Lectures on Ancient Indian Numismatics (Carmichael Lectures, 1921) c8.22

c8.22

So far in regard to the Buddhist literature. It may now be asked whether the conclusions we have so far drawn on the strength of Pāli works receive any corroboration from Sanskrit literature. Those who have read Manu will be reminded of the verse: *kārshāpaṇas=tu vijñeyas-tāmrikaḥ kārshikaḥ paṇaḥ*.² Manu, it will be perceived, takes Kārshāpaṇa to denote a *paṇa* or coined money which is *tāmrika*, i.e., made of copper and is *kārshika*, i.e., one Karsha in weight. Thus according to Manu, Kārshāpaṇa is a copper coin only, and the question arises whether there are any Sanskrit works where Kārshāpaṇa is mentioned as being also of gold and silver metals. Surely because Manu has said that Kārshāpaṇa was copper money, it does not follow that this must have been so at all times and at all places. Nārada, quoted in the *Vāchaspatya* under *karsha* regards Kārshāpaṇa apparently as synonymous with Paṇa and remarks that in the south Kārshāpaṇa was a silver coin. The same *Vāchaspatya*, again, under the word *Kārshāpaṇa*, gives three quotations, one from Gautama, one from Kātyāyana and one from a work called *Shaṭ-triṁśat*, and conclusively shows that Kārshāpaṇa is a synonym of Purāṇa which is known to be a silver coin only. Take also the Amarakosha which distinguishes between Kārshāpaṇa and Paṇa. Both, we are told, are *kārshika*, i.e., one Karsha in weight,¹ but Amarasimha speaks of Paṇa alone as *tāmrika*, i.e., made of copper, from which his commentators Kshīrasvāmin and Rāmāśrami infer that Kārshāpaṇa was a silver coin. If we, however, consider the statement of Amarasimha critically, a wider inference is permissible. All that this lexicographer implies is that Kārshā- paṇa was not a copper coin. This may mean that it can be not only silver but also gold money. This seems to me to be the natural inference to draw in the present case. It may, however, be asked whether, as a matter of fact, there is any explicit mention of gold Kārshāpaṇa made anywhere in Sanskrit literature though this inference is permissible from the Amarakosha. I may therefore draw your attention to the gloss of the Kāśikā on Pāṇini’s aphorism jātarūpebhyah parimāṇe,¹ where two illustrations are given in verification of the sūtra, viz., hāṭako Nishkaḥ hāṭakaṃ Kārshāpaṇam. Here the author of the Kāśikā speaks not only of Nishka but also of Kārshāpaṇa as being hāṭaka, i.e., made of gold. No doubt need, therefore, be entertained as to Kārshāpaṇa being also a gold coin.