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TIIF SDLK• WEA YTCRS OF MANDSAUR IN A SOCIOLOCKCAL PERSPECTIYE 223

seems to have been taken by Thapar and Basham whereas R.C. Majumdar and A.S. Altckar appear to have taken another version similar to that of Bhandarkar which is given below:

V. 16. Some are intensely attached to musie (so) pleasing to the ear; others, being proud of (the authorship of) a hundred excellent biographies, are conversant with wonderful tales; (others), filled with humility, are absorbed in excellcnt religious discourses, and others are able to say much that is pleasing, free from harshness, (and yet) salutary;

V.17. Some excel in their own religious riles; likewise by others who are self-possessed, the science of (Vedic) astronomy was mastered; and others, valorous in battle, even today forcibly cause harm to the enemies;

V.18. Likewise, others are inlclligent, possessed of allractive figures, with renowned and long-standing lineages and adomed with deeds befitting (their) lineage; others, with the vow of truthfulness, are expert in (conferring) obligations on favourites, and are firm in friendship accompanied by a sense of trust;

V.19. Likewise, with others who have overcome attachment to worldly objects, who are disposcd towards piety, who are gemie, who are of abundant inherent stulT, who are engaged on worldly alTairs, who are the forehead mark of their own elan who have cast away passion, who are magnanimous with such - like (members) the guild shines gloriously;

V.21. By whom this whole surface of the earth has been adorned with silk-cloth, agreeable to the touch, variegatcd with dilferent colours and arrangement (of parts), (and) pleasing to the eye.

Now if we make a comparison many varialions could be noted, but for our purposes only two of them should be discussed. In the firsl linę of verse 16, Bhandarkar has read mere attachment of the weavers to musie, Diskalkar has found their competcnce in the science of archery (in which also the twanging of the bow is) pleasing to the ear. Far morę central to our purpose is the translation of the firsl linę of the next verse in which the word svakarmmanyadhikah has been taken by Bhandarkar as (some weavers) ‘excel in their own religious rites’; by Diskalkar the same word is translated as ‘(some) excelled in their own business (of silk-weaving).* We are inclined to agree with the later translation because svakarmma in the present context does not seem to be religious rites under the provisions of the Dharmai&stra , and because mastery of astronomy and proficiency in war are mentioned which have to be taken in the sense of professions rather than hobbies when seen alongwith silk-weaving as their ‘own profession in the first linę. Thus if svakarmma could be taken in the sense of ‘their own business*, il is possible that the poet refers to some of the professions into which the nv mbers of the guild have diversified. However, it is easily