प्राक्पृथोरिह नैवैषा पुरग्रामादिकल्पना ।
यथासुखं वसन्ति स्म तत्र तत्राकुतोभयाः ॥३२॥

prÄk pá¹›thor iha naivaiá¹£Ä
pura-grÄmÄdi-kalpanÄ
yathÄ-sukhaá¹ vasanti sma
tatra tatrÄkutobhayÄḥ

 prÄk - before; pá¹›thoḥ - King Pá¹›thu; iha - on this planet; na - never; eva - certainly; eá¹£Ä - this; pura - of towns; grÄma-Ädi - of villages, etc.; kalpanÄ - planned arrangement; yathÄ - as; sukham - convenient; vasanti sma - lived; tatra tatra - here and there; akutaḥ-bhayÄḥ - without hesitation.


Text

Before the reign of King Pá¹›thu there was no planned arrangement for different cities, villages, pasturing grounds, etc. Everything was scattered, and everyone constructed his residential quarters according to his own convenience. However, from the time of King Pá¹›thu, plans were made for towns and villages.

Purport

From this statement it appears that town and city planning is not new but has been coming down since the time of King Pá¹›thu. In India we can see regular planning methods evident in very old cities. In ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam there are many descriptions of such ancient cities. Even five thousand years ago, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s capital, DvÄrakÄ, was well planned, and similar other cities — MathurÄ and HastinÄpura (now New Delhi) — were also well planned. Thus the planning of cities and towns is not a modern innovation but was existing in bygone ages.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Fourth Canto, Eighteenth Chapter, of the ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, entitled “Pá¹›thu MahÄrÄja Milks the Earth Planet.â€