[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930) › v5.c74.t2.309 # History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t2.309 History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t2.309 - **Language:** English ### [v5.c74.t2.309](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v5.c74.t2.309) \*KURUKṢETRA\* (25 miles east of Ambala) is a very sacred tract, the history of which is lost in the mists of antiquity. In the Ṛgveda X. 33. 4 there is a reference to a king Kuruśravaṇa, son of Trasadasyu.¹⁵³⁸ The Atharva-veda mentions a Kauravya husband (probably a king) who had a talk with his wife.¹⁵³⁹ In the times of the Brāhmaṇas Kurukṣetra had become a very holy land. The Śat. Br. (IV. 1. 5. 13) narrates the legend that the gods performed a sacrifice in Kurukṣetra and at first excluded the two Aśvins from any share in it (S. B. E. vol. 26 p. 275). The Maitrāyaṇī Saṁhitā (II. 1. 4., devā vai sattramāsata Kurukṣetre) and the Tai. Br. (V. 1. 1., devā vai sattram-āsata teṣāṁ Kurukṣetraṁ vedir-āsīt) also say that the Gods performed a \*sattra\* in Kurukṣetra. The idea underlying these passages appears to be this. The Vedic people of the Brāhmaṇa period held \*yajñas\* to be the \*dharma par excellence\*, as stated in Ṛg. X. 90. 16 (yajñena yajñam-ayajanta devāstāni dharmāṇi prathamānyāsan). Kurukṣetra was the centre of Vedic culture in the Brāhmaṇa period and sacrifices must have been performed there on a large scale. Hence it was called dharmakṣetra and as gods were supposed to have attained their position by what men believed to be dharma (\*yajña\*, \*tapas\* &c.) it is stated that gods performed sattras in Kurukṣetra. The same Brāhmaṇa mentions a Kauravya king Bāhlīka Prātipīya (XII. 9. 3. 3, S. B. E. vol. 44 p. 269). The Tai. Br. (I. 8. 4. 1) informs us that the Kuru-Pañcālas went towards the east in winter (\*śiśira\*) and to the west in summer which was the worst season. The references in the Ait. Br. are far more instructive. The legend about Kavaṣa in which Sarasvatī helps the sage has already been referred to above (p. 559 n. 1254). The Ait. Br. (8. 1 or II 19) calls that place, where Sarasvatī came rushing, 'Parisāraka'. In another place the Ait. Br. tells us that in its time Nyagrodha (Ficus India) was called Nyubja in Kurukṣetra.¹⁵⁴⁰ Elsewhere the Ait. Br. speaks of the countries of the Kurus and Pañcālas together with the Vaśa-Uśīnaras (38. 3 = VIII. 14). The Tai Ā. narrates¹⁵⁴¹ that the gods performed a sattra and Kurukṣetra was their altar (for the sattra). The southern side of that Vedi (i. e. Kurukṣetra) was Khāṇḍava, the northern side was Tūrghna, the hinder part was Pariṇah, and the country of Maru (desert) was the rubbish pit. This shows that Khāṇḍava, Tūrghna and Pariṇah were border parts of Kurukṣetra and the Maru district was somewhat away from Kurukṣetra. The Śrautasūtras of Āśv. XII 6, Lāṭyāyana X. 15 ff and Kātyāyana¹⁵⁴² 24 6 5 ff closely follow Tāṇḍya and other Brāhmaṇas and mention several holy places at which parts of the Sārasvata sattras were performed such as Plakṣa Prasravaṇa where Sarasvatī starts, the Vaitandhava-hrada of Sarasvatī, the tract called Pariṇah in Kurukṣetra, Yamunā flowing through the country of Kārapacava and the country of Triplakṣāvaharaṇa. - [Previous: v5.c74.t2.308](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v5.c74.t2.308) - [Next: v5.c74.t2.310](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v5.c74.t2.310) - [Up: v5.c74.t2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v5.c74.t2) ## Linked texts (10) - [Kātyāyanaśrautasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.srauta.katyayana.24.6.5) — Kātyāyana (Vājasaneyi sūtrakāra), Sanskrit - [Lāṭyāyanaśrautasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.srauta.latyayana.10.15) — Lāṭyāyana, Sanskrit - [Taittirīyabrāhmaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.taittiriya.1.8.4.1) — Sanskrit - [Maitrāyaṇīsaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.krsnayajur*maitrayani.2.1.4) — Sanskrit - [Aitareyabrāhmaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya.8.1) — Mahidāsa Aitareya, Sanskrit - [Ṛgvedasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.rg.10.33.4) — Sanskrit - [Śatapathabrāhmaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.satapatha.4.1.5.13) — Yājñavalkya & Śāṇḍilya (Vedic teacher), Sanskrit - [Āśvalāyanaśrautasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.srauta.asvalayana) — Āśvalāyana, Sanskrit - [Taittirīyāraṇyaka](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.aranyaka.taittiriya) — Sanskrit - [Atharvavedasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.atharva) — Atharvan & Aṅgiras, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v5.c74.t2.309](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v5.c74.t2.309) · Pramāṇa