Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s8.93

v2.c4.s8.93

Śata-pati occurs in a verse of the Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā¹ and the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa² as an epithet of Indra, who is described as alone the ‘lord of a hundred’ among men. To interpret the expression as ‘lord of a hundred gods,’ as does the commentary on the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, is obviously impossible. It seems clear that there is a reference to an analogous human functionary—viz., the lord of a hundred villages, known in the later law³—who was probably at once a judicial deputy of the sovereign and a revenue collector, an ancient magistrate and collector.