Lectures on Ancient Indian Numismatics (Carmichael Lectures, 1921) c9.2.3

c9.2.3

The third word Rūpa is taken by Rhys Davids to mean ‘money-changing’ and by Bühler ‘commercial and agricultural arithmetic.’ Even this meaning is not quite correct, though these scholars are here not far wide of the mark, because they were careful enough to avail themselves of Buddhaghosha’s commentary which says that he who learns the Rūpa-sutta must “turn over and over many Kārshāpaṇas and look at them.” But anybody who has read Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra knows that the word rūpa has been employed in this work to denote “coins.” Thus in Chapter XII of the Adhyaksha-prachāra Kauṭilya speaks of rūpya-rūpa and tāmra-rūpa, which cannot but signify ‘silver and copper coins’ respectively. He also specifies an officer called Rūpadarśaka, whose duty was to examine the coins in actual circulation or received as revenue into the royal treasury. No doubt can, therefore, be entertained as to the term *rūpa* meaning ‘a coin.’ so that when the parents of Upāli once thought of training him in *Rūpa* for his profession, especially as he was not far removed from twenty, we can only understand that the boy was intended to study the science of coinage only, to fit him to be either a Rūpadarśaka or Sauvarṇika.