Hindu Administrative Institutions c12.s3.61

c12.s3.61

It is then evident that there were numerous bodies corporate, each functioning in its respective sphere. K. P. Jayaswal identifies *gaṇa* with a *saṃgha*, and is of opinion that it was the parliament or the assembly of the commons of the republican state. It is clear that this term has stood for different organizations. In the later Vedic period, for example the age of the *Upaniṣads*, there is a distinct reference to *gaṇāsa* in the *Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad*.³