History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.282.3

v4.c62.282.3

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).