Hindu Administrative Institutions c12.s1.64

c12.s1.64

The committee of justice could be identified with the pariṣad of Parāśara. Parāśara defines³ a true pariṣad as an assembly of the learned. It is to consist of three to five members generally. Even heinous and atrocious crimes like that of killing a cow were punished by it. But this does not warrant a conclusion that this committee exercised unlimited powers. For there is evidence to show that it had its own limitations. The committee could order, for example, the performance of expiatory ceremonies only after the sanction of the king has been previously obtained.⁴