Historical Geography of Ancient India c5.s3.20

c5.s3.20

The Sanskrit Buddhist texts refer to the three divisions of India, namely, Madhyadeśa, Uttarāpatha and Dakṣiṇāpatha. Pāṇini refers to Uttarāpatha in his *Aṣṭādhyāyī* (5. 1. 77). Patañjali also mentions it in his *Mahābhāṣya*. Daṇḍin in his *Kāvyādarśa* (I. 60; I. 80) refers to the people of Dākṣiṇātya and Adākṣiṇātya. The last two divisions are mentioned in name only; there is no defining of their boundaries nor is there any description of the countries or regions that constitute the divisions. Two other divisions, namely, the Aparānta or western and the Prācya or eastern are not referred to even in name, but are suggested by the boundary of the Madhyadeśa as given in the *Divyāvadāna*.