‘I am That, thou art This; thou art This, I am That. I am Sky, thou art Earth. I am the Harmony, thou the Words. Let us twain here unite our houses.’ The whole Indian theory of government is epitomised in these ritual words which the Brahman Priest addresses to the King. By a characteristic modern distortion of traditional thought, it has been supposed that the King addresses them to the Priest, and Dr. Coomaraswamy devotes a great part of his new book to restoring the ancient interpretation beyond a doubt. His study is difficult reading, and touches on a whole multitude of matters which a short summary must necessarily pass over; but one may give some suggestion of the general scope of the argument and of the depth and serenity which set it apart from the many political philosophies now daily beating upon our ears.

Through all things there is hierarchy; as in heaven, so in earth, as in the government of ‘these worlds,’ so in that of states and of every man within himself. The spiritual is above the temporal, the contemplative above the active; and the Priest represents spiritual authority and the contemplative life, the King temporal power and the active life. In Eastern terms, the higher principle is described as masculine, the lower as feminine. Hence in the ideal marriage of Sacerdotium and Regnum, the Priest is bridegroom, the King is bride. The formula cited above is a marriage formula.