- Dakshinapatha
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Ancient Buddhist and Hindu texts use the term Dakshinapatha as a name for both the southern high road of the Indian subcontinent, and for the region lying south of Majjhimdesa or middle India. It is derived from the two Sanskrit roots dakshina for south, and patha for road.
The first reference to Dakshinapatha occurs in the Rigveda where it refers to the region of exile. In the opinion of several scholars,[who?] this means the South beyond the limits of the Saptasindhu-- the Punjab region of the culture of the Rigveda.
Dakshinapatha is referred to by Pāṇini (IV.2.98). Baudhyana mentions Dakshinapatha or Dakshinatya in association with Saurashtra.
Jataka and Vinaya Pitaka use the name Dakshinapatha coupled with Avanti as in Avantidakshinapatha where it seems to refer to the janapada of Avanti, and implies its location in Dakshinapatha.
In the Mahabharata, Dakshinapatha is placed beyond Avanti and the Vindhyas, and to south of the kingdom of Vidarbha and southern Kosala, the latter being located on the banks of Wardha and Mahanadi.
When Rama set out from Ayodhya into his voluntary exile, he took a route which extended from Ayodhya into Dakshinapatha or the southern direction.
The Sutta Nipata commentary seems to explain Dakshinapatha as the road leading to the Dakshinajanapada, the latter name referring to a Janapada located to south of the Ganges. In the same Sutta Nipata, the name Dakshinapatha also refers to a remote settlement located on the banks of the upper Godavari.
A Kosala Brahmin named Bavari had left Savathi (capital of Kosala) to set up his hermitage at the junction of river Mula and Godavari, midway between the kingdoms of Assaka and Mulaka (in modern Maharashtra), which place has been noted as lying in Dakshinapatha..
In Dighvijayaparva of Mahabharata, Dakshinpatha is distinguished from the Pandya country to the south.
According to Puranic accounts, the janapadas of Asmaka, Mulaka, Vaidarbha, Kalinga, Andhra, Pundra, Pulinda, Dandaka, Kuntala, Kerala, Pandya, Chola and others lay in the Dakshinapatha.
In the Petavatthu commentary, the Damila i.e. Dravida country is included in the Dakhinápatha.
On their way to Rajagriha, the pupils of the ascetic Bavari from Dakshinapatha (Godavari) had followed a route which led them through Pratishthana (modern Paithan), Mahesvar, Ujjaini, Gonaddha (Gond country), Bhilsa (Bhil country), Kosam, Saketa (Faizabad), Savathi, Setavya, Kapilavastu, Kusinara, Pava, Bhoganagar, Vaisali and then to Rajagriha (in Magadha).
It is stated that Dakshinapatha was originally the name of the high road which led southwards, and the settlement at the end of this high road on the banks of the Godavari, being also called Dakshinapatha. At later time, this southern high road (Dakshinapatha) lent its name to the whole region through which it passed. Thus, initially, Dakshinapatha, as high road, ran between Rajgriha and Pratishthana. Later, on expansion of Hindu culture deep into southern India, it also extended further into the south running parallel to west-coast and following probably through Bijapur, Bengaluru and Madura to either Rameshwaram or to Kanyakumari, the southern tip of India.
In Gupta period, Dakshinaptha as a region extended from the land of the Kosalas to the kingdom of Kanchi. In later times however, it had embraced the whole of Trans-Vindhya India from Setu (Rama's Bridge) to the Narmada. Ancient Dakshinapatha later gave its name to modern Deccan or Dekkan. The Dakshinapatha was famous in literature as the birthplace of strong bullocks. It also held a home to large number of ascetics.
From the above, it is clear that, in the earlier literature at any rate, the word Dakshinapatha did not mean it initially comprised the whole country in the modern word Dekkhan or Deccan.
Dakshinapatha should be understood in relation to Uttarapatha the northern high road and later the northern division of Puranic Jambudvipa.
The philosophies of the easterners were disseminated precisely by the intercourse that went on along the Uttarapatha and the Dakshinpatha high routes. These were also the high roads which the horse-dealers from Kamboja of Uttarapatha had followed for trading horses with southern India and Sri Lanka.
See also
- Uttarapatha
- South India Kingdoms
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