26 



THE NITIPRAKASIKA. 



Banners. The 32nd sloka recommends the advisability of providing 

 the different corps with banners, in order to distinguish 

 between the two fighting armies. 



The 11 following Distichs (si. 33-43) give information as 

 to the pay of the various officers. 

 Pay of All the soldiers, from the private to the commander-in- 

 offioers. ehie^ received their pay regularly every month. The 

 crown prince, who was generally the next in command to the 

 king, received every month 5,000 varvas or gold coins ; the 

 commander-in-chief drew 4,000 varvas ; the »atiratha, the 

 first charioteer, who was usually a royal prince, received 3,000 

 varvas ; the maharatha 2,000 varvas ; the rathika and the 

 gajayodhi 1,000 varvas each ; the ardharatha 500 varvas ; 

 the ekaratha (commander of a chariot) and the leader of an 

 elephant got each 300 niskas. The general commanding all 

 the cavalry obtained 3,000 niskas ; the general in command 

 of the whole infantry received 2,000 niskas. An officer 

 commanding 1,000 men of infantry got 500 niskas ; an officer 

 who led the same number of troopers received 1,000 niskas ; 

 an officer who had 100 men under his command, and who 

 must ride on a horse, drew only 7 varvas, while a private got 

 5 suvarnas. 41 



The following double verses (44-50) give an account of the 

 reward of the brave soldier who falls in battle, and sums up 

 the persons with whom one should not fight. Among these 

 Particular ^ ne mos ^ remarkable is the 45th sloka, which says that " in 

 inhibition a oom |} a t n0 one should strike his enemy with concealed 



against # ... 



fire-arms, weapons, nor with poisoned arrows, nor with machines kindled 

 by fire, nor also with various stratagems/' The commen- 

 tator explains the Sanskrit term " agnyujvalair yantraih" by 

 M nalikaih," guns. 42 The significance of this sloka proving 



41 See Weapons, pp. 7, 8 ; Madras Journal, 173 and 174. 



42 See Weapons, pp. 73 and 74, and Madras Journal, pp. 239 and 240 

 Harivariisa, 225. 



