Vishnupurana 2.3.5
The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition 2.3.5
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2.3.5
On the east of Bhárata dwell the Kirátas (the barbarians); on the west, the Yavanas; in the centre reside Brahmans, Kshetriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śúdras, occupied in their respective duties of sacrifice, arms, trade, and service.
2.3.5.n1
By Kirátas, foresters and mountaineers are intended, the inhabitants to the present day of the mountains east of Hindustan. The Yavanas, on the west, may be either the Greeks of Bactria and the Punjab--to whom there can be little doubt the term was applied by the Hindus--or the Mohammedans, who succeeded them in a later period, and to whom it is now applied. The Váyu calls them both Mlechchhas, and also notices the admixture of barbarians with Hindus in India proper. The same passage, slightly varied, occurs in the Mahábhárata: it is said especially of the mountainous districts, and may allude therefore to the Gonds and Bhils of central India, as well as to the Mohammedans of the north-west. The specification implies that infidels and outcastes had not yet descended on the plains of Hindustan.
Linked texts (1)
- Viṣṇupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit