The Mauryan Polity c13.s12.28

c13.s12.28

(d) According to Megasthenes the king goes out during sacrificial sessions.² Commenting on this passage Lassen is right when he maintains that this does not refer to the daily sacrifices but only to special sacrifices.³ This is corroborated by the Kauṭaliya.⁴ Here it is said that the king goes out of the palace on certain occasions—festivals, fairs, processions, or sacrificial sessions. The fact that Megasthenes has mentioned only the occasion of sacrifices shows that he must have personally witnessed the king attending an yajña outside the palace. Otto Stein thinks⁵ that it refers to the daily sacrifices and contends that Megasthenes' statement is not provable. Megasthenes does not say expressly that the king goes out daily, and even if he has so expressed he must be in the wrong, for Vedic sacrifices could not be done in all the seasons of the year. Certain periods of the year are prohibited as inauspicious for the performance of sacrifices. Hence the learned scholar's view cannot be accepted in the light of the passage in the Arthaśāstra.