Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s21.468

v1.c3.s21.468

Pari-ṣad (lit., ‘sitting around’) denotes in the Upaniṣads¹ an ‘assemblage’ of advisers in questions of philosophy, and the Gobhila Gṛhya Sūtra² refers to a teacher with his Pariṣad or ‘council.’ In the later literature the word denotes a body of advisers on religious topics, but also the assessors of a judge, or the council of ministers of a prince.³ But in none of these senses is the word found in the early literature, though the institutions indicated by it must have existed at least in embryo.