India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c9.s2.28

c9.s2.28

A hired workman was named after (1) the period for which he was engaged, e.g. *māsika* (V.1.80, *Tam-adhīshṭo bhṛito bhūto bhāvī*), and (2) the amount of wages fixed to be paid, e.g., *pañchaka* (V.1.56). A month was the unit of time for calculating wages, as seen in the examples to *sūtra* V. 1.80, *viz.*, *karmakaraḥ māsikaḥ māsaṁ bhṛitaḥ*. This is also testified to by Kātyāyana's *vārttika* on V.4.116 (*māsād bhṛiti-pratyaya-pūrvapadāt-ṭhajvidhiḥ*) read along with *sūtra* V.1.56.