मार्गदेशीविचारः ३

The following is a description of India and the deśī (vernacular) languages spoken in various polities. More on the placement of Prākrits etc. later. It is taken from the tenth chapter of the Bhāvaprakāśana of the 12th century Kashmirian author Śāradātanaya:

The land of Bhāratavarṣa measures 9000 yojanas from Adam’s bridge, Rama’s bridge or Nala’s bridge (or whatever is the currently acceptable designation for the island bridge linking India and Śrīlaṅkā) to the Himalayas:

deśo bhāratavarṣākhyo & navasāhasrayojanaḥ
ā setor ā himagirer & āyāmaḥ parikīrtitaḥ/


Decrease of inhabited area (from north to south) out of fear from encroaching snow (a quasi-ice-age paranoia) as cyclical time progresses:


tāraḥ pūrvāparādyantaḥ & saptasāhasrayojanaḥ
vasanti martyāḥ sarvatra & prāpte kṛtayuge sukham/
tretāyuge dvāpare ca & himākrāntibhayāj janāḥ
pādaṃ pādaṃ visṛjyaite & śrayante dakṣiṇāpatham/
yojanānāṃ sahasre dve & sapañcāśacchatadvayam

In the Kali age humans walk the earth, yakṣas, vidyādharas, siddhas, gandharvas, maharṣis sport with their wives in the uttarāpatha:


prāpte kaliyuge martyāś & caranti vasudhātale/
yakṣā vidyādharāḥ siddhā & gandharvāś ca maharṣayaḥ
krīḍanti strīgaṇaiḥ sārdham & uttarāpathabhūmiṣu/
asya bhāratavarṣasya & caturtho dakṣiṇāpathaḥ
catuḥṣaṣṭibhidābhinno & nānājanapadāśrayaḥ/

List of 64 lands. This passage seems defective, I cannot make it 64 without further MS evidence, Kārūśa and Yavana seem to be repeated:


[1]pāṇḍyāḥ [2]sakeralāś [3]colāḥ & [4]sindhu[5]siṃhala[5]pāmarāḥ
[6]kaliṅga[7]yavana[8]mleccha&[9]pārasīka[10]śakāhvayāḥ/
[11]gauḍa[11]lāṭa[12]vidarbhāś ca & [13]kāmarūpa+[14]āndhra[15]koṅkaṇāḥ
[16]karṇāṭa[17]suhya[18]kāmbhoja&[19]hūṇa[20]kārūśa[21]gurjarāḥ/
sa[22]saurāṣṭra[23]mahārāṣṭra&[24]himmīra[25]āvanty[26]anūpajāḥ
[27]aṅgā [28]vaṅgāś ca [29]vaṅgālāḥ & [30]kāśī[31]kosala[32]maithilāḥ/
[33]kirāta[34]vardhraka+[35]āraṭṭa&[36]kuru[37]pāñcāla[38]kekayāḥ
[39]auḍhra[40]māgadha[41]sauvīra&[42]daśārṇa[43]magadhāhvayāḥ/
[44]nepāla[45]jaina[46]bāhlīka&[47]pallava[48]kratha[49]kaiśikāḥ
s{u}[a][50]śūrasenakājāna&[51]kārūśa[52]yavanādayaḥ/
[53]yadavaś [54]cakra[55]kurava&[56]pārvatīyāḥ sa[57]haimanāḥ
[58]kāśmīra[59]maru[60]k{e}[o]ṅkāṇa&[61]nagrāś ca saha[62]maṅkaṇāḥ/
mahendraduhitus setor & ete madhyam upāśritāḥ
ete ‘ṣṭādaśabhir bhāṣā&bhedair vyavaharanti ca/


18 deśī languages.

tā bhāṣās teṣu keṣāñ cid & deśānāṃ nāmābhiḥ kṛtāḥ
[1] dramiḍāḥ [2] kannaḍa+[3]āndhrāś ca & [4]hūṇa[5]himmīra[6]siṃhalāḥ/
[7]pallavā [7]yavanā [8]jaināḥ & [9]pārvatīyāḥ sa[10]pāmarāḥ
[11]kaṣa[12]vardhraka[13]kāmbhoja&[14]śaka[15]nagrāḥ sa[16]vākaṭāḥ/
ete 'ṣṭādaśabhāṣāṇām & āśrayāḥ saha[17]koṅkaṇāḥ
etā bhāṣāś ca sarvatra & [18] mlecchabhāṣety udāhṛtāḥ/
tattaddeśeṣu saṅgītaṃ & tattadbhāṣābhir anvitam
deśīti deśikam api & kathayanti manīṣiṇaḥ/