India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c12.s6.1

India as Known to Pāṇini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashṭādhyāyī c12.s6.1

Language: English

c12.s6.1

ĀYUDHAJĪVĪ SANGHAS—Pāṇini refers to a number of *Saṅghas* as *āyudhajīvin* (V.3.114-117), meaning those who lived by the profession of arms. In *sūtra* IV.4.14, *Āyudhāch-chha cha*, one who earns his living by means of arms (*āyudhena jīvati*) is called *āyudhīya* or *āyudhika*. Kauṭilya refers to two kinds of *janapadas*, (1) *āyudhīya-prāyāḥ* (explained as *āyudha-jīvi-Kshatriyādi-prachurāḥ*), those mostly comprising soldiers, and (2) *Śreṇi-prāyāḥ* comprising guilds of craftsmen, traders and agriculturists. The former (and also his *śastropajīvins*) correspond to Pāṇini’s *āyudhajīvī Saṅghas*, which were the same as the *yodhājīvas* of Pali literature.

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Linked texts (1)

Aṣṭādhyāyī — Pāṇini, Sanskrit