India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c9.s6.17

c9.s6.17

SILVER COINAGE—*Śatamāna*. It is referred to in the *sūtra Śatamāna-viṁśatika-sahasra-vasanād-aṇ* (V. 1. 27), *i.e.* the affix *aṇ* comes after *śatamāna, viṁśatika* and others in the prescribed sense, *e.g. śatamānena krītaṁ śātamānam*, an article purchased for one *śatamāna* was called *śātamāna*. From the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* (V. 5. 5. 16 *tasya trīṇi śatamānāni hiraṇyāni dakshiṇā*; VIII. 2. 3. 2, *hiraṇyaṁ dakshiṇā suvarṇaṁ śatamānaṁ tasyoktam*), it is evident that *śatamāna* was also a gold coin. According to the *Vedic Index*, *māna* in Vedic literature was a measure of weight equivalent to the *krishṇala* or *raktikā* (II. 152). Thus the weight of *śatamāna* taken literally would be 100 *rattis*.