Verse 2.21

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

हिमवद्विन्ध्ययोर्मध्यं यत् प्राग् विनशनादपि ।
प्रत्यगेव प्रयागाच्च मध्यदेशः प्रकीर्तितः ॥ २१ ॥

himavadvindhyayormadhyaṃ yat prāg vinaśanādapi |
pratyageva prayāgācca madhyadeśaḥ prakīrtitaḥ || 21 ||

The country lying between the Himālaya and the Vindhya, to the east of Vinaśana and to the west of Prayāga, is called the ‘Madhyadeśa,’ the ‘Middle Country.’ (21)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

On the north lies the Himālaya and on the south the Vindhya. ‘Vinaśana’ is the name of the place where the Sarasvatī river has disappeared.—(20)

‘Prayāga’—is the confluence of the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā.

The region having these four as its boundaries is to be known by the name ‘Madhya-deśa.’ It is called ‘madhya’ or ‘middle,’ because it is neither very superior nor very inferior,—and not because it is located the centre of the Earth.—(21)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Vināśana’—This is the name given to the place where the river Sarasvatī becomes lost in the sands. Buhler says it lies in the district of Hissar, in the Punjab.

Buhler curiously translates ‘pratyak’ by ‘east,’ while it means west.

This verse is quoted in the Smṛticandrikā (p. 18), which explains ‘vinaśana’ as the place where the Sarasvatī has disappeared;—in the Vīramitrodaya (Paribhāṣa, p. 56) which locates ‘Vinaśana’ in the Kurukṣetra,—in the Dānamayūkha, (p. 7),—and the Saṃskāramayūkha (p. 4).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(Verses 18-23)

See Comparative notes for Verse 2.18 (The Practice of Good Men).