[Manish Jain]

[ वीथिविधानम् ]

सर्वेषां ग्रामाणां मङ्गलवीथ्यावृता” बहिस्त्वबहिः । ब्रह्मस्थानं ह्युदितं तस्मिन् देवालयं तु वा पीठम् ॥ ३५ ॥

एकद्वित्रिचतुर्भिः पञ्चभिरपि कार्मुकैश्च मार्गततिः । प्राक्प्रत्यग्गतमार्गा ऋतुदण्डमहापथाख्यास्ते ॥ ३६ ।। 50 मध्यमयुक्ता वीथी ब्रह्माख्या सैव नाभिः स्यात् । द्वारसमेता वीथी राजाख्या च द्विपार्श्वतः क्षुद्रा ।। ३७ ।। सर्वाः कुट्टिमकाख्या मङ्गलवीथी तथैव रथमार्गम्" । तिर्यग्द्वारसमेता नाराचपथा इति ख्याता ।। ३८ ।। उत्तरदिङ्मुखमार्गाः क्षुद्रार्गलवामनाख्यपथाः2। ग्रामावृता मङ्गलवीथिकाख्या पुरावृता या जनवीथिका स्यात् । तयोस्तु रथ्याभिहिताभिधा स्यात् ” पुरातनैरन्यतमेष्वथैवम् ॥ ३९ ३ ||

Streets

The street on the internal or external periphery of all villages is called mangalavitbi; a temple or an altar is installed at the centre which is called the place of Brahma.

The width of a street is one, two, three, four or five poles¹8 but those 18 which traverse (the village) from east to west are six poles (wide) and are called 'main streets. The street (which encircles) the middle of the village is called brahmavithi and is the 'navel' (of the village).20 The roads leading to the gates are called rajavithi and those which flank them are the alleys,21 It is said that all these streets are called 'paved (streets)¹22 but the mangalavithi is said to be the 'street for the (temple) chariot'. The streets leading to the secondary gates are called nărăca; those going towards the north are called kṣudra, argala and vămana 23

39b The street which encircles a village is called mangalavithi and that which encircles a town, janavithi; both are designated as 'chariot streets (rathya) but, according to the ancients, this expression applies to all the other streets too,24