India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c12.s1.10

c12.s1.10

On this *Kāśikā* says: 'Why do we say, not denoting an agreement with oath? Observe *Brāhmaṇa-miśro rājā*, *Brāhmaṇaiḥ saha saṁhita aikārthyamāpannaḥ. Saṁdhiriti hi paṇabandhen-aikārthyam uchyate'*. As Vasu renders the meaning of the *Kāśikā*: 'The word *Saṁdhi* here means a contract formed by reciprocal promises; 'If you do this thing for me, I will do this for you.' Others say, it means close proximity, without losing identity and thus differs from *miśra* in which two things are compounded into one. Therefore, though the King and the Brāhmaṇa may be in close proximity as regards space (*deśa-pratyāsattau*), they both retain their individuality; hence the counter-example *Brāhmaṇa-miśro rājā*'. Thus the word *miśra* points to joint authority between the king and his ministers who shared it in common according to constitutional usage.