéd
Dakshana In the form of cows, horsea, land. and gold &
Brahmins. He was añ ointed wlth Ktuukum Al ’ak
Suwaslnl women and adored hlm thrtee Wlth the Man-
gal Deepas (i.e., by having the sacred lamps before
his face.) Here ends the fret part of the ceremony
named Ra)abhishoka Vidhl. 'Fhls ¥’1dhl, With the long
recitals of Vedtc Mantras, must have t;iktn a lot uf
time, and perhaps It must have been continued much
after the midnight.
A aubsldlary ceremony to the fi rst part of this
day'a celebrations was then held. When "ShlvaJl was
free from the Abhisheka ceremony, he went to the cha-
riot at the door, where Gagabhatta, as a ch)ef represen-
tative ot gods, Brahmins and people was occupying
the chariot, As soun as Shivaji approached the chariot,
Gagabhatta beatdWed The kingdom of IndFa to Shlva]1
and vacated the ctItiffot- Along with the chariot were

* Yhe item of tharlbt in the ceremony apge8m co hsve hcert wtie-

understood by aon›e, or j›erhaps exaggeteted Fy the protegoaJet
A H ischalputi. Bul his descrip* ion of the event confirms the pto-
cedure followed. The fn’lowinp is the version from ShivatG)ya-
bttlahekekalpa*aru :
glven the sanctlfied bow and arrows, horses, elephants,
etc. duly coiisccratcd for his use. so that they might be
good frlenda to htm on the battlefields and elsewhere
for the protéctlon and extension of the Kingdom. 8hlva) .
thcn rode In the chariot a littl c and came back for the
performance nt thr second part of the celebrations.
Thcst• art' some o( the rx etits u'hlch arc self-explana-
tory of the splrlt and Ideas behind the ceremony,
The Vcdlc Mantras in the text will, no doubt, help
elucl datlon of tht' underlying obJect.
Slmhasanaroh£ln8 or asccnslon ccremohy was a
very short one. In the thron‹', already described before.
eras placed the Asandl covered wlth the sklns of tlger,
11on, wild cat, decor ‹'tc. ( ). Thts
•eat was also conficrratr!d by performing the Madhupar-
kadi Vldhis, and giv Ing Dana and Dakshlna to Brah-
mins. Whllc Chhatrapatl 8hivaJl Mahara)a was ascend
I eg the newly built up throne. Cliaughada, drums, etc.
were beaten and morns and other wind Instruments
blown loudly to anm›uncc the ase‹•nsion to the people
outside; and In tht' inside Samwatsar Purohltadl Brah-
mins wert• announcing to those gathered there on the
occasion that Chhatrapatl ShivaJl MaharaJa became the
Abhlshikta MaharaJa ‹›f their kingdom. Here agaln
some pet horsrs and elephants were consecrated and
the Mlnlsters and Officers offered thelr Aheras or pre-
sents to Shtva)i Maharaja. AiDotlg BUCh presents were
8,000 Hons from More Pant Peshava, 7,000 Hons from
Nllopandlt’s sons, 5000 each from two other Sarkar-
kuns. All these Gold coins were poured on the head of
ShlvaJl, thus bathlng htm with goid on the occasion.*
A procession was thcn taken round the maln road. All
thoae gathered there at the foot o( Raigad were allow-
ed to go up to see the Slmhaeanarohana ceremony and
the procession.

’Bo. MG Duty Fmcey Record, VM.XKXfV

 8th Jane: Saturday, Jeihthe l3tb: After the pro-
cession returned, ShivaJl held hls 8rst Darbar (Ra]a-
darshanJ or Court and gave his first appearance as
Chhatrapatl Shivaji Maharaja by ascending the throne
agatn early In the morning. No outside gentry waa In-
vited to attend the first Darbar or the ceremony. Hence
the Darbar was merely of local Importance. Thoao as-
sembled there to assist in the celebrations were' per-
mitted to have a glance at the nc wIy Abhlshikta Maha-
raJa and the golden thront'. In fhls Darbar. all the MI-
meters and Offict'rs nrarabout wrre clad in very rlch
attlre. SambhaJl, Moropant and £iagabhatta only were
sitting on the ascent of the throne and the rest were
standing In twt› rows. The party on embassy from the
English Factors, who z'erc th‹•r‹• by chance on their
business, wrrc allow‹•d to vlstt the Darbar and see the
crowned king and throne as they called It.
7th June: Sundey, 14th of Jeihtha: Thr thlthhi ls
liiauaplclous. Honcc no t'Prcmony took place. Only the
dlfitrlbutlon of the matcrlal of the Tulapurushadana and
Tuladana Vldhls. as aiso the general dlstrlbutton of
Dakahlna to Brahmlns, was commcnced. The Dutch
Factor wrotc: “On the 17th (7th Old Style) of June a
general gilt of largesses was bcgun tt› all the asscmbled
envoys and lcarned int'n: 3 or 4 rupces each and 1
or 2 to wom‹in and childrcn. This diBtributlon contlnued
for 10 days. and every day Suasy feasted the people.
lt ls said that the ü l,!FOmtiny and dlstrlbutlon of larg-
esses cost, 1,50,000 pagodas. . .”* Preaumably the dta-
trlbiitlon was stoppcd on account et the death of Shl-
va)i'a mother J iJabalsaheb In the noon of l7th June.
Agalnst this expenditure, fihlva)1 lc•vlcd a coronatlon
tax (SlinhasanapattlJ on Deahmukhs aB we see from a
letter that “Dapode Deshmukh had pald 1,000 hons si
Simhasanapatti to ShivaJl"L
• i'4o. 641. Dutch Fsctoiy hecords. Vol. XXXIV.
§ Rs]«w• de llhands no. 16, Lekh«ni‹n 2, psge 12.
 The elde8t non SanibhaJi Ra)a was anolnteds ae
YuvaraJa atid has been described by the party of the
English embassy as occupying the next seat of honour
in the Darbar on the ascent of the throne.
In ccrtaln iihaknwalls z c come across an entry to
the t'tfc'ct that 'on Ashwln Suddha 5th 24th Septem-
ber 1674, Thursday) ShivaJl asct'ndcd the throne
again Some chronicles have also r‹'f‹•rred to the event.
But this cvt•nt is mum• l’ully t xplalncd In the
"Shlvarajyabhlshekakalpatarii”. In the optnlon of
Nlschalpurl, the coronation ccrcmon y, more particular-
ly that part of the Slmhasanarohana ceremony per-
formed by Gagabhatta was 1ncomplct‹• and the auspici-
ous t ime *‹•1t-cted for tht' a‹!t ual fi rst Slmhasanarohana
Vldhl was not correctl y determined. According to hls
Mantrika an Tantrik2 theory. the Asandl should not
hnve been sanctlfl‹'d as m‹ r‹'ly a seat of God Indra but
It should havt• been instil led wlth the pow rr of Ashtars"
(elght lions: t:— , , , ,q , , ,
and ) and ShivJi’s person should ulso have
been cons‹•crated so as tt› instll In hlm the
prowess of the' Grt'at C‹›ddcss. Shlva)1, however,

jt Chit d to Surat, l0ih January, I ti??, tlripinal Correspondence.

Vul. 37, no. 4253, no. 197, p. 104, ER5, — ”For Iris son (SsmblisJi)
is already cr‹›wncd. arid cf sufficient underslanding he ap-
peara.
Z Shivacharitra•Pzadee}›8, hy S. M. Divekar. p. 52.
0 Nlschalapuri says “that it was perfnr ned on inauspiciouc tfmn.
weekday and Tilhi ( h W 9i l )’’
(Shakha 4). The attmept of the writer of "Xalepataru" to
attribute calamities occuri ed kcfore th‹' ceremony in the death of
SHivajI's w ifc, end Prat8grao Guj sr and some petty eycnts, to
this in otispieioiis time cannot lout be classed as teo silly for the
expression of his hatred luwnyds €iatta bhatta for the oiience given
by htm \n no( rrcognisinp the Japakas and Tantrikas for the
RU abhisheka and Tuladan ceremonies. Perhaps, the some chzrge
could have keen iltade against Nischalpuri, ae on the very next
day of the second ‘S imasenarolian' the temple of Shiva] I’s Ismily
diety at Pratapgad eras hit fry lightning,
See Shakha 6 of Shci Shivrajyabfilsfiekskalpataru". His concept
for Shlinhasana was " ggzTI?t q($ ?(gg
f8zmrh ›fta «to sR @4 ii - a w k.” 7bi• •••••pi •i
 In order to paclfy the feelings created by this
section of Brahmins, allowed NlBchalpufl tO pflF-
form second Simhasanarohana V1dh1 according to
his method and conceptlon. Nlschalpurl prepared air
Asandl anew (the scat placed In the golden throne) and
by melting cvrtaln Mantras. he purlBed the ground
underneath It. paid homages to some petty deities,
spirits. t'tc. and made the Asandl or Stmhasana to
possess the powers of the clght llon-gods. Thue he
created the ’Slmhasana ' fi llcd wlth s‹ime powerf u1 ele-
ments according to h1s Mantrashastra: and by glvlng
the Ra)araJcahwar1 Mantra’ for dolly recital to Shi-
vaji, he lnstlIJcd in him the prowess of the Circat
Ooddncss In addltlon to the particles of the Asta-
DJkpalas received through the ccrcinony devlscd by
Gagabhatta. As thls performanc‹• took placc$ in Vlshnu-
suehupti-kala Ja prohlbittcd period for Rajabhlsheka),
the performance attempted by Nlschalpurl 1s mls-
isamed by the writer of “Kalpataru” as Abhlsheka.
From all the procedure followed by hlm. It 1s clear that
lt was merely a subsl dlary c‹•remuny of a “pc•rlodical
Ra)abhlahcka typt ” which was undergone by ShivaJl
at the tlme of his next ascension on the throne. Just
rtfter the great bereavement on arctiunt of the death
of hls mother Jl)abal on 19th June 1B74. Ashwln
Shuddha Pnnchaml, l.c. Lalltapanchaml, was lmmedta-
trly the next ausptclt›us day for asc‹•nd1ng the thron.'
again for hls Darbar. He did It wlth the Mantrlka and
Tantrika .Uldhl ]ust to remove the feelings created by
Slzrthaeana ie, apparently a Pauranic onr. and the description of the
Vidlil performed by Nischfl lpuri also 8 ppeats to be of the Paursn ie
charaftcr. In lhe Vedlc litergture. the litin has no place among thc•
royol emblems. Ciagabhatta who was very been in having all fire
perfomance carried according lo the Vedic ritual, naturally Ignored
the lmpfirtancr altflched to the lion in the Pa uranic literature.
§ The date of this performance is given in the "ltalpa!aru” as:
tbe deatbs of hts wtfe, mother and commander. ataonfi
the people. The ceremony had no religious or pollttcal
importance.
R MAHAIL4JABMSDBKA AND IT8 fMPORT.

The only Idea brhlnd all the Ra)abhlshcka cert*-

mony was nothing but to Impress on the Klng and the
people that tht' kingdom belonged to God Indra and
that .'4hlva JI as His and the lr repr‹•suntat1vi' had been
ordained to rult• and protect It. ShlvaJi In turn accep-
ted to serve and prritect tht• kingdom and the subJt•cts
wl lh all th‹• f nthorly care and k lndness. Although
Oxindon could not be cxpt'cted to understand all the
Implications uf tht' ceremonious Incantations in San-
skrit, he gave fairl y a broader view of the splrlt wlth
which the wholt ceremony was bi'ing perf‹›rmed. He
wrote ”that wht'n thr Rajah wus crowned ht• would act
more llkc a king by taking cart' of hts subjects and
endeavouring to advance tFad‹• and t't›mmerct• . . .”
Shivaji was kn‹›wn for his characteristic simpli-
city both on the battlt'flcld and at homt', and It 1s no
wonder If thu coronation cclebrat tons, though of gri•a'
religious and soclal Importance. wt'rt also pc•rformed
wlth tht• same slmpllclty and not wlth much pump or
grandeur. I ltd dld not allow his grt•at bereavement on
account of his wlfe’s death to deft•r arrangenientB fOr
the ceremony. but maintained the same calmness of
mind as he dld at the tlme of tht• Afzal Khan event Just
aftrr the death of his tlrst much bt•luved wlfe at Pra-
tapagad. Shivaji nevt r allowed his personal congldera-
tlono to make the cause' of the' nation suIft•r. He was
well aware of thr' great national Importance and of th •
far reaching effects uii the public at large, if the cere-
mony waa performed uiider the personal dlpectlon of
Gagabhatta hlmsclf. ShlvaJi's prime ob]cctlve ln the
performance of this ct•remony was to i•nsure Internal
securitx rather than publicity of his sway abroad. No
outside atate or gentry was either Informed oi invited
to attend, ao much so that even Kutbshah was not
aware that ShlvaJl was a crowned ktng for some thre •
years more.* But at the samt• time, ShlvaJl’s widespread
lnvltatton to thr learned Brahmins was well-responded
to and many more than thousand Brahmins were ga
thered on and at the foc›t ul Raigad. These Brahmins
—the lntt•llectua1 eli•ment uf the country —carried the
message of thls very important t'vent far and wide,
and perhaps z'ith more effectivcnt ss and force. The
henetits derived by the atatc' and the people were the
internal security and Ircedom to all castea and creeds
to cxerc lac their own modes and manners of life. The
power to administer )ustlce was a grt•at weapon to
stabilise the country. No sooner had ht• been conse-
crated, Shlvnji Issued ordt'rs In his own name allowing
all castt•s and creeds to ful low the r own practices.
whether curr‹•nt or lapsc'd. according to tht' fiodes of Law,
thus t'xpectlng hlgh‹'r level of tht' religious and soclal
ordrr in th‹ Hindavi iiwarajyu. Thls move was greal I
y churisht'd by a lnrgc ma)oFlty of the peo- ple. Again.
ShlvaJi ust'd hls power. so acquired, to combat against
the efforts uf thr Christian Missionaries for conversions.
By ShivaJl’s t›rder reconverslons of alt such persons as
were forcibly c‹inv‹•rted and deBlrt’d to return to the
Htndu fold became posslblc. Thls na- turally made tht'
Missionaries wary about their eiforte and reluctant to
spend mont'y on men whose willing- ness to Join thrir
fc1d svcmed hnzy. Thua, hls puwer to exrrclst•
gutdan‹'t• and dlrt•ctlon ln the rellglous and social affairs
of the country proved Considerably pro- grrsalvt• and
more In the inter‹•st of the Integrity or rel lglous and
social life than what could have been expected from the
moral control of the orthodox sectlon of tht• society. In
fact, their one-atded rigldtty had proved fatal to the
growth and strength of the Hlfidu power or of thclr rt•l
lglon or soclal life.

• No. M9, p340, RRS.

 Another very Important outcome of the RaJabh 1-
sheka ceremony n'as that all grounds .of equality in the
status of shtvajt’s fam fly Hue with those of other Nta-
ratha faml.flea and relations were lost. The special re-
t'ognltion accorded to ttic Bhohsla famlJ y as the only
kingly line of the Hindavl SWara jy2 could not latrr be
brought duwn to (h‹' l‹•v‹ I uf i'ompctltlon.
One more fc•aturt! uf the ct remon y, which needs
particular emphasis, was Shl va ji 's i'Dnst!nt tti undergo
a penanct• f‹Jr any sln in any ni ti‹›n inv‹›l v Ing the death
w of omt!n, ch lldren . t•tc. Shivaji was quitt' wel I known
for h)s gri'at tolerance and t'sperlall y for his try atment
to womun and children . Kañ Khnn , who hated Shl va]I
for h1s bt ing an ent'my i’›f \ urangzeb, had t•vcn to ac-
‹'rpt that : “. . . but ht was en)‹›ininy his pt t›pl r stri ctl y
not t‹› c'xt‹'nd the hand r›f in jury towards tht• M‹isqut•s,
Koran and BI b1‹' and the wumi'n 's reputatlon. z’hen-
ever ht was getting ih‹ tit›ran t›r l)oly Bi blr by plun-
der, hr• used I o tdkr it wi th gr‹'at bi›nuur and rt v‹•ronct
and hand it over It› h is Must inn ‹›r Christian servants
. Sr'va al Ioivrd hts pt iip1‹• ri evt r t‹ injurr thr' repu-
tation ‹›f cv‹ n one woman , whi'th‹'r Must I m or H lndii
or wh‹'th‹ r prisr›n‹ r ‹›r n‹›l , ur t:vcn to throw ‹';'es at
them bad ly, but hi usc!d try ‹:‹›ininand th‹ m to takr care
of those z oni‹•n safe I y unt it thci r hei rs erimr•. . . .”.’ Tu
und‹•rg‹› a prnarir’e for what hr was v‹'ry scrupulously
careful about was to impress ‹›n his people stll1 mor‹•
forcibly his grc'at sentiment against II l-trt'atment t‹›
women and chlldrcn In any clrcumstances. It was )net
the other extreme of what was current undc r the Mus-
11m and other powers in India.
The high moral r maintain‹•d by the Bhonsla kings
especially of thu 17th century was Feall y tiiu very great
unltlng force of the Hindavl Sawarajya of the tlme. ln
ql1 their struggles for the consolidation of the local

J(tg ggqp'9 jv1, L.U., Ve, translal ion, MacKenile

tiidia
Gollection, thee . 21-23.
 people for freeing the country from the foreign oppres-
slve reI)glouS element, the Coronation of Shivaji (Ghl-
varaJabhlshcka) was the crownlng Incident tn the hls-
lory of SblvaJl and his tlincs. whlcb alone was respon-
sible for the creation of a very powerful Instrument,
through whtch all the moral force and sentiment of the
succeeding generations t'ouId be got concentrated on
the central obJectlve of the Hlndavl SwaraJya.
 §, *kD]?atha Brahrncna of the Atharva Veda", edited by
Rajendralal ñtitta and HarashclianrlrR \*idyabhusItan, Collection of
Bibliothecg tndlcs.
 I• " ' T(i)g ' '’, edited by Gangn-
viihnu Shrikrishnadas atid pu blisted by LaxnivyGnk ateshwar Preaq