[INDOLOGY] Mleccha

[Fitzgerald, James]

Dear colleagues,

It is pertinent to this discussion that there seems to have been a western
locus of Prāgjyotiṣa as well as an eastern one. It is mentioned in a
portion of Nārāyaṇa's prophecy of future interventions in the terrestrial
world at MBh 12.326.82-85, which episodes have associations with western
India.

I quote: “At the final juncture of the Dvāpara and Kali Ages, there will be
an appearance of me in Mathurā because of Kaṃsa. [82] Having killed
a large number of Dānavas then, who were thorns to the Gods, I shall make
Kuśasthalī, which is the city Dvārakā, my dwelling. [83] Dwelling
in that city, I shall kill that annoyer of Aditi Naraka, son of Earth, and
Mura and the Dānava Pīṭha.[84] Having killed the preeminent
Dānavas, I shall lead the delightful city of Prāgjyotiṣa, which possesses
prolific riches, to Kuśasthalī. [85]"

In an endnote to Kuśasthalī, I write: "326.85. Prāgjyotiṣa was the capital
city of the Asura Naraka and the locus of Kṛṣṇa’s killing him (HV
91.53–57). His “leading” Prāgjyotiṣa to Kuśasthalī likely refers to what is
described at HV 97.1: “The road to the town of Prāgjyotisha has been made
safe once again” (trans. Brodbeck). This entire HV śloka is identical to
MBh 3.13.26, though the context in the MBh is one of listing great deeds of
Kṛṣṇa. MBh 2.13.13 identifies Naraka (and Mura as well) as Greek rulers
(yavanādhipau) who were under the rule of Bhagadatta, “a king of unlimited
power, who ruled in the West like Varuṇa.” It seems unlikely that Naraka’s
Prāgjyotiṣa is the same as the Prāgjyotiṣa in the far northeast of the
subcontinent, in modern day Assam, which is
generally considered to be where the Prāgjyotiṣa governed by the
elephant-riding Bhagadatta was located. Bhagadatta is described at MBh
5.4.11d as “dwelling by the eastern ocean.” At the same time, it was in the
far north that Arjuna encountered and subdued Bhagadatta in the digvijaya
of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rājasūya, 2.23.13–26. It would seem that in addition to
the far eastern Prāgjyotiṣa, there was another one, the “home of the
western Asuras” (Hopkins, Epic Mythology, 257; see too 50–51), and that
Bhagadatta came somehow to be identified with both."

Best, Jim Fitzgerald

On Tue, Aug 25, 2026 at 8:55 AM Martin Straube via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear Patrick,
>
> As usual, M. Mayrhofer, Etymologisches Worterbuch des Altindoarischen, is
> an indispensable source for linguistic matters (see vol. II, p. 389).
> Indian primary sources regarding mlecchas and other foreigners have been
> exhaustively compiled and discussed in K. Karttunen, Yonas And Yavanas In
> Indian Literature, Helsinki 2015 [= Studia Orientalia, 116]. Check the
> index and the searchable file which can be downloaded from here:
> https://journal.fi/store/issue/view/4184
>
> Best
> Martin Straube
>
>
>
> Patrick Olivelle via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> schrieb am
> Montag, 24. August 2026 um 14:31:
>
> > Dear All:
> >
> > A colleague in India who is not a member of this list asked me for
> secondary works, as well as primary sources, for the concept of “mleccha”
> in ancient India. The work by Parasher-Sen is well known. But are there
> others? With thanks and best wishes,
> >
> > Patrick
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
>
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