Chapter 52 - Geography of the World (bhuvanakośa)

Sūta said:

1-2. O best of Brahmins, on. every sub-continent there are many holy rivers always full of water and originating from great lakes. They flow in all four directions: east, south, north and west.

3. The storehouse of water in the sky which is called Soma (moon) is the support of all living beings. To Devas, it is the receptacle of nectar.

4-8. From this has originated the river of auspicious waters and it flows in the firmament. With nectarine waters it functions through the seventh path of the wind. This river follows the path of the luminaries. It is frequented by groups of luminaries, and by thousands and crores of stars of the sky.^[1] Just like the moon it also goes round and round every day.

Mahāmeru, the tender sporting ground of Śrīkaṇṭha is eighty four thousand yojanas high. Lord Śiva is seated there together with Umā and the chiefs of his Gaṇas and also sports^[2] about there for a long time. This auspicious river of holy waters circumambulates the mountain Meru.

9. With its waters agitated by the wind and by its own velocity, the river flows down on all the four inner peaks of the Meru.

10. After going beyond all the mountains partially it enters the great sea at the behest of lord Śiva.

11. There are hundreds and thousands of rivers branching out from this, which flow through all the sub-continents and continents as well as the mountains therein.

12a. Since the Gaṅgā has gone to the earth from the firmament, there are innumerable small rivers.

12b-13a. In the Ketumāla subcontinent men are dark-coloured.^[3] They subsist on jack fruits. Their women have the lustre of blue lotuses. Their life span is ten thousand years.

13b-15a. In the Bhadrāśva sub-continent women are white-coloured, resembling the rays of the moon. They have their staple diet of black mangoes. They are devoid of anguish and agony and fond of sexual pleasures. Mentally meditating on Śiva they live upto ten thousand years. Like the Hiraṇmayas^[4] they have freely dedicated their minds to Īśvara.

15b-18. In the sub-continent Ramaṇaka, the living beings subsist on the fruits of the Nyagrodha (the holy fig tree). They live up to eleven thousand five hundred years. They are all white-complexioned and engrossed in the meditation on Śiva. The highly blessed Hairaṇamayas are those dwelling in the forest of Hiraṇmaya. They live upto twelve thousand five hundred years mainly subsisting on the Aśvattha (holy fig tree) fruits. They have also dedicated their minds freely to the lord like the Hiraṇmayas.

19. The Kurus in Kuruvarṣa are those who have fallen down there from the heavenly world. All of them are born, by copulation. They are fond of milk^[5] and live on milk diet.

20. They love one another and have qualities similar to those of the Cakravāka birds. They are devoid of ailments and sorrow and perpetually seek happiness.

21. They live up to fourteen thousand five hundred years. They have great virility, but do not associate with other women.

22. All the residents of the Kuruvarṣa like the heavendwellers die simultaneously. They are delighted and flourishing. They take in all kinds of cooked rice and nectar.

23. They shine always like the moon; they have perpetual youth; they are dark in colour in their bodies and always wear ornaments.

24. Among all the sub-continents in the Jambūdvīpa the sub-continent of Kuruvarṣa is extremely splendid. There is a magnificent palace of the moon-crested lord Śiva. It has the lustre of the moon.

25. In the sub-continent Bhāratavarṣa^[6] men are auspicious and their longevity depends on their Karmans. They are said to live for a hundred years. They are of different colours and their bodies are small.

26. They are engaged in the worship of different Devas; they experience the fruits of different kinds of Karmans; they are richly endowed with knowledge and with different materials. They are weak and have very little pleasures.

27-28. Some of them have gone to Indradvīpa^[7] and some to Kaseruka. Others have gone to Tāmradvīpa and some to the country Gabhastimat. Some have gone to Nāgadvīpa, some to Saumyadvīpa, and others to the Dvīpa of Gandharvas as well as of Varuṇa. Some of them are Mlecchas and Pulindas born of different castes.

29. In the Eastern parts of the Dvīpa are the Kirātas; in the western extremities the Yavanas; in the middle the Brahmins Kṣatriyas and Vaiśyas. The Śūdras are everywhere.^[8]

30-31. They are established there maintaining themselves by worship, warfare and business dealings (respectively). Mutual dealings in connection with the activities of the different castes are related only to virtue, wealth and love. They are interested in their own duties. The conception and pride in performing the duties of the various stages of life are maintained properly.

32. It is only here that human beings endeavour for heavenly pleasures and salvation. O leading sages, only here they pursue the duties specified for each yuga,^[9] not elsewhere.

33. In the sub-continent Kimpuruṣa men live up to ten thousand years. Men are golden-complexioned and women resemble the celestial damsels.

34. They are devoid of ailments and sorrow. They are all purified by meditations on Śiva. They have Sattva qualities and the lustre of gold. They live on Plakṣa fruits along with their wives.

35-37a. Men in the sub-continent Harivarṣa have complexion resembling gold. They are persons fallen from the world of Devas. They have divine forms and features in every respect. They worship lord Śiva. They imbibe the auspicious sugarcane-juice. Hence old age does not afflict them and they do not decay. They live upto ten thousand years.

37b-38. In the sub-continent Ilāvṛta that was mentioned by me as situated in the middle of the Dvīpa, the sun does not dlaze [blaze?] and men do not become old. There is no light in Ilāvṛta, neither the sun nor the moon nor the stars.

39. The people there have the lustre of lotuses. Their faces resemble the lotus. Their eyes are like the petals of the lotus. They have the fragrance of the petals of the lotus. They are purified by their meditation on Śiva.

40. The juice of the Jambū fruits constitutes their diet. They are sweet-scented. They have no duties to perform.^[10] They have come there from the world of Devas and have neither death nor old age.

41. In the divine sub-continent Ilāvṛta, the excellent men live their full span of life which is thirteen thousand years.

42. By drinking the juice of the Jambū fruits they are not afflicted by old age. They have neither hunger nor fatigue. They do not die a premature death.

43. The gold found there is called Jāmbūnada. It is the divine metal. It shines and resembles a glow-worm.

44. Thus the persons occupying the nine sub-continents have been recounted by me. Their colour, span of life, diet and other things have been succinctly mentioned and not in detail.

45-46. It should be known that the Gandharvas, and celestial nymphs reside in Hemakūṭa. Śeṣa, Vāsuki, Takṣaka and all others live in Niṣadha. The very strong Brāhmaṇas called Yājñikas live on sacrifices. They number thirty three thousands and they live happily on the mountain Nīla, full of lapis lazuli, the Siddhas and Brahmarṣis devoid of impurities.

47-51. The mountain Śveta is the homeland of the Daityas and Dānavas. The mountain Śṛṅgavān (Śṛṅgī) is the abode of Pitṛs. The Himavat is the abode of Yakṣas, goblins and lord Śiva. The lord is seen in all the mountains and forests. He is accompanied by Viṣṇu, Brahmā, Umā, Nandin and Gaṇas. In particular, lord Nīlalohita is seen on the mountains Nīla, Śveta, and Triśṛṅga^[11] perpetually together with the Siddhas, Devas and Pitṛs.

The Nīla is of the colour of lapis lazuli. The Śveta is white. The Hiraṇmaya has the colour of the feather of the peacock. The Triśṛṅga is golden in colour. All these lofty mountains are in the Jambūdvīpa.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The Purāṇas describe the three stages in the evolution of Gaṅgā: (i) It is a starry river (i.e. ākāśa-Gaṅgā the Milky Way) in the form of snow. ‘ii) As the snow falls on the high plateau of the Pamir (Meru) (v. 7) and also on the high ridges and ranges which surround and radiate from the Pamir region, it is still ‘snowy Gaṅgā’ (=hima-Gaṅgā). (iii) As snow melts, it divides into the four main rivers (v. 9) of Asia which radiate in different directions. The Gaṅgā at this stage becomes a stream, or rather streams of water. After passing through thousands of mountains, valleys, forest and caves, it falls into the southern sea (v. 10)

[2]:

Mark the archaic form ‘krīḍate’ in the ātmanepada for ‘krīḍati’ in the parasmaipada.

[3]:

kalāḥ=kṛṣṇavarṇa [kṛṣṇavarṇāḥ] Śivatoṣiṇī. of dark complexion.

[4]:

Hairaṇmaya [hairaṇmayāḥ]—residents of Hiraṇmaya Varṣa.

[5]:

Kṣīrin [kṣīriṇaḥ]—of milk-white complexion. Contrast with Kālāḥ V. 12.

[6]:

The glorification of Bhārata is one of the common, topics in the Purāṇas.

[7]:

Bhārata is one of the nine khaṇḍas of Jambūdvīpa; the other eight being Indradvīpa, Kaśerumān, Tāmravarṇa, Gabhastimān, Nāga, Saumya, Gandharva, and Varuṇa.

[8]:

The Purāṇas are conscious of the foreign tribes that surrounded Bhārata (cf. Matsya. 50.75-76) Mark, 57,8.). The Kirātas mentioned along the eastern limits are probably the uncivilized tribes of the forests and mountains with the Burmese type of features. The Yavanas in the west are Greeks originally and afterwards the Mohammedans.

[9]:

Since Bhārata alone is Karma-Bhūmi (land for performing action), the yuga-dharmas (duties pertaining to yugas) prevail only here. Cf. Viṣṇu cited in Śivatoṣiṇī.

[10]:

agnispanda [agnispandāḥ]. N.S. reads aniṣpanda [aniṣpandāḥ] (= dharmādiśūnyāḥ Śivatoṣiṇī).

[11]:

nīlaśvetatriśṛṅge: i.e. on the mountains of Jambū, viz., Nīla, Śveta and Triśṛṅga.