Hindu Administrative Institutions c8.s2.43

c8.s2.43

How he is one among the king’s ministry is further testified by the commentator of the *Śilappadhikāram*, a classic of the period of the Tamil Śangam, who explains the ஐம்பெருங்குழு of the text, as minister, the *purohita*, the commander-in-chief, ambassador and Director of Public Information to use a modern term.⁴ This and similar references from the Tamil treatises can bear the weight of the inference that the office of the *purohita* was not alien even to Dravidian polity. These confirm our view that the *purohita* continued to maintain his true station among the state officials as in Vedic times.