India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s10.24

c8.s10.24

The village land was distinct from a forest (*araṇya*), the abode of wild people (*āraṇyaka manushya*, IV.2.129) and wild animals (*āraṇya paśu*). The forests were also used for grazing of domestic animals (*grāmya-paśu-saṅgha*, I.2.73). When a particular range was denuded of its fodder supply, it was called *āśitaṅgavīna* (V.4.7), *i.e.*, 'the area where the cattle had eaten up all its fodder.' The herdsmen then moved the ranch to a different area which was called *goshpada deśa* (for the use of cattle, VI.1.145). In the same *sūtra* Pāṇini refers to forests not so used (*asevita*) by cattle (*agoshpada*, VI.1.145), as they were too dense and impenetrable (*mahāvana*, *Kāśikā*).