Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c43.122

c43.122

§ 308. It is better to render the Mantri-Parishad as Council of State rather than the Council of Ministers. The form Mantra-Parishat, 'Council of State Deliberation' which Kauṭilya applies to the Mantri-parishad of Indra, should be noted in this connexion. Probably the *Mantri-parishad* there signifies the Mantra-Parishad. The tradition of a large Parishad, *e.g.* of 1000 members, is preserved both in Kauṭilya, and in the Rāmāyaṇa (where it stands rather discredited, II. 100). Probably this is a reminiscence of the Vedic Parishad.