The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c9.s1.t3.1

c9.s1.t3.1

But it would appear that people were using some of these terms interchangeably. The same institution was being described by different names, and the same name was being given to different institutions. We have just noticed that Vijnâneśvara uses *gaṇa* where Mitra Miśra employs *pûga* to denote the identical "group-person". Both commentators were right because their common authority Yâjnavalkya² himself was responsible for the confusion, as he had used *gaṇa* in the sense of a town-corporation. Nârada³ (450 A. C.), another jurist who preceded these scholiasts had also done the same. Indeed the same confusion is to be noticed in all writings on *smriti* (tradition) and *dharma* (law).⁴ Kâtyâyana similarly identifies *gaṇa*⁵ with *pûga* when he defines it as a *samûha* of *kulas* or families.