Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s8.883

v2.c4.s8.883

Śreṣṭhin occurs in several passages of the Brāhmaṇas,¹ where the St. Petersburg Dictionary assigns to the word the sense of ‘a man of consequence.’ It is, however, possible that the word may already have the sense of the ‘headman of a guild,’ the modern Seth.² There is a similar doubt in the use of śraiṣṭhya,³ which is perhaps not merely ‘the foremost place,’ as usually assumed, but definitely ‘the presidency of a guild.’