Indian Antiquary Vol 49

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 58

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[MARCE, 1920
there is no proof whatever that the same daily routine was carried out in practice by him. The fact, as has been related by Megasthenes, that Chandragupta used to receive petitions when he was being shampooed is no evidence that he was in the habit of acting upon the time table enjoined in the Arthasastra. Nor can we agree with Mr. Jayagwal when he says that this “shampooing " naturally refers to the hours before bath. On the contrary, it may safely be said that it refers rather to the hours following not only the bathing time, but also the meal time, i.e., the time fixed for svairavihdra or mantra in the Arthasastra. We find our support in Kadambarî where it describes the king Sadraka enjoying his shampoo.1
Following this, we may reasonably infer that Asoka was willing to extend the time for receiving reports even to the hours spent in his inner apartment or private room (gabhágdlasi, Skt. garbhagdre) in taking rest or consultation with ministers" gefert " -Arthasastra, p. 38). It is well known that it was the custom of other kings to employ for this purpose the second part of the day, say between 7-30 a.m. and 9 a.m., (Af., p. 37). But all the same there are reasons to think that the daily routine of duties according to the Arthasastra has no connection with the words used in the Edict VI. Prof. Basak has convinced us that the word vinita cannot mean "military exercise," as suggested by Mr. Jayaswal. Bühler has taken the word in the sense of a 'carriage', but he did not give any particulars about it. According to Prof. Basak vinita or vinita might mean either a welltrained (sådhuváhí) horse (Amara, II, 8, 44 ; Medini, Tântavarga, 158)..or & vehicle which is called vainitaka in Amara (II, 8, 58) and vinitaka in some other Sanskrit lexicons. But the question occurs to us why the word 'well-trained horse should be mentioned here in place of the general term for a horse, asva, or why elephants should be excluded which were equally important as a means of conveyance. I, therefore, incline to accept the second meaning proposed by Prof. Basak, i.e., 'a vehicle'.
But there can be no doubt that some special kind of vehicle is meant by the words vainitaka and vinitaka. Following Amara (II, 8, 58), Prof. Basak rightly calls it a parampardvdhana which he explains by saying (perhaps relying upon Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary) that it is "a porter carrying a litter or a horse dragging a carriage." This explanation is far from being satisfactory. Parampardvahana literally means a váhana' vehicle 'dragged in parampard ' succession ' by animals, or in other words, a vehicle dragged by a relay of horses, etc. It is needless to say that this sort of conveyance was necessary in those days for a long journey.
Now, the word vinita or viníta ( =vainitaka, vinitaka), being a common term denoting a particular mode of conveyance, has to be coupled for the definiteness, with some other
1 YTT STEUTT403972regi ....aytez..... aga & ATYTU: arr a farar: AT FÅ FE TEAT: FT:
AT S EI " Kadambart, Parvabhaga, ed. Girijachandra Vidyalar Ara, Cal. 1885, p. 33. This passage is important as it agrees with what is proscribed in the Arthasdstra (p. 38): " true
"It is to be noted that in this extract the king is described as being attended here with his amdtyas, 'ministers', friends, and only those chiefs who could be allowed to meet him at that time. Mark also the significance of the phrase " fa " 'for very short space of time'.
1 Mr. Jayaswal has not offered any proof for his supposition that the garbhdgdra in the Ediot 4 was most likely an underground cool room for rent in summer." The underground room
(Arthasdatra, p. 40) seems to be more for safety on partioular occasion than for ordinary rest.
Prof. Basak did not give any particular name. But se Monier Williams' Sanskrit- English Dictionary, s. v. rata.