History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c18.51

v2.c18.51

Another word which is very often used, particularly in the Purāṇas, to denote the territory where the ancient Vedic religion prevails is Bharatavarṣa or Bhāratavarṣa. It occurs in the Hathigumpha Inscription of Khāravela (2nd century B. C.) as Bharadhavasa.⁴³ The Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa says that Bharatavarṣa has the ocean on the east, south and west and the Himālaya on the north.⁴⁴ The Viṣṇupurāṇa (II. 3.1) says the same and Matsya (114·10) and Vāyu define Bharatavarṣa as stretching from Cape Comorin to the source of the Ganges.⁴⁵ Śabara (not later than 5th century A. D.) in his bhāṣya on Jaimini (X. 1·35 and 42) shows that to him there was unity of language and culture from the Himālaya to Cape Comorin.⁴⁶ Paiṭhīnasi as quoted in the Paribhāṣā-prakāśa (p. 58) says that dharma is fully developed (lit. four-legged) in the country from the Himālaya to Cape Comorin.⁴⁷ According to Mārkaṇḍeya (53·41), Vāyu (vol. I chap. 33·52) and other Purāṇas Bharatavarṣa is so called after Bharata, son of Ṛṣabha, descendant of Svāyambhuva Manu; while Vāyu (vol. II. chap. 37·130) appears to strike a different note by saying that Bharatavarṣa is so called after Bharata, the son of Duṣyanta and Śakuntalā. The Viṣṇupurāṇa says that after thousands of births a person secures life as a human being in Bharatavarṣa and this land is called *Karmabhūmi* (the land of religious actions) for those who want to secure heaven and final liberation.⁴⁸ The Vāyupurāṇa says almost the same and adds that in no land other than Bharatavarṣa is *karma* prescribed for mortals. It is somewhat amusing to find that many of the countries of India that in modern times pride themselves on being most orthodox are declared by the Āditya-purāṇa (as quoted in the Smṛticandrikā) to be countries unfit for habitation and to be such that a stay in them except for pilgrimage entailed loss of caste and prāyaścittas.⁴⁹ The Ādipurāṇa (Ādityapurāṇa?) as quoted in the Paribhāṣāprakāśa (p. 59) says 'no one, whether a dvija or not, born in Āryāvarta should cross the three rivers, Sindhu, Karmadā (i. e. Karmanāśā) or Karatoyā except on a pilgrimage' and that if he does so, he should perform the penance of cāndrāyaṇa.