India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c9.s6.t1.28

c9.s6.t1.28

(5) Patañjali cites another teacher (*apara*) stating that 'in times past sixteen *māshas* made one *kārshāpaṇa*', implying that in his time the *kārshāpaṇa* of 20 *māshas* or *viṁśatika* was known in his locality. It seems that both *viṁśatika* and *kārshāpaṇa* were in circulation in different localities in the same period. It is interesting to note that actual specimens of *viṁśatika* weight coins and their lower denominations have been found in the Pañchāla coinage (Cunningham, *Coins of Ancient India*, p. 81).