India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c9.s5.4

c9.s5.4

SCALE—A scale is called *tulā*, and articles weighed with a balance *tulya* (*tulayā saṁmitam*, IV.4.91). The string fastened to the horizontal rod in order to lift the scales was called *pragraha* in the language of traders (*Pre vaṇijām*, III. 3. 52). The measures appear to have been made of wood. The word *dravya* found earlier in the *Atharvaveda* (V. 20. 2) and meaning ‘wooden’, is mentioned by Pāṇini to denote a measure (*Māne vayaḥ*, IV. 3. 162) and is reminiscent of the times when wooden measures were in use. A tradition recorded in grammatical literature credits a Nanda king with the standardising of weights and measures for the first time (*Nandopakramāṇi mānāni*, *Kāśikā*, II. 4. 21 and VI. 2. 14). This may have been due to meet the needs of a vast empire. By the time of Patañjali, measures like *droṇa*, *khārī* and *āḍhaka*, etc., had been fixed as of an approved standard (*aktaparimāṇanām arthānāṁ vāchakā bhavanti naivādhike bhavanti na cha nyūne*, *Bhāshya*, I.4.13; I.216).