Local Government in Ancient India c7.28

c7.28

Some of these terms have been in use from times much earlier than those of our legal literature. We find them used by Pāṇini, and their explanations by the *Kāśikā* are interesting. Pāṇini uses the terms *pūga*, *gaṇa*, and *saṅgha* in V. 2, 52, *pūga* in V. 3, 112, *vrāta* in V. 3, 113, and *saṅgha* in III. 3, 42. 86 and V. 3, 114. Pāṇini, according to the *Kāśikā*, uses *saṅgha* in the generic sense. It may be of various kinds according to the various objects of the association. It is defined as a union of individuals pursuing common aims and interests (*ekadharma*, *Kāśikā*), and not a mere chance collection or a confused medley of individuals (III. 3, 42. 86.). Thus the *pūga* is a special kind of *saṅgha*, an association of men of various castes who, having no fixed occupation or means of livelihood, unite in the pursuit of wealth and pleasure as their main aim¹; the *vrāta* again is an association of men of different castes having no definite means of subsistence, and living by bodily labour or violence,² like the *Kāpotapākya* or wild community making its living by pigeon-hunting, &c. Pāṇini also uses the word *śreṇi* in II. 1, 59, which has been explained by both *Kaiyaṭa* and the *Tattvabodhini* as an assembly of persons following a common craft or trading in a common commodity.³ Lastly, Pāṇini mentions another kind of *saṅghas* that live by the profession of arms of which he gives some examples, e.g. the *Yaudheyas*, &c. Of such corporations, the *Kāśikā* names more than sixty examples⁴ as being included under the rules of Pāṇini (V. 3, 114–117).