Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c43.5

c43.5

§ 293. The Council of Ministers is called the **Parishad**, in the Artha-Śāstra³ and **Parisā** in the Jātakas,⁴ the Mahāvastu¹ and Aśoka's inscriptions.² It does not interchange (until late) with other words of similar meaning. Now the *Parishad* was another name for the National Assembly of the Vedic Hindus. In the Bṛihadāraṇyaka Upanishad as already pointed out, the *Samiti* is called *Parishad*.³ The Council of Ministers, thus differentiated from the Samiti-Parishad, inherited the same name like the Parishad of Law. With that name they likewise inherited and retained the popular tradition and sense of responsibility.