India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c9.s5.t1.4

c9.s5.t1.4

(2) *Dishti* and *Vitasti* (VI. 2. 31). Both are synonymous terms (*Bhāshya*, quoting a *śloka-vārttika*, VI.2.1; III.122). *Vitasti* in the table of the *Arthaśāstra*=12 *aṅgulas* (II. 20). But *dishṭi* as a measure is of very rare occurrence in Indian literature. The word occurs in the Kharoshṭhī documents from Central Asia as *diṭhi*, corresponding to the Iranian measure *distay*, no doubt equivalent to a span (F. W. Thomas, Some Notes on Central Asian Kharoshṭhi Documents, *B. S. O. A. S.*, XI, 1945, p. 547).