Essay name: Samrajya Lakshmi Pithika (Study)
Author:
Artatrana Sarangi
Affiliation: Savitribai Phule Pune University / Department of Sanskrit and Prakrit Languages
This is a study in English of the Samrajya Lakshmi Pithika (written by Lolla Lakshmidhara) representing an encyclopedic manual for emperors. The Samrajyalaksmipithika encompasses about 3870 verses in addressing topics such as public festivals, governance, warfare (military strategy), and rituals associated with the Tantric worship for the deity Samrajya-Lakshmi.
Chapter 3 - General Ritual mentioned in Samrajya-lakshmi-pithika
213 (of 262)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
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The royal journey :
Thus praying, the king solicits victory from the
gods and now stirs out, while meditating on the guardian
of the direction to which he proceeds.
蚂
At the outset, he covers some distance while
riding a palanquin (sibika), then boarding a swining-
palkee (andola), then riding a playful chariot (kridaratha),
then switching to a horse and finally, the ancestral
elephant which is described to be good-natured and
accutred with war-equipments. En route, he is pleased
by the retinue of bards who keep on showering eulogies
on him with raised hands. Now, in full military uniform,
like the helmet and the coat of mail, he speeds off to
release arrows against the enemies while preceded by
experienced warrior-chiefs with swords and shields, who
keep running with upward-leaps (utpluti), his flanks
are covered by spear-wielding horse-soldiers and from all
sides he is guarded by the princes on elephant-back.
Similarly, a number of musical instruments follow such
procession in a well-distributed manner and thus the king,
intending victory, reaches the vicinity of the SamI
tree (15-24).
