Manava Dharmashastra 2.19

2.19

deśanāmadheyānyetāni | kurukṣetraṃ syamantapañcakaṃ prasiddham | kuravastatra kṣayaṃ gatāḥ | 'kuru vā sukṛtaṃ kṣipramatra trāṇaṃ bhaviṣyatīti' vyutpattiḥ | matsyādayaḥ śabdā bahuvacanāntā eva deśavacanāḥ |
brahmarṣideśa iti samudāyasaṃjñā | devanirmito deśo brahmāvartaḥ | devebhyaḥ kiñcinyūnā brahmarṣaya ityeto'yaṃ deśo brahmarṣi sambandhādbrahmavartārnnyūnaḥ | tathā cāha | brahmāvarttādinantara īṣadvinnaḥ | nañūīṣadarthaḥ | yathā'nuṣṇāṃ yavāgūṃ piveddāmayāvītīṣaduṣṇāmupadiśanti | 'ntaraśabdo bhedavacanaḥ | 'nārīpuruṣatoyānāmantaraṃ mahadantaramiti' yathā |

Next to Brahmāvarta is the ‘Brahmarṣideśa,’ comprising the regions op Kurukṣetra, Matsyas, Pañchālas and Śukasenakas. (19).

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
These are the names of the various regions.

‘Kurukṣetra’ is what is known as Samantapañcaka, the place where the Kurus were exterminated. The etymological signification of the name ‘Kurukṣetra h as been explained as meaning—‘do good deeds here, and salvation shall come quickly,’ ‘kuru sukṛtamatra kṣiprantrāṇam bhavati.’

‘Matsyas’ and the rest are the names of countries, in the plural form.

‘Brahmarṣideśa’ is the name of the entire group. Brahmāvarta is the country ‘created by the Gods’; and since the Brahmarṣis are a little lower in degree than the Gods, this country, being related to Brahmarṣis, is slightly lower in grade than Brahmāvarta. This is what is meant by this being ‘next to Brahmāvarta,’—i.e., slightly different from it;—the negative particle (in ‘a denoting slightly; just as when it is said that ‘the sick person should drink gruel when it is not-hot,’ it is meant that it should be drunk when it is slightly hot. The term ‘antara’ means different; as it is found in such assertions as ‘mahadantaram,’ ‘in the case of men, women and water, even a slight difference makes a great difference.’ (19)