Sutra 28

Devanagari script

तस्मादस्याध्यक्षाः संख्यायकलेखकरूपदर्शकनीवीग्राहकोत्तराध्यक्षसखाः कर्मणि कुर्युः ॥ कZ_०२.९.२८ ॥

Transliteration

tasmād asyādhyakṣāḥ saṃkhyāyaka-lekhaka-rūpadarśaka-nīvīgrāhaka-uttarādhyakṣa-sakhāḥ karmaṇi kuryuḥ

Translation

Therefore, one should place around him, in operational work, supervisory counterparts—accountants, scribes, inspectors (of goods/coin), receivers of deposits/pledges, higher superintendents, and ‘friends’ (planted associates).

Word by Word

• तस्मात्: therefore; from that (reason)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: ablative singular (पञ्चमी एकवचन), masculine/neuter; pronominal stem तद्

• अस्य: of this; his/its
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: genitive singular (षष्ठी एकवचन), masculine/neuter; pronominal stem इदम्

• अध्यक्षाः: superintendents; overseers
• Type: Noun
• Root: अधि+ईक्ष् (→ अध्यक्ष)
• Form: nominative plural (प्रथमा बहुवचन), masculine

• संख्यायक: the counter; enumerator
• Type: Noun
• Root: संख्या + यक (agent-noun)
• Form: nominative singular (प्रथमा एकवचन), masculine; agent noun ‘one who counts/does enumeration’

• लेखक: scribe; clerk
• Type: Noun
• Root: लिख् (→ लेखक)
• Form: nominative singular (प्रथमा एकवचन), masculine; agent noun ‘writer/scribe’

• रूपदर्शक: form-inspector; examiner
• Type: Noun
• Root: रूप + दर्शक
• Form: nominative singular (प्रथमा एकवचन), masculine; ‘one who inspects appearance/form’

• नीवीग्राहक: deposit/pledge receiver
• Type: Noun
• Root: नीवी + ग्राहक
• Form: nominative singular (प्रथमा एकवचन), masculine; ‘one who takes/receives the nīvī’

• उत्तराध्यक्ष: deputy superintendent; assistant overseer
• Type: Noun
• Root: उत्तर + अध्यक्ष
• Form: nominative singular (प्रथमा एकवचन), masculine; ‘subordinate/assistant superintendent’

• सखाः: associates; companions
• Type: Noun
• Root: सखि
• Form: nominative plural (प्रथमा बहुवचन), masculine

• कर्मणि: in the work; in the task
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन्
• Form: locative singular (सप्तमी एकवचन), neuter

• कुर्युः: should do; should perform
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: optative (विधिलिङ्), parasmaipada, 3rd person plural

Entities Mentioned

• adhyakṣa (superintendent)
• saṃkhyāyaka (accountant)
• lekhaka (scribe)
• rūpadarśaka (inspector)
• nīvīgrāhaka (deposit-custodian)
• uttarādhyakṣa (superior officer)
• sakhā (associate/plant)

More Details

FAQs

What modern control principle is described in this sutra?

Segregation of duties plus layered oversight: accounting, recording, inspection, custody, and supervisory review are distributed across different roles.

Why include ‘sakhāḥ’ (friends) among oversight roles?

They function as embedded observers/informants who can detect informal collusion beyond formal paperwork.