________________
king
is perpetually
food ). This shows that the life of a in danger.
The line fastoor T ITÀ: offcar: gratar: (p.43 śl. 186.) indirectly shows that the author was well acquainted with the fact that people of the clerical profession are inclined to barass the public. It is quite possible also that he followed the previous writers on Niti (atfa) in this respect. On page 44 be fixes one-sixth of the produce of corn as the highest royal due, though in some cases it is made one-eighth or one-twelfth as a concession. The tax depends however on the productivity of the land. He fixes also one-sixth tax on honey and ghee, but does not formulate any taxation on other kinds of produce except to mention that a fruit graden is to be taxed according to its yield.
In those days the night of the king was calculated according to the number of elephants which he possessed. Hence the author mentions the forests which are the haunts of elepbants, and minutely describes the varieties of the species and formulates ineans to catch them, train them, and make them fit for war.
It is believed by the writers on elephants that the elephant is a faithless animal, but our author does not subscribe to that opinion. The only kind of elephant which is faithless is the Sarpasattva wbile the rogue elephants come under the category of Paiśācasattva and Rāksasasattvasanudbbaya. The code of words viven here for the training of elepuants must bave been in use in those days in Mabārāstra and Guzerat, as is evident from words such as 74, 79, va,
Aho ! Shrutgyanam
