Ajay Kumar at 16:11, 29 August 2023

2023-08-29T16:11:53Z

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{{Short description|Region in Hindu literature}}

The [[Hinduism|Hindu]] religious text ''[[Manusmriti]]'' describes '''Brahmavarta''' ({{Lang-sa|ब्रह्मावर्त|translit=Brahmāvarta}}) as the region between the rivers [[Saraswati River|Sarasvati]] and [[Drishadwati|Drishadvati]] in India. The text defines the area as the place where the "good" people are born with "goodness" being dependent on location rather than behaviour.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Mlecchas, Yavanas and Heathens: Interacting Xenologies in Early Nineteenth-Century Calcutta |first=Dermot |last=Killingley |title=Beyond Orientalism: The Work of Wilhelm Halbfass and Its Impact on Indian and Cross-cultural Studies |editor1-first=Eli |editor1-last=Franco |editor2-first=Karin |editor2-last=Preisendanz |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=2007 |isbn=978-8-12083-110-0 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tv-4tyO9u_QC&pg=PA125 |page=125}}</ref> The name has been translated in various ways, including "holy land", "sacred land",<ref name="Olivelle" /> "abode of gods", and "the scene of creation".<ref>{{cite book |title=Early Aryans to Swaraj |volume=1 |editor1-first=S. R. |editor1-last=Bakshi |editor2-first=S. |editor2-last=Gajrani |editor3-first=Hari |editor3-last=Singh |publisher=Sarup & Sons |year=2005 |isbn=978-8-17625-537-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2UJuR3lir9QC&pg=PA12 |page=12}}</ref>

The precise location and size of the region has been the subject of academic uncertainty.<ref name="Scharfe">{{cite book |title=The State in Indian Tradition |first=Hartmut |last=Scharfe |publisher=BRILL |year=1989 |isbn=900-4-09060-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2AQ4AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA12 |page=12}}</ref> Some scholars, such as the archaeologists [[Bridget Allchin|Bridget]] and [[Raymond Allchin]], believe the term ''Brahmavarta'' to be synonymous with the [[Aryavarta]] region.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan |first1=Bridget |last1=Allchin |first2=Raymond |last2=Allchin |authorlink1=Bridget Allchin |authorlink2=Raymond Allchin |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-52128-550-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r4s-YsP6vcIC&pg=PA250 |page=250}}</ref>

== Literature ==
According to the Manusmriti, the purity of a place and its inhabitants decreased the further it was from Brahmavarta. [[Aryan]] (noble) people were believed to inhabit the "good" area and the proportion of [[Mleccha]] (barbarian) people in the population rose as the distance from it increased. This implies a series of concentric circles of decreasing purity as one moved away from the Brahmavarta centre.<ref>{{cite book |title=Sanskrit & Prakrit, Sociolinguistic Issues |first=Madhav |last=Deshpande |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1993 |isbn=978-8-12081-136-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NDrqaELkKTEC&pg=PA85 |page=85}}</ref>

The translation of ''Manusmriti'' made by [[Patrick Olivelle]], a professor of [[Sanskrit]], says: {{quote|The land created by the gods and lying between the divine rivers Saraswati and Drishadwati is called 'Brahmavarta' - the region of Brahman. The conduct handed down from generation to generation among the social classes and the intermediate classes of that land is called the 'conduct of good people'.

[[Kuruksetra]] and the lands of the [[Matsya Kingdom|Matsya]]s, [[Pancala]]s, and [[Surasena]]kas constitute the 'land of [[Brahmin]] seers', which borders on the Brahmavarta. All the people on earth should learn their respective practices from a Brahmin born in that land.<ref name="Olivelle">{{cite book |title=The Law Code of Manu |author=Manu |editor-first=Patrick |editor-last=Olivelle |editor-link=Patrick Olivelle |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-19280-271-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VmfXnfB-474C&pg=PA24 |page=24}}</ref>{{efn|These are the ancient [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]], [[Matsya Kingdom|Matsya]], [[Panchala]] and [[Surasena]] kingdoms.}}}}

The French [[Indology|Indologist]] who later converted to Hinduism, [[Alain Daniélou]], notes that the ''[[Rig Veda]]'', which is an earlier Hindu text, describes the region later known as Brahmavarta as the heartland of Aryan communities and the geography described in it suggests that those communities had not moved much beyond the area. He says that later texts, contained in the ''[[Brahmanas]]'', indicate that the centre of religious activity had moved from Brahmavarta to an adjacent area southeast of it known as Brahmarisihidesha ({{Lang-sa|ब्रह्मर्षिदेश|translit=Brahmarṣideśa}}).{{efn|Translated as "Land of Brahmin sages".<ref name="Scharfe" />}}<ref>{{cite book |title=A Brief History of India |first=Alain |last=Daniélou |authorlink=Alain Daniélou |others=Trans. Hurry, Kenneth F. |publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co |year=2003 |origyear=1971 |isbn=978-1-59477-794-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofin00dani |url-access=registration |pages=[https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofin00dani/page/55 55]–56}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Brahmarshidesha, Brahmarṣideśa: 6 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/brahmarshidesha |website=Wisdom Library |access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref> Again, some sources consider Brahmarisihidesh a to be synonymous with Brahmavarta.<ref name="Scharfe" /><ref>{{cite book |title=The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan |first1=Bridget |last1=Allchin |first2=Raymond |last2=Allchin |authorlink1=Bridget Allchin |authorlink2=Raymond Allchin |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-52128-550-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r4s-YsP6vcIC&pg=PA306 |page=306}}</ref>
Seal dated to [[Gupta Empire|Gupta period]] with inscription <nowiki>'Brahma Varta''</nowiki> was excavated from Purana Qila, Delhi.<ref>[https://asi.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Merge%20Final%20IAR%202013-14.pdf INDIAN ARCHAEOLOGY 2013-14 – A REVIEW]</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Brahmarshi]]

== References ==
'''Notes'''
{{notelist}}
'''Citations'''
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Locations in Hindu mythology]]

Brahmavarta - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 16:11, 29 August 2023