India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s13.6

c8.s13.6

In the *Atharvaveda* (VI.131.3) the *āśvīna* distance is mentioned immediately after 3 or 5 *yojanas* and appears to have exceeded the latter (*Vedic Index*, I.70). The *Arthaśāstra* defines precisely the *āśvīna* distance, as it was needed to calculate the travelling done by Government servants, and for determining the marches of cavalry or other post-chaise arrangements.