Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c12.41

c12.41

The critic suggests that the root *śās* or *praśās* means governing when the object is a territory and chastising when the object is a living being and that, in the passage *śrīmat-Kuntalānāṁ praśāsitā*, the word *praśāsitā* means a ruler because the object of *praśās* in this case is not a living being but the Kuntala country. Unfortunately, he does not notice that even if the distinction in the meaning of the verb is conceded, there is absolutely no reason why Kuntala (like Surāṣṭra in verse 11 of the Junagadh inscription of Skandagupta) should be taken in the sense of the Kuntala country (an inanimate object) and not in that of the Kuntala people. There can certainly be no objection if *śrīmat-Kuntalānāṁ praśāsitā* is translated as ‘the chastiser of the illustrious Kuntala people’.