India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c9.s3.8

c9.s3.8

The articles purchased in the market were named after the price paid for them. A variety of epithets are noted as applied to articles purchased for one *nishka* (V. 1. 20), 2 *nishkas*, 3 *nishkas* (V. 1. 30), 1 or 1½ *vimśatika* coin (V. 1. 32), 1 *śatamāna* (V. 1. 27), 1 *kārshāpaṇa* or 1000 *kārshāpaṇas* (V. 1. 29), a *śāṇa* coin, or a *pāda*, or a *māsha* of copper (V. 1. 34-35), etc. Thus articles with a wide range of values are mentioned, *e.g.* those valued at one thousand or more silver pieces (*sahasra kārshāpaṇas*, V. 1. 27), and those of the lowest value like a copper *māsha*. The system of barter (*nimāna*, V. 2. 47) was also known (*infra*, Sec. 7).