India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s12.3

c8.s12.3

Several kinds of chariots were known, each named after the draught animal yoked to it (IV.3.122). On this Patañjali mentions chariots drawn by horses (*āśvaratha*), camels (*aushṭra-ratha*) and asses (*gārdabha-ratha*; *Bhāshya*, II.318).¹ Naturally the wheels and other parts of a camel-chariot must have differed in dimension from others to suit the size of the yoked animal. The carpenter's vocabulary must have expressed this distinction by appropriate terms derived from the name of the draught-animal, and Pāṇini makes a provision in *sūtra* IV.3.122, *Patra-pūrvād-añ*. For example, a pair of wheels was labelled variously as *aśva-ratha-*, *aushṭra-ratha-* or *gārdabha-ratha-chakra* (*Pat.* II.318 and *Kāśikā*) according to the kind of chariot for which it was required.