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296
Mehta
(ii) The poetic descriptions are not academic studies, so they
represent the poet's vision of the towns and hence this
literature also suffer from this limitation. (iii) Archaeological studies are also limited.
With these limitations the study is capable of throwing good light on some features of the towns and cities that are discussed below. Descriptions of Urban Centres :
The descriptions of the Aupapātika and Rayapaseniya are identical, and the Angas take them as standard. The Jnätädharmakathā 5. 2, Antagadadasa 1.8 and the Samavāyānga 12 refer to the towns that give some ideas of their plan.
The description of the Aupapätika and the Rāyapaseniya indicate the existence of 42 notions of the towns. These notions are tabulated here :
Notions
Statements of Notions Percentage (Approx)
2.4 9.5 19.00
1. Name of the town 2. Description of the region 3. Peace and Prosperity of
the region 4. Description of the town.
(a) Moat, Fort and Gate (b) Buildings (c) Roads and crossings (d) Traffic
(e) Markets 5. Water resources 6. People 7. Praise of the Town
Total
14.00 5.00 5.00
9.5
5.00 5.00
9.5
16.1 100.00 (Approx)
42
The table indicates that the description includes not only the name of the town, but also, along with various aspects of its descriptions, it contains information about the region also.
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