History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.282
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.282
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Acc. to Kauṭilya (V.3) 48000 paṇas were the salary of the (royal) sacrificial priest, ācārya (teacher), mantrin, purohita, commander-in-chief, crown prince, the king's mother, the queens and he holds that "with that amount of maintenance they would not yield to temptation or revolt (against the king)".¹⁶⁰ The amātyas, the chief judge and even the purohita could be punished by the king, acc. to Manu, if any of them went wrong (VIII. 335 and IX. 234) and Kauṭ. (IX. 3) prescribes that when the purohita is guilty even of a great offence, the remedy is to imprison him or banish him. Some great ministers, though not exactly purohitas of the king, were learned brāhmaṇas and led simple lives such as Cāṇakya and Mādhava. There is divergence of views about the salaries set out in the Arthaśāstra (V. 3). Jayaswal (in 'Hindu Polity' part II p. 136) holds that the salaries were yearly and the paṇas in which they were paid were silver ones. Prof. Dikshitar (in 'Mauryan Polity' p. 151) holds that the salaries were monthly. Confusion is caused by the fact that there were paṇas of copper, silver and gold. Vide Rājanītiprakāśa p. 294. The Rājatarangiṇī VII. 950 speaks of *dīnnāras* of gold, silver and copper. Rao Bahadur K. V. Rangaswami Aiyangar holds that the salaries (in the Arthaśāstra) were monthly and in golden paṇas (in 'Ancient Indian Polity' pp. 44-45). Therefore this matter must be investigated. Manu (VIII.
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13) promises that those names of copper, silver and gold coins which are well-known among the people (of its day) for purposes of trade will be described by him. Acc. to Manu VIII. 134 and 136, Viṣṇu Dh. S. IV. 6-10, and Yāj. I. 363-365 five kṛṣṇalas are equal to a māṣa, 16 māṣas are equal to a suvarṇa, 4 suvarṇas (or five acc. to some) are equal to a pala, a karṣa is equal to 1/4 of a pala and a piece of copper one-fourth of a pala in weight is called a paṇa, which is the same as kārṣāpaṇa¹⁶¹ (equal to 80 *raktikās* or guñjā berries). A pala was equal to 320 raktikās. Kauṭ. II. 19 says practically the same thing. In Kauṭ. V. 3 the salaries range from 48000 to 60 paṇas from the highest functionaries to the lowest servants. They must all be taken to be for the same period in every case and in the same metal, since Kauṭ. expressly states no different periods and no difference in metal. Ordinarily the words paṇa and kārṣāpaṇa (as stated by Manu VIII. 136 and the Mit. on Yāj. I. 365 and the Śukranīti IV. 1. 116) refer to copper pieces (used as coins) and bearing a stamp. Another table given by Manu VIII. 135-136, Viṣṇu Dh. S. VI. 11-12, Yāj. I. 364 is: 2 raktikās¹⁶² or kṛṣṇalas = one (silver) māṣa, 16 māṣas = one silver purāṇa or dharaṇa ; 10 dharaṇas = one (silver) śatamāna. This table was used for silver coins. Thus a dharaṇa would be 1/10th of a *pala* as stated in the Bṛhatsaṁhitā ( 10. 13 paladaśabhāgo dharaṇam).
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Nārada (pariśiṣṭa 57) expressly states that a silver kārṣāpaṇa is in vogue in the south i. e. a silver paṇa or kārṣāpaṇa was not universal.¹⁶³ A golden suvarṇa also comprised 80 guñjas, while the standard silver paṇa was of 32. Rhys Davids (in 'Buddhist India' p. 100) states that about the time of Buddha's birth transactions were carried on in terms of the *kahāpaṇa*, a square copper coin weighing about 144 grains and guaranteed as to weight and fineness by punch marks made by private individuals, that there were half and quarter kahāpaṇas also, that a kahāpaṇa would be now worth about 5/4ths of a penny, though its purchasing power was then equal to about one shilling of the present day. Therefore it is proper to understand that a paṇa or kārṣāpaṇa, when the word is used without any qualification, was meant to be one of copper and that *prima facie* the salaries in Kauṭilya were meant to be in copper paṇas. This conclusion can be supported by various considerations. Manu VII. 126 prescribes that the wages for the lowest menial servant (such as one who sweeps the house or brings water) is one paṇa a day and of a superior menial servant 6 paṇas a day and that the former was to get in addition one pair of garments every six months and every month a droṇa of corn (which would be equal to 1024 *muṣṭis* according to the Mit. on Yāj. III. 274).
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Whatever ages may be assigned to the Arthaśāstra and the present Manusmṛti the two works cannot be separated from each other, if at all, by more than a century or two. Therefore the economic conditions of the one may be held to have not differed much from those to which the other refers. It is impossible to hold that the lowest menial servant got one gold paṇa a day besides over 30 *muṣṭis* of corn every day (1024 in a month). If that were so, the lowest menial servants of Kauṭilya's days would have to be supposed to be a hundred times better off than their *confreres* in big cities like Bombay towards the end of the 19th century (when menial servants got from five to ten rupees a *month* without any allowance of grain). Therefore the paṇa in Kauṭilya V. 3 is not of gold. Kauṭilya (in V. 3) says that a king who has a depleted treasury may make payment of salary by giving forest produce, cattle or fields along with small quantities of cash, that if he has undertaken to colonize a waste tract he may make payment of salary in cash only and not by bestowing a village. In connection with this he says that 60 paṇas are to be the equivalent of one āḍhaka of corn (ṣaṣṭivetanasyāḍhakam kṛtvā hiraṇyānurūpam bhaktam kuryāt).¹⁶⁴ An āḍhaka¹⁶⁵ came to only 256 muṣṭis (handfuls) of corn and even in famine times one āḍhaka could not have cost 60 silver paṇas, much less golden ones. In V.
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3 Kauṭilya declares that an ordinary dūta should get ten *paṇas* for a journey of one *yojana* and twice the wages for each yojana up to one hundred. A yojana acc. to Kauṭ. himself (II. 20) is equal to 8000 *dhanus* (acc. to another reading 4000 *dhanus*), a dhanus being equal to four aratnis (each aratni being 24 aṅgulas). So taking the highest figure a yojana was at the most about 9 or 10 miles (or only 4½ or five miles according to the other reading). To hold that 10 silver paṇas were allowed to an ordinary dūta for going even ten miles (which he could cover in half a day or less) would be too much. Hence also the paṇas in Kauṭ. V. 3 are only copper ones. When once it is settled that the paṇas are of copper, it easily follows that the salaries in paṇas were monthly. Artisans and craftsmen were, acc. to Kauṭ., to get 120 paṇas. If this were yearly, they would get only 10 paṇas a month, while, according to Manu quoted above, even the lowest menial was to get a paṇa a day. Therefore 120 paṇas (of copper) were the monthly salary of an artisan. A monthly salary is more natural and practical than a yearly one. Other ancient writers like Śaṅkha-Likhita (in Rājanītiprakāśa p. 252) contemplate a monthly salary for soldiers (viz. two suvarṇas a month).¹⁶⁶ From the Nasik Inscription No. 12 (E. I. Vol. VIII.