Kavyamimamsa of Rajasekhara (Study)
by Debabrata Barai | 2014 | 105,667 words
This page relates ‘Region of Dakshinapatha (southern part)’ of the English study on the Kavyamimamsa of Rajasekhara: a poetical encyclopedia from the 9th century dealing with the ancient Indian science of poetics and rhetoric (also know as alankara-shastra). The Kavya-mimamsa is written in eighteen chapters representing an educational framework for the poet (kavi) and instructs him in the science of applied poetics for the sake of making literature and poetry (kavya).
Part 8.5 - Region of Dakṣiṇāpatha (southern part)
Dakṣiṇāpatha or southern-part region is situated in the lower part of Bhāratavarṣa.
In this region is consists by the countries of:
- Mahārāṣṭra,
- Māhiṣaka,
- Aśmaka,
- Vidarbha,
- Kuntala,
- Krathakaiśika,
- Sūrpāraka,
- Kāñcī,
- Kerala,
- Kāvera,
- Murala,
- Vanavāsaka,
- Siṃhala,
- Coda,
- Daṇḍaka,
- Pāṇṇḍya,
- Pallava,
- Gāṅga,
- Nāśikya,
- Kauṅkaṇa,
- Kollagiri and
- Vallara.
In the geographical data of Purāṇa seen all these country names. In the Purāṇa the country Murala, Nasikya and Sūrpāraka etc. are included in the south-west region. The Purāṇa conceived the Dakṣināpatha as that part of India peninsula, which lies south of the crests of Satpura-Mahadeo-Maikal ranges and to the western and southern, limits of Mahānadi Basin.[1]
In the Kerala country mentioned by Rājaśekhara corresponds in the Purāṇa and the Mahiṣaka and Kuntaḷa belong to the modern Karṇāṭaka state of Southern India. The Mahiṣaka country corresponds to the southern region of Karṇāṭaka. Therefore the Aśmaka and Vidarbhā are on the basin of the river Godāvarī. Vidarbhā is situated in the modern Mahārāṣṭra and Pāṇḍya is well known country in the Tāmilnādu.
The mountain ranges of Dakṣināpatha are:
- Vindhya,
- Mahenda,
- Mākla,
- Pāla,
- Mañjira,
- Sahāya and
- Śrīparvata.
C.f.
“vindhyadakṣiṇapādamahendramalayamekapālamañjarasahyaśrīparvatādayaḥ parvatāḥ |”
- Kāvyamīmāṃsā of Rājaśekhara: Ch-XVII, Pp- 93-94
There are the rivers names are:
- Narmadā,
- Tāpī,
- Kṛṣṇavenī,
- Vañjurā,
- Tuṅgabhadrā,
- Tamraparṇī,
- Utpalavatī and
- Rāvaṇagaṅgā.
C.f.
“narmadātāpīpayoṣṇīgodāvarīkāverībhaimaramarathīveṇākṛṣṇaveṇāvañjurātuṅgabhadrātāmraparṇyutpalāvatīrāvaṇa
gaṅgādyā nadyaḥ |”- Kāvyamīmāṃsā of Rājaśekhara: Ch-XVII, Pp- 94
The famous products of this Dakṣināpatha (southern part) are:
- Sandal,
- Cardamom,
- Peper,
- Jewels and
- Pearls.
Here it is noticeable that the description of Kāvyamīmāṃsā and Purāṇa about Dakṣināpatha are very much similar.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
S.M.Ali: Pp-152