page_title: Divine right of kings
section_title: Concept of "Chakravarti"
hierarchical_section_title: Divine right of kings / Divine right in Asia / Hinduism and Indic religions / Concept of "Chakravarti"
caption_attribution_description: English: 14 Ratna of Chankravartin. Miniature from 17th C, Saṁgrahaṇīratna by Śrīcandra, in Prakrit with a Gujarati commentary. Jain Śvetāmbara cosmological text with commentary and illustrations.
context_page_description: The divine right of kings, divine right, or God's mandate is a political and religious doctrine of political legitimacy in a monarchy. It stems from a specific metaphysical framework in which a king is pre-ordained to inherit the crown before their birth. Under this theory of political legitimacy the subjects of the crown are considered to have actively turned over the metaphysical selection of the king's soul – which will inhabit the body and rule them – over to God. In this way, the "divine right" originates as a metaphysical act of humility or submission towards God. The divine right has been a key element for legitimizing many absolute monarchies.
  Consequentially, it asserts that a monarch is not accountable to an earthly authority because their right to rule is derived from divine authority. The monarch is thus not subject to the will of his people, of the aristocracy, or of any other estate of the realm. It implies that only divine authority can judge an unjust monarch and that any attempt to depose, dethrone or restrict their powers runs contrary to God's will and may constitute a sacrilegious act.
context_section_description: "Chakravarti" refers to an ideal universal ruler especially in the sense of an imperial ruler of the entire Indian sub-continent (as in the case of the Maurya Empire). 
  In Hinduism, the term generally denotes a powerful ruler whose dominion extended to the entire earth. In Buddhist kingship and Jainism, the term generally applies to temporal as well as spiritual kingship and leadership. In Buddhism, the Chakravarti came to be considered the secular counterpart of a Buddha.
caption: 14 Ratnas of Chakravartin, 17th century manuscript
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