State and Government in Ancient India c14.21

c14.21

It is, however, likely that in some localities or states, *sabhā* was associated wth the king and was more a political than a social gathering. A passage in the *Atharvaveda* describes how the *sabhāsadas* (members of the *sabhā*) of god Yama were royal in status and entitled to share the 16th part of the merit accruing to that deity.² It is possible to argue that the status of the members of the terrestrial *sabhā*, like that of the celestial one, was also almost as high as that of the king and that they too were entitled to receive a small share of the tithes and tributes that were paid to the ruler. It is, however, not impossible that the *sabhā* referred to may be the cabinet or ministry of the earthly king also; and the description of a member of the *sabhā* as a person possessing considerable wealth (consisting of kine of course) and going to the *sabhā* in his full paraphernalia, riding on a charger or seated in a carriage, would confirm that hypothesis.³ The balance of available evidence, however, tends to show that the *sabhā* was usually the village assembly, meeting for social as well as political purposes.