जम्बूखण्ड-विनिर्माण पर्व — पृथ्वी के परिमाण का वर्णन

Dhritarashtra said O Sanjaya, you are intelligent, you know the truth, you have duly given me in brief the description of the island. Tell us now of the island in detail.

Tell us now of the dimension of that portion of the land that looks like a hare. You may then describe the portion that looks like the pipal tree.

Having thus said by the king, Sanjaya spoke these words:

Sanjaya said Stretching from east to west, there are six mountains that are all equal and that extend from the eastern to the western sea.

They are named Himavat, Hemakut that foremost of mountains Nishadha, Nila that abounds in Vaidurya gems, Shveta, as white as the moon,

And Shringavat which is made of all kinds of metals. O king, these are the six mountains ever frequented by the Siddhas and the Charanas.

The space between them extends cne thousand Yojanas. There are many delightful kingdoms thereon. O descendant of Bharata, these divisions are called Varshas.

In all these kingdoms live creatures of various kinds. This is the Varsha called after Bharata, Next to it the Varsha called after Himavat.

The land that is beyond Hemakuta is called Harivarsha; south of the Nila mountain and the north of the Nishadha.

Is a mountain, O king, called Malyavat that extends from east to west. Beyond Malyavat is the mountain called the Gandhamadana.

Between these two (mountains) is a round mountain called Meru which is made of gold. It is as effulgent as the morning sun; it is like fire without smoke.

It is eighty-four thousand Yojanas high. O king, its depth is eighty-four thousand Yojanas.

It stands carrying the worlds above, below and transversely. O lord, by the side of Meru are situated four islands.

Namely Bhadrashva, Ketumala, Jambudvipa also called Bharata, and Uttara Kuru which is the abode of the pious.

The bird Sumukha, the son of Suparna (Garuda), seeing that all the birds on the Meru were of golden plumage, reflected.

"I shall go away from this mountain, because there is no difference there between good, indifferent and bad birds".

That foremost of luminaries, the sun, always goes round the Meru, so does the moon with his attendant constellations so does also Vayu.

O king, that mountain possesses celestial fruits and flowers; it is covered all over with houses made of burnished gold.

O king, there on that mountain the celestial, the Gandharvas, the Asuras and the Rakshasas with the Apasaras always come to sport.

There Brahma, Rudra, and Shakra the lord of the celestial, meet together and perform various kinds of sacrifices with large Dakshinas.

Tamburu, and Narada, Vishvavasu and the Hahas and the Huhus went there and adored the foremost of the celestial with various hymns.

The illustrious seven Rishis and Kashyapa, the lord of creatures, go there on every Parva day.

On the summit of that mountain, Ushanas, otherwise called the Poet, sports with the Dailyas. The jewels and gems and all precious stones belong to Meru.

A fourth part of them is enjoyed by Kubera. Only a sixteenth part he gives away to men to be enjoyed by them.

On the northern side of Meru there is a charming and beautiful forest of Karnikaras. It is ever covered with the flowers of every season. It occupies a range of hills.

There sports the illustrious Pashupati, the creator of all things, surrounded by his celestial attendants and accompanied by Uma.

He wears a garland of Karnikars flowers round his neck which reaches down his feet and which blazes with radiance with his three eyes resembling three suns.

The Siddhas who are truthful, who are of excellent vows and austere asceticism can see him. Maheshvara is incapable of being seen by men of bad conduct.

O king, from the summit of that mountain issues forth like a stream of milk the sacred and immeasurable Ganga of universal form resorted to by the pious. She falls with great force and fearful noise in the charming lake of Chandramas.

That sacred lake like an ocean has been formed by Ganga herself. Ganga, incapable of being held by even the mountains, was held for one thousand years by the wilder of Pinaka on his head. O king, on the western side of the Meru is Ketumala.

Here is also Jambukhanda, O king, which is greatly populated. O descendant of Bharata, the length of human life there is ten thousand years.

The men are of golden complexion. Women are all like Apsaras. All the persons are without sickness, and grief, and are always cheerful.

The men born there possess effulgence like that of the melted gold. On the Gandhamadana the lord of Guhyakas, Kubera, with many Rakshasas and Apsaras passes his time in happiness. By the sides of the Gandhamadana there are many smaller mountains and hills.

The length of human life there is eleven thousand years. O king, the men there are cheerful, and possess great energy and great strength. The women are all of the complexion of the lotus. They are exceedingly beautiful.

Beyond the Nila (mountain) is Shveta; beyond Shveta is Hiranyaka, beyond Hiranyaka is Airavata abounding in many countries.

O king, the last Varsha in the north and Bharata Varsha in the south are both of the form of a bow. Ilavrita is situated in the very middle of the five Varshas.

Amongst these seven Varshas, the one that is furthest north excels the one immediate south to it as regards its many features such as the length of life, stature, wealth, piety, pleasure and profit.

O descendant of Bharata, in these Varshas, creatures all live together. O king, the earth is thus covered with mountains.

The great mountain of Hemakuta is also called Kailasa where, ( king, Vaishravana delightedly sports with his Guhyakas.

Immediately north of Kailasa and near the mountain Mainaka, there is a great and beautiful mountain called Manimeya which possesses golden peaks.

Near this mountain there is a large, celestial and delightful lake called Bindusara with golden sands. There king Bhagiratha, seeing Ganga who is called after his name, lived for many years. There are innumerable sacrificial stakes made of gems and Chaitya trees made of gold.

It was there that of greatly renowned Indra obtained success by performing sacrifices. There the lord of all creatures, the eternal creator of all the worlds.

Endued with supreme energy, surrounded by his ghostly attendants, is adored. There Nara and Narayana and Brahma and Manu and Sthanu are ever present.

There the celestial river Ganga, of three currents, issues out of the region of Brahima. There she first appeared. Then dividing herself into seven streams she became Vasvokasara, Nalini, the sin-cleansing Sarasvati, Jambunadi, Sita, Ganga and Sindhu.

The supreme lord has himself made all the arrangements as regards this inconceivable and celestial river. It is there that sacrifices have been performed on thousand of occasions at the revolution of the Yugas.

As regards the Sarasvati, in some parts she becomes visible and in some parts she disappears. This celestial seven Gangas is known all over the three worlds.

The Rakshasas live on the Himavat, the Guhyakas on Hemakuta and the Nagas on the Nishadha and the ascetics on the Gokarna.

The Shveta mountain is said to be the abode of the celestial and celestial and the Asuras. The Gandharvas live on the Nishadha and the Brahmana Rishis on the Nila.

The mountain of Shringavat is considered to be the resort of the celestial. O king of kings, these are the seven Varshas of the world as they are divided.

Various mobile and immobile creatures are all placed in them. Various sorts of prosperity, both providential and human are noticeable in them.

They cannot be counted. Those that are desirous of their own welfare believe in all this. I have now narrated to you the delightful region that is in the form of a hare which you asked me.

At the end of the region are the two Varshas, namely one on the north and the other on the south. Then again the two islands Nagadvipa and Kashyapadvipa are the two cars of this region of the form of a hare. O king, the beautiful mountain of Malaya, with stones like plates of copper, forms the second part of Jambudvipa. This makes it look like a hare.