The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c6.s5.2

v1.c6.s5.2

THE geographical area we have defined above as Dakshiṇāpatha seems to be outside the horizon of the early Vedic singers. An expression, Dakshiṇāpadā, ‘with southward foot’, occurs in a *Rig Vedic* hymn. But its exact connotation is unknown. The absence of any reference to recognizable tribes, rivers, and mountains of the Deccan proper makes it extremely unlikely that we have here a vague allusion to the region watered by the Godāvarī and the Kṛishṇā. The *Kāthaka Saṃhitā* mentions the Kuntis whom epic tradition places on the Aśva-nadī, probably the Asan, a tributary of the Chambal. But the country that lay farther to the south does not appear to have been known. Some scholars find a reference to the Revā or Narmadā in the name Revottaras Chākra Pātava Sthapati given to a Śriñjaya official in the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*. But the interpretation of Revottaras as ‘living to the north of the Revā’ is open to doubt. No reference to the Godāvarī, Kṛishṇā, or any of their confluents, has been traced in any early Vedic text.