ब्रह्मावर्तं कुरुक्षेत्रं मत्स्यान्सारस्वतानथ ॥३४॥
मरुधन्वमतिक्रम्य सौवीराभीरयोः परान् ।
आनर्तान्भार्गवोपागाच्छ्रान्तवाहो मनाग्विभुः ॥३५॥
kuru-jÄá¹…gala-pÄñcÄlÄn
śūrasenÄn sayÄmunÄn
brahmÄvartaá¹ kuruká¹£etraá¹
matsyÄn sÄrasvatÄn atha
maru-dhanvam atikramya
sauvÄ«rÄbhÄ«rayoḥ parÄn
ÄnartÄn bhÄrgavopÄgÄc
chrÄntavÄho manÄg vibhuḥ
kuru-jÄá¹…gala - the province of Delhi; pÄñcÄlÄn - part of the province Punjab; śūrasenÄn - part of the province of Uttar Pradesh; sa - with; yÄmunÄn - the districts on the bank of the YamunÄ; brahmÄvartam - part of northern Uttar Pradesh; kuruká¹£etram - the place where the battle was fought; matsyÄn - the province MatsyÄ; sÄrasvatÄn - part of Punjab; atha - and so on; maru - Rajasthan, the land of deserts; dhanvam - Madhya Pradesh, where water is very scanty; ati-kramya - after passing; sauvÄ«ra - Saurastra; ÄbhÄ«rayoḥ - part of Gujarat; parÄn - western side; ÄnartÄn - the province of DvÄrakÄ; bhÄrgava - O Åšaunaka; upÄgÄt - overtaken by; Å›rÄnta - fatigue; vÄhaḥ - the horses; manÄk vibhuḥ - slightly, because of the long journey.
O Åšaunaka, the Lord then proceeded towards KurujÄá¹…gala, PÄñcÄlÄ, ŚūrasenÄ, the land on the bank of the river YamunÄ, BrahmÄvarta, Kuruká¹£etra, Matsya, SÄrasvata, the province of the desert and the land of scanty water. After crossing these provinces He gradually reached the SauvÄ«ra and Ä€bhÄ«ra provinces, then, west of these, reached DvÄrakÄ at last.
The provinces passed over by the Lord in those days were differently named, but the direction given is sufficient to indicate that He traveled through Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Saurastra and Gujarat and at last reached His home province at DvÄrakÄ. We do not gain any profit simply by researching the analogous provinces of those days up to now, but it appears that the desert of Rajasthan and the provinces of scanty water like Madhya Pradesh were present even five thousand years ago. The theory of soil experts that the desert developed in recent years is not supported by the statements of BhÄgavatam. We may leave the matter for expert geologists to research because the changing universe has different phases of geological development. We are satisfied that the Lord has now reached His own province, DvÄrakÄ-dhÄma, from the Kuru provinces. Kuruká¹£etra continues to exist since the Vedic age, and it is sheer foolishness when interpreters ignore or deny the existence of Kuruká¹£etra.
