India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s13.t1.26

c8.s13.t1.26

The manner in which the game was played in olden days differed from that current today. At present only two pieces are used. But in ancient times the number of dice was five, at least so in the Brāhmaṇa period. In the *Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa* it is said that 'he hands to the king five dice, for these are all the dice' (*Tait. Brāh.* I.7.10). These pieces were called Aksharāja, Kṛita, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali (*Vedic Index*, I.3). The game as it was known to Pāṇini must have been played with five dice pieces as the form *chatushpari* 'an unlucky throw by four' (II.¹.10) shows. The *Kāśikā*, Chandra and Kaiyaṭa agree that the game implied in *sūtra*, II.1.10 was *pañchikā dyūta*.