Sutra 17

Devanagari script

चतुरशीत्यङ्गुलो व्यामो रज्जुमानं खातपौरुषं च ॥ कZ_०२.२०.१७ ॥

Transliteration

caturaśītyaṅgulo vyāmo rajjumānaṃ khātapauruṣaṃ ca

Translation

A vyāma is eighty-four aṅgulas; it is the rope-measure (rajju-māna) and is also used as the ‘excavation-man’ (khāta-pauruṣa) standard.

Word by Word

• चतुरशीतिः: eighty-four
• Type: Noun (Numeral)
• Root: चतुर् + अशीतिः (संख्याशब्द)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; संख्यावाचकः (84)

• अङ्गुलः: aṅgula (finger-breadth unit)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अङ्गुल
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; माप-एकक (finger-breadth)

• व्यामः: vyāma (a measure; arm-span/fathom)
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्याम
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; माप-एकक

• रज्जु: measuring rope
• Type: Noun
• Root: रज्जु
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; मापन-रज्जु (measuring rope)

• मानम्: measure; standard (of measure)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मान
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; ‘measure/standard’

• खात: dug; excavated
• Type: Participle (Verbal adjective)
• Root: खात (खन् धातोः क्त प्रत्ययान्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; क्तान्त; अर्थः ‘खोदितम्/खातम्’

• पौरुषम्: a man’s measure (man-length/depth unit)
• Type: Noun/Adjective
• Root: पौरुष (पुरुष-सम्बन्धि)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; ‘पुरुष-प्रमाणसम्बन्धि’

• च: and
• Type: Particle
• Root: च
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक अव्यय

Entities Mentioned

• vyāma
• rajju-māna
• khāta-pauruṣa
• aṅgula

More Details

FAQs

How do rope-measures relate to anti-corruption?

Rope standards enable repeatable site checks; officials cannot easily inflate excavation lengths/depths to overbill the treasury.