Mithila

Mithila is the ancient region identified in the poem’s explanatory notes with Videha, a kingdom associated with Behar and modern Tirhoot. Rather than depicting the city or region in a detailed scene in the cited passages, the notes place it within a wider geography defined by rivers and neighboring territories.

Identity and Historical Identification

An explanatory note equates Videha with ancient Mithila and locates it in the province of Behar, identifying modern Tirhoot as its later geographical counterpart. This gives Mithila a regional identity in the poem’s geographical apparatus: it is connected to Videha, not presented here through a description of its buildings, court, or inhabitants.

Rivers and Regional Boundaries

A separate geographical annotation places Videha east of the Kauśikí River. It describes the river as flowing from the Himalaya toward the Ganges, making the watercourse a point of orientation for the region. Mithila’s position is therefore conveyed through a network of named landscapes rather than through a direct account of travel or settlement.

Place in the Narrative Geography

These references make Mithila part of the poem’s broader map of kingdoms and natural boundaries. The notes connect an ancient regional name to a later geographical designation while also situating Videha in relation to the Kauśikí River and the Ganges. In the cited material, this is a geographic and editorial identification, not a narrated episode set in Mithila.