Devanagari
मैत्रेय उवाच
अथादीक्षत राजा तु हयमेधशतेन स: ।
ब्रह्मावर्ते मनो: क्षेत्रे यत्र प्राची सरस्वती ॥ १ ॥
Verse text
maitreya uvāca
athādīkṣata rājā tu
hayamedha-śatena saḥ
brahmāvarte manoḥ kṣetre
yatra prācī sarasvatī
Synonyms
maitreyaḥ uvāca
—
the sage Maitreya said
;
atha
—
thereafter
;
adīkṣata
—
took initiation
;
rājā
—
the King
;
tu
—
then
;
haya
—
horse
;
medha
—
sacrifices
;
śatena
—
to perform one hundred
;
saḥ
—
he
;
brahmāvarte
—
known as Brahmāvarta
;
manoḥ
—
of Svāyambhuva Manu
;
kṣetre
—
in the land
;
yatra
—
where
;
prācī
—
eastern
;
sarasvatī
—
the river named Sarasvatī .
Translation
The great sage Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, King Pṛthu initiated the performance of one hundred horse sacrifices at the spot where the river Sarasvatī flows towards the east. This piece of land is known as Brahmāvarta, and it was controlled by Svāyambhuva Manu.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Maitreya said: At Manu’s place called Brahmāvarta where the Sarasvatī River turns east, Pṛthu prepared to perform a hundred horse sacrifices.
The Nineteenth Chapter describes how Indra, stealing the sacrificial horse, created heretics, and how Brahmā stopped the priests from killing him.
The place made by the devatās between the Sarasvatī and Dṛśadvatī Rivers is called Brahmāvarta. Haya-medha-śatena means “for the purpose of performing a hundred horse sacrifices.”