School education ensures us to have a mental picture of India map and we are capable of locating where is Punjab or Tamil Nadu. Yet we do not have a mental picture of where are those janapadas (kingdoms) mentioned in our Veda, Ithiāsa, Purāanas are located. An ordinary person is unable to locate where is Pānchala the kingdom of Pānchali or where is Gāndhara, the kingdom of Gāndhari. Yet there is enough information to create a digital map of Bhāratavarsha in our ancient texts.

This talk is about familiarizing the reader to recognize the janapadas mentioned in the Mahābhārata both the popular ones like Kuru, Pānchāla and rare references of Chīna, Darada and Kāmboja.