Page:The history of caste in India.pdf/90

 different spots in India. The land between the divine rivers Sarasvatī and Drishadvatī is according to him the holiest of all and is called Brahmāvarta. It is a land of the standard castes. The land of Kurus, Matsyas, Pānchalas, Shūrasenakas ranks immediately after Brahmāvarta and the usages of the Brāhmanas of that place are standard and authoritative. He then speaks of Madhyadesha or the midland which contains all the land between Prayāga and the disappeared river Sarasvati and between Vindhya and Himālaya, a territory which includes the countries just mentioned (JAOS, xix). He then proceeds to define the Aryāvarta, or the land of the āryas, as the land between Himalaya and Vindhya, extending as far as the eastern and the western oceans; the significance of this name of the territory being that it is a place fit for the performance of the sacrifices, and that all the twice-born should seek to dwell there. He adds (ii, 17-24) that the regions other than this are the country of the Mlechchas or barbarians, where only Shūdras distressed for subsistence may dwell.

Let us first realize what all this means. First of all he draws a sharp line around the territory of Madhya-desha to separate it from all other territory, and also between the eastern and western divisions of it. It is true that he assigns a higher status to the inhabitants of the western part, but he deems the customs and usages of Brāhmanas of the other part just as good or even better to be taken as a standard. He thus virtually sets up a doctrine that the regions throughout which the Brāhmanas may claim that their conduct, customs, and usages are standard are much more ex-