The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c13.s1.14

c13.s1.14

The essential question, however, is: Which body or which persons form the auditing authority? For proper auditing implies that there should be an impartial agency watching over the procedure and responsible for the verdict. It would seem that Scharfe shows us the right way. According to his carefully researched translation, the crucial passage runs as follows. The mahāmātras should unanimously proclaim who has proceeded correctly. He who puts himself apart (i.e., breaks the unanimity) or talks untruth should pay in full the highest fine.¹⁷ Scharfe concludes convincingly that the mahāmātras are the judges in the auditing process.¹⁸ One is reminded of the twelfth-century English Exchequer, which was simply the curia regis sitting for the regulation of matters of finance.¹⁹