India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c12.s1.11

c12.s1.11

This technical meaning of *saṁdhi* is recorded in the *Arthaśāstra*, which defines it as *paṇabandhaḥ sandhiḥ*, 'an agreement with oath is *saṁdhi*' (*Artha*. VII.1, p. 263, Trans. p. 293). The agreement of a king with a Brāhmaṇa in accordance with the oath of loyalty to the constitution was a feature of Hindu polity. The king, according to *Manu* (VII. 58), must consult his Chief Minister, who should be a learned Brāhmaṇa, about secret counsels dealing with the six limbs of state-craft (*shāḍguṇya*, *Hindu Polity*, 11.119). According to Kauṭilya also the king's Chief Minister should be a Brāhmaṇa: 'The king (*Kshatra*) who is supported by a Brāhmaṇa, and who has the advantage of the advice of other *mantrins*, and who is governed by the *Śāstras*, conquers territories unacquired before (*Artha*. I.8,p.16). It is virtually a restatement of the Vedic dictum *Brahmaṇā kshatreṇa cha śrīḥ parigṛihītā bhavati*, also embodied in *Manu* (IX.322).