Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s9.225

v2.c4.s9.225

Sabha is the name of an ‘assembly’ of the Vedic Indians as well as of the ‘hall’ where they met in assembly. It is often mentioned in the Rigveda¹ and later,² but its exact character is not certain. The hall was clearly used for dicing,³ presumably when the assembly was not transacting public business: a dicer is called sabhā-sthāṇu, ‘pillar of the assembly hall,’ doubtless because of his constant presence there.⁴ The hall also served, like the Homeric λέσχη, as a meeting-place for social intercourse and general conversation about cows and so forth,⁵ possibly for debates and verbal contests.⁶