Hindu Administrative Institutions c8.s2.62

c8.s2.62

The second verse नवं शरावं, etc., is found in the Fourth Act of Bhāsa’s *Pratijñāyaugandharāyaṇa* (edited and published by the late Gaṇapati Śāstri) addressed to soldiers to stimulate them to fight. Prof. S. Kuppuswami Śāstri on the authority of the *Nayacandrika* commentary on the *Arthaśāstra* seems to take the view that these verses ‘were taken from some *Purāṇa* in which they happened to be put into the mouth of Manu, [Intro. *Āścaryacūḍāmaṇi* (Śrī Bālamanorama series, Madras), pp. 21-23.] The commentator’s suggestion is only a conjecture which is not based on any authority. The late Pandit is therefore probably right that the *Śloka* in question is Bhāsa’s own quoted by Cāṇakya, the author of the *Arthaśāstra*. (*Vide* Intro. *Pratijñāyaugandharāyaṇa*, pp. 3-4.)