History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.407

v4.c62.407

In the Bhāgavatapurāṇa (IV. 18. 30–32) it is narrated that Pṛthu, son of Vena, first levelled the earth, established human habitations in villages, towns, capitals, forts &c., and that before Pṛthu people resided where they liked and there were no such groups as villages or towns. Bhṛgu quoted by Śrīdhara according to Rājanīti-kaustubha defines grāma as the habitation of brāhmaṇas, their hired labourers and śūdras, that kharvaṭa is on the bank of a river and of a mixed character, one side being a village and the other a town. Śaunaka quoted by the Rājanīti-kaustubha (pp. 103–4) defines kheṭa as a place where brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas reside, that a place where all castes reside is called a town, that brāhmaṇa householders should be established on soil that is whitish and has sweet odour, kṣatriyas should be established in towns where the soil is reddish and wafts a sweet odour and vaiśyas on yellowish soil.