India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c7.s5.28

c7.s5.28

In *Pāli* the term *prastha* is thus explained by Buddhaghosha: 'It denotes a place outside the *grāma*, a wasteland not used by men either for ploughing or sowing (*Dhammapada-Aṭṭhakathā*, 1.210; *Dīgh.* 1.71). It may be noted that the places ending with *prastha* (Hindi, *pat*) are confined mostly to the Kuru country, such as Panipat, Sonepat, Baghpat, Tilpat, etc., and to the region of the Himalayas watered by the Ganges.