Markandeya Purana

योजनार्धार्धविष्कम्भमष्टभागायतं पुरम् । प्रागुदक्प्रवणं शस्तं शुद्धवंशबहिर्गमम्॥४९.

A city should have a diameter of half a yojana, and be one-eighth as wide as it is long, sloping eastward or northward, and with pure bamboo exits.

तदर्धेन तथा खेटं तत्पादेन च कर्वटम् । न्यूनं द्रोणीमुखं तस्मादन्तभागेन चोच्यते॥४९.

A small fortified town is half that size, a hamlet is a quarter of that, and a mortar-shaped settlement is less than that, being measured by its end portion.

प्राकारपरिखाहीनां पुरं खर्वटमुच्यते । शाखानगरकञ्चान्यन्मन्त्रिसामन्तभुक्तिमत्॥४९.

A city or hamlet without walls or moats is called a kharvaṭa; a branch-town is another type, inhabited by ministers, vassals, and landholders.

तथा शूद्रजनप्रायाः स्वसमृद्धिकृषीबलाः । क्षेत्रोपभोग्यभूमध्ये वसतिर्ग्रामसंज्ञिता॥४९.

Likewise, those mostly inhabited by Śūdras, who are prosperous in their own right and skilled in agriculture, and situated amid arable land, are called villages.

अन्यस्मान्नगरादेर्या कार्यमुद्दिश्य मानवैः । क्रियते वसतिः सा वै विज्ञेया वसतिर्नरैः॥४९.

Any other settlement established by people for a particular purpose, apart from cities and the like, should be known as a residence by men.

दुष्टप्रायो विना क्षेत्रैः परभूमिचरो बली । ग्राम एव द्रमीसंज्ञो राजवल्लभसंश्रयः॥४९.

A settlement called a hamlet, mostly lawless, without fields, and occupied by powerful men on foreign land, is a refuge for those favored by the king.

शकटारूढभाण्डैश्च गोपालैर्विपणं विना । गोसमूहैस्तथा घोषो यत्रेच्छाभूमिकेतनः॥४९.

A ghoṣa is where cowherds, with their goods loaded on carts, without a marketplace, and with herds of cows, dwell wherever they wish.

त एवं नगरादींस्तु कृत्वा वासार्थमात्मनः । निकेतनानि द्वन्द्वानां चक्रुरावसथाय वै॥४९.

Thus, having made cities and the rest for their own dwelling, they also built residences for pairs of families to live in.

गृहाकारा यथा पूर्वं तेषामासन्नहीरुहाः । तथा संस्मृत्य तत्सर्वं चक्रुर्वेश्मानि ताः प्रजाः॥४९.

As before, their houses were built near trees; remembering all this, those people constructed their dwellings accordingly.

वृक्षस्यैवङ्गताः शाखास्तथैवञ्चापरी गताः । नताश्चैवोन्नताश्चैव तद्वच्छाखाः प्रचक्रिरे॥४९.

Just as the branches of a tree grow in various directions, some downward and some upward, so too were the branches described.

याः शाखाः कल्पवृक्षाणां पूर्वमासन् द्विजोत्तम । ता एव शाखा गेहानां शालात्वं तेन तासु तत्॥४९.

Those branches which once belonged to the wish-fulfilling trees, O best of twice-born, became the branches of homes, thus they acquired the nature of timber.

कृत्वा द्वन्द्वोपघातन्ते वार्तोपायमचिन्तयन् । नष्टेषु मधुना सार्धं कल्पवृक्षेष्वशेषतः॥४९.

After suffering mutual destruction, they considered means of livelihood, for when the honey was lost, the wish-fulfilling trees were entirely gone.

विषादव्याकुलास्ता वै प्रजास्तृष्णाक्षुधार्दिताः । ततः प्रादुर्बभौ तासां सिद्धिस्त्रेतामुखे तदा॥४९.

Distressed and overwhelmed by sorrow, the people were afflicted by thirst and hunger; then, at the beginning of the Treta age, success appeared for them.

वार्तास्वसाधिता ह्यन्या वृष्टिस्तासां निकामतः । तासां वृष्ट्युदकानीह यानि निम्नगतानि वै॥४९.

When other means of livelihood failed, abundant rain came for them; from that rain, the waters that flowed into low places became available.

वृष्ट्यावरुद्धैरभवत् स्त्रोतः खातानि निम्नगाः । ये पुरस्तादपां स्तोका आपन्नाः पृथिवीतले॥४९.

With the streams blocked by rain, channels formed in the lowlands; those small amounts of water that had previously reached the earth's surface.

ततो भूमेश्च संयोगादोषध्यस्तास्तदा भवन् । अफालकृष्टाश्चानुप्ता ग्राम्यारण्याश्चतुर्दश॥४९.

Then, from the union of earth, plants arose; fourteen kinds, both cultivated and wild, grew without being sown or plowed.

ऋतुपुष्पफलाश्चैव वृक्षा गुल्माश्च जज्ञिरे । प्रादुर्भावस्तु त्रेतायामाद्योऽयमौषधस्य तु॥४९.

Trees and shrubs bearing flowers and fruits according to the seasons were produced; and this was the first appearance of medicinal plants in the Treta age.

तेनौषधेन वर्तन्ते प्रजास्त्रेतायुगे मुने । रागलोभौ समासाद्य प्रजाश्चाकस्मिकौ तदा॥४९.

By means of those medicinal plants, people lived in the Treta age, O sage; but then, suddenly, desire and greed arose among them.

ततस्ताः पर्यग्वह्णन्त नदीक्षेत्राणि पर्वतान् । वृक्षगुल्मौषधीश्चैवमात्मन्यायाद्यथाबलम्॥४९.

Because of this, they appropriated rivers, fields, mountains, trees, shrubs, and medicinal plants for themselves, each according to their strength and means.

तेन दोषेण ता नेशुरौषध्यो मिषतां द्विज । अग्रसद् भूर्युगपत्तास्तदौषध्यो महामते॥४९.

Due to that fault, O twice-born, the medicinal plants did not thrive; many were lost simultaneously, O wise one.

पुनस्तासु प्रणष्टासु विभ्रान्तास्ताः पुनः प्रजाः । ब्रह्माणं शरणं जग्मुः क्षुधार्ताः परमेष्ठिनम्॥४९.

When those were again destroyed, the people, confused and afflicted by hunger, sought refuge in Brahma, the supreme lord.

स चापि तत्त्वतो ज्ञात्वा तदा ग्रस्तां वसुन्धराम् । वत्सं कृत्वा सुमेरुन्तु दुदोह भगवान् विभुः॥४९.

And he, understanding the situation, seeing the earth consumed, made Mount Sumeru the calf and milked her, the Lord, the mighty one.

दुग्धेयं गौस्तदा तेन शस्यानि पृथिवीतले । जज्ञिरे तानि बीजानि ग्राम्यारण्यास्तु ताः पुनः॥४९.

Thus, the earth was milked by him, and grains appeared upon the surface; those seeds, both cultivated and wild, were produced again.

ओषध्यः फलपाकान्ता गणाः सप्तदशा स्मृताः । व्रीहयश्च यवाश्चैव गोधूमा अणवस्तिलाः॥४९.

The groups of medicinal plants that ripen with fruit are said to be seventeen; rice, barley, wheat, millet, and sesame.

प्रियङ्गवो ह्युदाराश्च कोरदूषाः सचीनकाः । माषा मुद्गा मसूराश्च निष्पावाः सकुलत्थकाः॥४९.

Priyangu, udara, koradusha, and chinaka; masha, mudga, masura, nishpava, and kulattha.

आढकाश्चणकाश्चैव गणाः सप्तदश स्मृताः । इत्येता ओषधीनान्तु ग्राम्याणां जातयः पुरा॥४९.

Adhaka and chanaka, making up seventeen groups; thus these are the ancient varieties of cultivated medicinal plants.

ओषध्यो जज्ञियाश्चैव ग्राम्यारण्याश्चतुर्दश । व्रीहयश्च यवाश्चैव गोधूमा अणवस्तिलाः॥४९.

Fourteen kinds of medicinal plants, both cultivated and wild, were produced; rice, barley, wheat, millet, and sesame.

प्रियङ्गुसप्तमा ह्येते अष्टमास्तु कुलत्थकाः । श्यामाकास्त्वथ नीवारा यत्तिला सगवेधुकाः॥४९.

Priyangu is the seventh, and kulattha is the eighth; then come shyamaka, nivara, yava, tila, and gavedhuka.

कुरुविन्दा मर्कटकास्तथा वेणुयवाश्च ये । ग्राम्यारण्याः स्मृता ह्येता ओषध्यश्च चतुर्दश॥४९.

Kuruvinda, markataka, and also venu-yava—these are the fourteen cultivated and wild plants that are remembered.