India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c9.s2.4

c9.s2.4

Pāṇini mentions the skilled artisans as *rāja-śilpins* (*Rājā cha praśaṁsāyām*, VI.2.63), *e.g.* *rāja-nāpita*, *rāja-kulāla*. Perhaps these enjoyed the patronage of kings from whom they were so named. Patañjali clearly says that a carpenter engaged to work for the king did not entertain private work (*takshā rāja-karmaṇi pravartamānaḥ svaṁ karma jahāti*, *Bhāshya*, II.2.1; I. 364).