Manasollasa (study of Arts and Sciences)
by Mahadev Narayanrao Joshi | 1984 | 74,538 words
This essay in English studies the Manasollasa authored by Someshvara III, representing an ancient encyclopedic work encompassing over 8,000 Sanskrit verses. The text addresses diverse topics like polity, political sciences, architecture, jurisprudence, iconography, idol-making, and various arts and sciences such as mathematics. The Manasollasa is ...
3.3. Regions, States and Cities described in the Manasollasa
Bharatavarsa was traditionally divided into two parts, namely Aryavarta, the northern half, equivalent to the Uttarapatha, and Daksinapatha, the Southern half, the line `of demarcation being drawn by the river Narmada on the western side and by Mekala (Vindhya) range and the Suvarnarekha river on the eastern side. The Aryavarta is said to be bordered on the east and the west by the oceans and on the north and the south by the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges respectively. divisions, which of course are of traditional nature with no political bearing, we find a reference to Madhyadesa, the middle land, the region between Prayaga in the east and the Vinasana, the Suratgarh Hissar region, in the west bordered on the north and the south by the Himalaya 73 72 Among its chief and the Vindhya ranges. The land from Prayaga to Pragjyotisa (Assam) was popularly known as the Paurastya, the eastern zone. 74 Somesvara's concept of these zones 72. manusmrti 2.22. asamudrattuvai purvadasamudrattu pascimat | tayorevantaram giryoraryavarta vidurbudhah || 73. manusmrti 2.21. himavadvindhyayormadhyam yatpragvinasanadapi | pratyageva prayagacca madhyadesah prakirtitah || 74. kautilya arthasastra 1.50083.
401 broadly followed the Puranic tradition which he appears to have chiefly drawn upon. Daksinapatha was the name of the vast strech of land south of the river Narmada, bordered by the oceans on its three sides. Somesvara mentions this as 75 the Dravidadesa. Dharmendra kumar Gupta says "The calukya records frequently refer to this zone as Trisamudra. These broad divisions of the Bharatavarsa were more or less on traditional lines with little political recognition or importance. Their boundaries differed in different periods and also in different traditions." 76 Somesvara's description of Daksinapatha or the southern India is naturally more vivid and precise. The vast area was traditionally divided into four parts, namely 77 Vidarbha, Aparanta, Dravida and Kalinga-Kosala. Of these, Vidarbha was the north-central part of the land bounded in the east by Kalinga-kosala, and Andhra, in the south by the river Krsna or Tungabhadra and in the west by the region from Nasik to Narmada. The south-eastern division was known as Dravida which in its wider conception included the whole of coromandel coast to the south of Godavari, while 75. vindhyadricitrakuta trika lingadravidasritam 11 2.3.174. 76. Dharmendra Kumar Gupta. Op.cit. p.82. 77. Ibid., p.98.
402 the north-eastern zone was called Kalinga-kosala. The western part was known as Aparanta which included the entire western coast below the mouth of Narmada. Though denoting almost the entire Deccan region, the Vidarbha signified precisely its northern and central part which on account of its vastness was known as the Maharastra 78 also. Somesvara mentions in Asthanubhoga that the 79 Maharastra women use Lolaka as their ornament. Similarly "he mentions women of Andhra desa and Gujarat. 80 The Dravida in its wider conception included, in the north, Andhra and in the South, Cola and Pandya countries besides the Pallava kingdom. The Kosala Kalinga lay to the north of the Dravida region and to the east of 81 the Vidarbha empire. The Kosala of these, known also as Daksina-Kosala, corresponded to the present districts of Ralpur, Drug and Bilaspur of Madhya Pradesa and 82 Sambalpur district of Orissa. The Kalinga east and 78. kautilya arthasastra 1.34. 79. maharastrastriyah kascit lambalolakabhusitah || 3.11.1242. 80. andhranaryo varah kascidapasavyottariyakah | gurjaryo vanitah kasvidapanikrtakancukah || 3.11.87. 81. krte yuge kalingesu kosale vajrasambhavah || 2. 4. 403. 82. Dharmendra Kumar Gupta. Op.cit. p. 104.
403 south-east of Kosala, included the vast land between the rivers Mahanadi and Godavari. 83 These writers The knowledge of Geography of Somesvara reveals a general resemblance with that of Kalidasa, Bana and Bharavi with reference to the conception of different geographical units and divisions of Ancient Bharata. were separated by more than 1,000 years and belonged to different parts of the land. These writers show acquaintance with the regions to which they did not belong, though it must be admitted that their description of regions of their nativity is more precise and hence authentic. But some writers draw a considerable amount of topographical detail from the common source, the Puranas, which Somesvara utilises more frequently and profusely in case of rivers and mountains etc. This fact partly explains the similarity of geographical data in some writers, which is due also to the fact that the geographical names were rarely disturbed in ancient times, even though changes took place quite often in the political field. These changes, however, did affect the 83. kautilya arthasastra 3.165. 23.165. Cf. Ed. M.R.Kale. Dasakumara Carita (English translation. Bombay 1925) pp. 172-173. :
404 boundaries of different states and Janapadas. It is worth while to note that a good number of old geographical names are still current either in identical form or in a slightly changed form, and the fact facilitates the otherwise difficult task of identifying the ancient places.