Aryavarta
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Aryavarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, "abode of the noble or excellent ones (see arya)" or "bbode of the Aryans") is the ancient name for northern and central India. It is erroneous to give this name to the whole of India, since the borders of Aryavarta have been described differently in sources from different times.
The Manu Smriti (2.22) gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the eastern to the western sea".
The Vasistha Dharma Sutra I.8-9 and 12-13 locates Aryavarta to the east of the disappearance of the Sarasvati in the desert, to the west of Kalakavana, to the north of the mountains of Pariyatra and Vindhya and to the south of the Himalaya. Baudhayana Dharmasutra (BDS) 1.1.2.10 gives similar definitions and declares that Aryavarta is the land that lies west of Kalakavana[1], east of Adarsana[2], south of the Himalayas and north of the Vindhyas. In BDS 1.1.2.11 Aryavarta is confined to the Ganga - Yamuna doab, and BDS 1.1.2.13-15 considers people from beyond this area as of mixed origin, and hence not worthy of emulation by the Aryans. Some sutras recommend expiatory acts for those who have crossed the boundaries of Aryavarta. Baudhayana Srautasutra recommends this for those who have crossed the boundaries of Aryavarta and ventured into far away places.[3]
Patanjali's Mahābhāṣya defines Aryavarta like the Vasistha Dharma Sutra.
Aryavarta may thus have different definitions. In some later texts, Northwest-India (which earlier texts consider as part of "Aryavarta") is even seen as "impure", probably due to invasions. The Karnaparva 43.5-8 states that those who live on the Sindhu and the five rivers of the Punjab are impure and dharmabahya.
[edit] Notes
- ^ region of modern Allahabad
- ^ where the Sarasvati disappears
- ^ Agarwal, Vishal: Is there Vedic evidence for the Indo-Aryan Immigration to India [1]
[edit] References
- Kane, Pandurang Vaman: History of Dharmasastra: (ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil law) -- Poona : Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1962-1975
