Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s6.1

c9.s6.1

The expression "*Dakshiṇāpadā*" occurs in the *Rig-Veda*¹ and refers to the region where the exile goes on being turned out. In the opinion of several scholars this simply means "the south" beyond the limits of the recognised Aryan world. *Dākshiṇātya* is found in Pāṇini,² *Dakshiṇāpatha* is mentioned by Baudhāyana coupled with Surāshṭra.³ It is difficult to say what Pāṇini or Baudhāyana exactly meant by *Dākshiṇātya* or *Dakshiṇāpatha*. In early Pāli literature the name *Dakshiṇāpatha* is sometimes coupled with Avanti (Malwa), and in one text it is placed on the banks of the upper Godāvarī. In the *Nalopākhyāna* of the *Mahābhārata*, *Dakshiṇāpatha* is placed beyond Avanti and the Vindhyas, and to the south of the Vidarbhas and the (Southern) Kosalas. The last-mentioned peoples lived on the banks of the Wardhā and the Mahānadī. In the *Digvijaya-parva*, *Dakshiṇāpatha* is distinguished from the Pāṇḍyan realm in the southernmost part of the Madras Presidency. In the Gupta Age it certainly stretched from the land of the Kosalas to the kingdom of Kāñchī. In *later* times it embraced the whole of Trans-Vindhyan India from the *Setu* (Adam's Bridge) to the Narmadā.⁴