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Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahabharata: Upayana Parva c4: Introductory

Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahābhārata: Upāyana Parva c4

Language
English

Contents

Introductory

I

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The *Mahābhārata* is rightfully regarded by the Hindus as the encyclopaedia of ancient lores. It contains the precepts of the great *ṛṣis* ordaining the rightful conduct and the deeds of the mighty heroes whose names are still cherished by the Hindus. The *Mahābhārata* was not composed with a view to give in any detail the social aspects of Hindu life, neither it was written to give us the geographical knowledge of the Hindus, and therefore whatever geographical knowledge we are able to glean from the *Mahābhārata*, specially from the *Ādiparva*, *Sabhāparva*, *Āraṇyaparva* and *Bhīṣmaparva* are incidental and not a connected whole. The names of the countries, mountains, rivers, etc., are mentioned in passing without any topographical details, very often even neglecting the direction in which a country or a mountain or a river lay, assuming their knowledge by the contemporary Indians as a matter of course. This attitude towards the geography of the country has created serious difficulties for the students of the historical geography of India and the information supplied by the *Mahābhārata* has to be supplemented with the Grecians, Chinese, and often by the medieval Arab sources which unfortunately lose much of their utility on account of their peculiar methods of transcribing Indian place names. The pioneers in the modern topographical researches concerning India such as Masson, Burnes, Wood, St.-Martin, Cunningham, Holdich and Stein have done much to increase our knowledge of ancient Indian geography but much remains to be done. The archaeology and its sister sciences have also given their helping hand in the solution of certain knotty problems concerning the location of ancient tribal republics, specially in the Panjāb. Unfortunately the texts of Purāṇas which should have served as a base for our knowledge of ancient Indian geography are so thoroughly corrupted that any attempt to identify the majority of place names in the Purāṇic list is bound to meet with failure. Their utility is further lessened by their adherence to the stereotyped description of the Indian geography bodily lifted from some common original source and just fitted in the shape of Bhuvana-Kośas in different Purāṇas. The Pāli Buddhist sources are somewhat better in their knowledge of Indian geography, but as the field of activity of early Buddhism was confined to Bihār and Eastern U.P., their knowledge of North-Western India is often hazy. This defect was later on greatly remedied when Buddhism penetrated from Gandhāra to Afghānistān, Central Asia and China. The literature of Sanskrit Buddhism and the Chinese Tripiṭaka have preserved for us some place names from the North-west India and the Panjāb, but these sources also suffer from obscurity which characterises the Purāṇic sources. Such being the condition of the sources of historical geography of India at our disposal the task of a research student is unenviable. He has to conform to the strictly scientific methods of modern researches with a limited material at hand. Philology, a hand-maid of all Indian studies, tries to over-reach herself in the matter of geographical studies. The phonetic similarities of the place names are so great that one is at once tempted to identify a certain modern place name with its ancient equivalent and then with the help of philology justify the identification. The works of Lassen, St.-Martin and Cunningham suffer from this defect. Philology is a good guide and at times a very successful one, but its results in the sphere of topographical researches must be checked by other sources.

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In this article I have confined myself to the geographical allusions of the *Sabhāparva*, and that too with the identifications of the names of various tribal republics and monarchies which appeared at the time of the *Rājasūya* sacrifice to pay tribute to *Yudhiṣṭhira*. The importance of the *Upāyanaparva* as it is a sub-section of the *Sabhāparva* is further increased by the mention of the products of the individual countries whose representatives came to pay their tributes to the all-conquering Pāṇḍava brothers. After the *Arthaśāstra* of Kauṭilya the *Upāyanaparva* is only somewhat fuller source of information of the economic resources of India as she was then comprehended. Fortunately in the course of my studies I had the opportunity of consulting the critical edition of the *Sabhāparva* published by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, while it was still at the press, through the courtesy of Dr. P. M. Joshi and Dr. R. N. Dandekar to whom my thanks are due. It must be said that this critical edition of the *Sabhāparva* has greatly improved upon the previous texts, and at several places restituted the correct ancient forms. At places, however, I have differed from the readings suggested by the learned editors, and I have adopted the variants suggested in the footnotes. In doing so I have, to the best of my ability, given reasons for adopting the variant readings. As far as possible I have given cross references in the *Mahābhārata* from the critically edited Parvas which have appeared (*Ādi-*, *Sabhā-*, *Āraṇya-*, *Virāṭ-* and *Udyoga-parvas*). but occasionally I have also referred to the 1836 Calcutta edition of the *Mahābhārata*.

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While making an intensive study of those parts of the *Sabhāparva* which deal exclusively with the geographical matters such as *Digvijayaparva* (Chapters 23—29) and the *Upāyanaparva* (Chapters 47—48), and in this connection the *Araṇyaparva*, certain impressions have here left on my mind which I lay down for the consideration of the scholars. Throughout the *Mahābhārata* there is always apparent a sort of derisive attitude wherever a Panjāb or specially a North-Western tribal republic is concerned, and one often meets in season and out of season, the terms, *mleccha*, *yavana*, *barbara* and *dasyu* applied to them in order to remind the faithful of the middle country to be beware of the Panjābīs and the north-westerners lest they might be taken unwares and their so-called Aryan way of life and thought be disturbed by their malpractices.

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In one breath the *mleccha* kings including Āndhras, Śakas, Pulindas, Yavanas, Aurṇikas, Kambojas, Śūdras and Ābhīras¹ are dubbed as false rulers (*mithyānuśāsinaḥ*), sinners (*pāpāḥ*) and liars (*mṛṣāvādaparāyaṇaḥ*). This hatred towards the Panjāb and north-western tribes is reflected in the contemptuous way in which their land is described as the land of donkeys and camels, and even if we do not believe in the theory of M. Lévi that Kharoṣṭra denoted a geographical boundary² there is little doubt that the word Kharoṣṭra as evident from the Chinese interpretation of the word by Houe Yuan is contemptuous. M. Lévi to prove his point says that in diverse texts the ass and camel are connected. He quotes examples from Fan Yu tsa Ming of Yitsing. He also quotes from the Gaṇapāṭha of Pāṇini³ to show that in the neuter *dvandvas* the compound *uṣṭra-kharam* is found⁴ perhaps expressive of some geographical connection. It is quite reasonable to suppose that Kharoṣṭra became a sort of symbol which denoted a country where these animals were to be found in large numbers. The south-eastern limit of the distribution of the camels is an imaginary line drawn from the mouth of the Indus towards the upper Satlaj and for the donkeys the line of demarcation nearly passes from the north to the south leaving the eastern India altogether. The true country of the asses (Equs hemippus, Equs Onager, Equs hemonus) is Syria, Gobi desert and Baluchistān and western India. The donkey and camel are the animals of Iranian world. According to Spiegel⁵ the camel in Iran is only a little less important than horse and the two-humped Bactrian camel which carries heavy load and is able to live on very little. The ass whose two species are found in Iran is also an important animal. Avesta gives great importance to camel.⁶

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¹ *Araṇyaparva*, 186. 29-30.

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² BEFEO, IV, 566.

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³ II, 4, 11.

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⁴ BEFEO, IV, p. 567.

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⁵ *Iranische Alterthumskunde*, I, p. 260.

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⁶ *Vendidad*, VII, 42; IX, 37.

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The derogatory sense in which the land of the Khara and Uṣṭra was used is amply illustrated in the Karṇa-parva when Karṇa deeply incensed at the disgraceful behaviour of Śalya burst out in rage. His scathing indictment of the people of the Panjāb specially the Madra country reflects in true sense the Brāhmaṇical point of view about the land of the five rivers. It would not be out of place here to quote from Karṇa's speech certain relevant portions which in their ringing condemnation are unequalled in India literature. “The Madraka is treacherous to his friends. Those whom we hate is Madraka. There is no attachment in Madraka. His language is uncouth.” (M.B. VIII, 40, 20). “Their womenfolk under the influence of drink throw away their garments and begin to dance: they indulge in sexual intercourse without reserve and follow their fanciful designs to an extreme. The Madrakas in the legal terminology are the sons or those women who piss like camels and asses.” A couple of hundred verses later (M.B., VIII, 44, 3) Karṇa continuing with his invectives quotes the opinion of a Brāhmaṇa which he had heard in the court of Dhṛtarāṣṭra about Vāhīkas and Madras. “I have lived for a secret reason with the Vāhīkas and I know of their practices, having lived with them. Their women dance and sing all naked in the open places of houses and cities casting away garlands and paints, singing lewd songs in drunkenness which resemble braying of ass and grumbling of a camel. They do not observe privacy while cohabiting and follow the whims of their fancy. One of these miserable Vāhīkas who lived in the Kurujāṅgala unable to have good time used to sing, " 'The tall fair women wearing fine clothes of linen who followed me in the bed, the poor Vahīka of the Kurujāṅgala. When it will be when I shall cross over the Śatadru and Irāvatī on my way to my country to meet the beautiful girls of the olden times. When will I return with the beat of tambourine and drum and the conch-shell blowing with the asses, camels and mules (*Kharoṣṭrāśvataraiḥ*) in the forest of *śamī*, *pīlu* and *karīra* whose fragrance is so pleasing'." Another song of the Vāhīkas, which the Brāhmaṇa reported is as follows, " 'When shall I be able to sing in Śakalā the song of the Vāhīkas, devour the beef, drink the Gauḍa wine, and the mutton with bunches of onions, the flesh of wild boar, fowls, beef and the ass and the camel and enjoy the tall elegant women in perfect toilet (VIII, 2051). These Vāhīkas about whom we have been hearing some of the most unpalatable things lived as Mahābhārata defines (VIII, 2029-30, 2041, 2055, 2064), "Apart from the Himālayas and Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī and Kurukṣetra, established in the centre of the five rivers with the Indus as the sixth live the Vāhīkas, unaware of the practices of the *Smṛtis*."

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Now a pertinent question which may be asked in this connection is as to what were the reasons which actuated the Brāhmaṇas of the middle country to indulge in the whole-sale condemnation of the people of the Panjāb, the North-west Frontier, and the lands beyond? It is a well known fact which requires no repetition that the Vedic culture was nurtured in the Panjāb, and the very foundations of the later Brāhmanic culture were laid in the land of the Five Rivers. In the Vedic period the land whose glory is sung in the *pṛthvīsūkta* certainly included the Panjāb and the Himālayas. Even contrary to the expectation, in the *Bhīṣmaparva*, Chap. IX, in the impressive lists of the Cakravartis is included Śibi Auśīnara from the Panjāb, then why this hostility towards Panjāb? History supplies us the reasons. The culture which the Panjāb fostered had gradually shifted towards the Madhyadeśa, till Gangetic plains and a part of Rajputānā became a sort of haven of the ancient doctrines and Aryan philosophy, and this heritage the people under the guidance of the Brāhmanas wanted to preserve intact from the outside influences, the fresh beliefs, and the fresh modes of life brought over by the many races which had migrated to India since the Vedic religion had crystallised itself. This abhorrence of foreigners and the aboriginals whose beliefs were antagonistic to the Brāhmanical thoughts became a sort of mania. An example may be cited. The cause of the Sarasvatī’s disappearance is attributed to the horror in which Sarasvati held the Niṣādas; she disappeared at the very gate of the Niṣāda kingdom (M.B. III, 130, 3-4). Nothing could be more unreasonable or absurd, but herein we see the creation of legends worked up by the clever ingenuity of the priestly mind to serve a particular end that is to save the flock from the contaminating influence of the barbarians. Even in the description of the *tīrthas* in the *Āraṇyaparva* our attention is again and again diverted to the sacred Kurukṣetra, Gaṅgadvāra, and other pretty *tīrthas* in Kāṭhīwar and all over the Madhyadeśa to prove that all the sanctity which a Brāhmaṇa could conceive was attached to the middle country. The story of the gradual development of this psychology might form an interesting study in itself. This process of drawing within oneself is fully developed in the *Mahābhārata*, the *Purāṇas*, and the *Smṛtis*. To this psychological working of the mind generating hate in place of love, may be attributed the division of the country into innumerable small states—the new-comers forming their own tribal states, and thus dividing the country in almost innumerable smaller units. This instinct of self preservation was still aggravated with the advent of Buddhism and to a lesser to Jainism. A direct challenge was thrown to the almost uncontested supremacy of the Brāhmins. The dharma of the Buddha simple in its conception and direct in its appeal spread quickly to the Panjāb and the frontier and in the early centuries of the Christian era spread to the Central Asia. The Buddhist church was not bound by the Brahmanical principles of castes, etc. Whosoever came to the Buddha, irrespective of caste, creed, community or race, was allowed to join the Buddhist brotherhood. To escape from this peril the Brahmanic hierarchy created stricter laws to ensure the purity of the society but mere laws without public sanction behind them are just like the body without the spirit. The invectives of the Brāhmaṇas against the spirited Panjābis do not seem to have been of much avail.

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⁷ Atharva Veda, XII, 1.

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Another subject which should interest the student of Indian geography is a plethora of *digvijayas* found in the *Mahābhārata*. Among these the four most important ones are the expeditions of Arjuna to the north, of Bhīma to the east, of Sahadeva to the south and of Nakula to the west described in the *Digvijayaparva*, a sub-section of *Sabhāparva*. There are certain broad points in connection of these expeditions with which we must acquaint ourselves. The first thing which we should bear in mind is that these expeditions from the geographical point of view are of great importance. They not only tell us of the place names which are often of first rate importance, but their directions also throw light on the ancient Indian highways. Secondly, these expeditions echo the expeditions of the contemporary kings whether Yavana, Śaka or Hindu whose doings have been cleverly transferred to the Pāṇḍava brothers. The iterneries allocated to each of the Pāṇḍavas seems to have been made up by a clever stringing of more than one iternery. This is more palpable in the conquests of Arjun a and Sahadeva. As we shall see while discussing the date of the *Sabhāparva* these expeditions supply us with the informations of utmost importance, and when they are read in the light of the modern researches on Indian history they tell us much about the date of the *Sabhāparva*. Lastly these expeditions need not represent that such long expeditions were taken by the Indian kings at a time; there is an element of wishful thinking in these expeditions to exhibit the prowess of the champions of the Brahminical cause. This story of the *Digvijayas* was supplemented copiously by the contemporary events which have been connected with the exploits of those heroes.

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Much more interesting is a long list of tribal republics mostly from the Panjāb, North-Western Frontier, Eastern Afghānistān and the countries on the Oxus and even beyond it. The references to these geographical names are very interesting. They are not a collected whole with any idea of putting the names of the republics in proper geographical order which might indicate their situation and direction. Sometime the direction is pointed out but in the majority of cases it is entirely left out. As usual the geographical names seem to have been drawn from the various contemporary lists and interneries. Fortunately some of these disjointed lists have maintained some order in which the countries were situated and also their connection with the neighbouring states is often slightly indicated; this is all very helpful in the proper identification of the places. The various presents brought by the representatives from each country also give an indication as to which part of the world their land could be assigned. We need not dilate here on this point here as we will have ample opportunity to discuss it later on.

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One very important point which requires our attention before we take up the geographical allusions in the *Sabhāparva* is that the boundary of India at that period was not as it is to-day. The whole of eastern Afghānistān was included in India, and the geographical knowledge of the Hindus extended to Oxus and sometimes the trans-Oxus countries. If we only keep this point in view much of the confusion which is bound to occur if we try to identify all the places within the modern boundaries of India as it is constituted to-day would be avoided. Indian culture at least in the second century B.C. had travelled beyond the limits of India, and during the course of its extension met in Afghānistān and the Oxus countries two other cultures Greek and Iranian whose natural actions and reaction gave birth to a new colonial culture in which the Indian and Greek elements preponderate.

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