History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.564

v4.c63.564

⁶⁸³ कुसीदवृद्धिर्धर्म्या विंशतिः पञ्चमाषिकी मासम्। गौ. XII. 26 ; पञ्चमाषस्तु विंशत्या एवं धर्मो न हीयते। वसिष्ठ II. 50; वैश्यः कुसीदमुपजीवेत् । पञ्चविंशतिस्त्वेव पञ्चमाषकी स्यात् । बौ. ध. सू. I. 5. 90-91; पुराणपञ्चविंशत्यां मासे अष्टपणा वृद्धिः । एवं बहुभिर्मासैश्चतुर्भिर्वत्सरैर्द्विपर्यागतं सन्तित्ष्ठते । एषा धर्मवृद्धिर्नान्या धर्माच्च्यवते। हारीत q. by गृह. र. p. 447, which explains : पुराणमिह षोडशपणाः पणं काकिणीचतुष्टयम् ।. Should we not read एवं सद्धिर्मासैः in the quotation from Hārīta? Gaut. and Vas. provide that five māṣas were the interest on 20 *paṇas* per month and if we are to suppose that they accepted the rule that 1/80 of the principal sum was the proper rate of interest (as ascribed to Vasiṣṭha by Manu VIII. 140, Nār. IV. 99 and others), then the paṇa, acc. to those two, must be equal to 20 māṣas (i. e. 100 *raktikās*); while acc. to Baud. the paṇa would be equal to 16 māṣas. When Hārīta says that 8 paṇas are the monthly interest on 25 *purāṇas* (which were silver coins and each of which weighed 32 *raktikās*) and that in 4 years and 2 months the interest on 25 purāṇas at 8 paṇas per month came to be as much as the principal, it follows that a raktikā of silver was 40 times as valuable as a raktikā of copper (8 × 80 × 50 =32000 divided by 800). But this does not agree with what Śukra states (note 162 above). Probably the relative values of gold, silver and copper varied from age to age, according to the supply of some or all of these metals from foreign countries.