Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.18.32

prāk pṛthor iha naivaiṣā

pura-grāmādi-kalpanā

yathā-sukhaḿ vasanti sma

tatra tatrākutobhayāḥ

SYNONYMS

prāk — before; pṛthoḥ — King Pṛthu; iha — on this planet; na — never; eva — certainly; eṣā — this; pura — of towns; grāma-ādi — of villages, etc.; kalpanā — planned arrangement; yathā — as; sukham — convenient; vasanti sma — lived; tatra tatra — here and there; akutaḥ-bhayāḥ — without hesitation.

TRANSLATION

Before the reign of King Pṛthu there was no planned arrangement for different cities, villages, pasturing grounds, etc. Every thing was scattered, and everyone constructed his residential quarters according to his own convenience. However, since King Pṛthu 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 Pṛthu. In India we can see regular planning methods evident in very old cities. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are many descriptions of such ancient cities. Even five thousand years ago, Lord Kṛṣṇa's capital, Dvārakā, was well planned, and similar other cities — Mathurā and Hastināpura (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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Pṛthu Mahārāja Milks the Earth Planet."

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness