In politics, it is viewed as the divine justification of a king's rule. The concept is closely related to the Bharati concept of Chakravartin (universal monarch).
The concept viewed the monarch to possess transcendental quality, the king as the living god on earth. It taught that the king was a divine universal ruler, a manifestation of Bhagawan (often attributed to Shiva or Vishnu). The devarāja order grew out of both Hinduism and separate local traditions depending on the area. ' Devarāja' was the religious order of the 'god-king', or deified monarch in medieval Southeast Asia. Revering the king as god incarnated on earth is the concept of devaraja. The statue of Harihara, the god amalgamation of Shiva and Vishnu, as the mortuary deified portrayal of King Kertarajasa of Majapahit.