India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c12.s6.10

c12.s6.10

*Kumāra-Pūgas.* In *sūtra* VI.2.28 there is a reference to Youth Organisations of these *Pūgas*, with the prefix *kumāra* added to their names, *e.g.*, *Kumāra-Chātakāḥ*, *Kumāra-Lohadhvajāḥ*, *Kumāra-Balāhakāḥ*, *Kumāra-Jīmūtāḥ* (*Kāśikā*). These must have been organised under the auspices of their parent body or the Elders. Kauṭilya also mentions these two divisions as *Saṅghamukhyas* and *Kumārakas* distinctly existing inside *Saṅgha* organizations (*Arth.*, XI.1, p. 378). It is clear that the terms *kumāra* and *saṅghamukhya* correspond to what Pāṇini has designated as the *yuvan* members and *vṛiddhas*. Both the *Yuvan* and *Vṛiddha* members of each family received social and political recognition in the *Kula* as well as the *Saṅgha*.