Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c15.39

c15.39

§ 59. I may here point out that the translator of the Artha-Śāstra has fallen into an error in translating the passage '*Kāmbhoja-Surāshṭra-Kshatriya-Śreṇy-ādayaḥ*' as "the corporations of warriors (Kshatriya Śreṇi) of Kāmbhoja and Surāshṭra and other countries"³ The rendering is against grammar; '*ādayaḥ*,' 'and others,' excludes the possibility of a description coming in the group just preceding. If Kāmbhoja is a proper name, the rest, up to '*ādayaḥ*,' must be proper names. The description really comes after the enumeration closed with '*ādayaḥ*,' in *vārtā-śastropajīvinaḥ*. Both in view of our identification and grammatical considerations, the translation is unacceptable. There is yet another error to be avoided, *viz*., taking '*Śreṇi*' here to mean a guild. If *vārtā* (industry and agriculture) refers to alleged guilds (Śreṇis), it ought to have been placed after, not before, *śastra*, as *Śreṇī* is the last, coming after *Kshatriya*, in the group.⁴