Part 23 (1/2)

Rishabha called his sons and asked them to follow Bharata. Will other lands now follow that advice?

THE EARTH CHAIN, BHUVANA KOSHA.

*SKANDHA V. CHAP. 16.*

Said Pariks.h.i.+t: - ”Thou hast given the bare outline of these regions of the universe which are lighted by the sun and where the moon and the luminous starry host are also seen.

”Thou hast hereby mentioned the seven oceans and the seven Dvipas, but thou hast not given the details thereof.” Suka replied: -

Imagine the Bhu-mandala or the Earth chain to be the pericarp of a lotus. Imagine there are seven sheaths immersed in it - the seven Dvipas. The central sheath is Jambu Dvipa. It is Niyut Yojanas in area (Niyut= 1,000,000 But Sridhara Svami here explains Niyuta as meaning one laksha or 100,000. So according to Sridhara the area of Jambu Dvipa is 800,000 miles). Jambu Dvipa is round like the lotus leaf.

There are nine Varshas in Jambu Dvipa, each nine thousand Yojanas in area completely divided by eight mountain ranges. (Bhadrasva and Ketumala form exceptions, for they extend over 34,000 Yojanas. Some take nine thousand Yojanas to be the expanse between the Nila and Nishadha ranges. The Vayu Purana describes the position thus: - Two Varshas are situated like two bows north and south. Four are placed longways.

Ilavrita is as it were with four petals. _Sridhara_. This gives 7 x 9000 + 34000 = 97000).

ILAVRITA IS THE CENTRAL VARSHA.

Sumeru is situated in the navel of this Varsha. This king of mountains is gold all through. It is a laksha Yojanas high. If the Earth chain be taken to be a lotus, this Meru is its pericarp. It is 32,000 Yojanas as the top and 16,000 Yojanas at the foot and 16,000 Yojanas under the ground.

(By saying 16000 Yojanas at the foot, 84000 Yojanas are left out. Thus the Vishnu Purana says - the Meru is 84000 Yojanas over the ground and 16000 under the ground, at the top 32000 and at the foot 16000.

_Sridhara_. 16000 + 84000=100000).

On the north of Ilavrita are the three mountain ranges Nila, Sveta and Sringavan in order. They are respectively the boundary ranges of Ramayak, Hiranmaya and Kuru. They spread east and west up to the salt ocean. They are two thousand Yojanas wide. In length, each succeeding one is a little over one tenth part shorter than the preceding one.

(There is no difference in height and in width. _Sridhara_).

So on the south of Ilavrita are the three ranges Nishadha, Hemakuta and Himalaya spreading east and west like the preceding ones. They are 10,000 Yojanas in height. They are the boundary ranges respectively of Harivarsha, Kinpurusha and Bharata. (This - 10,000 Yojanas - is also the height of Nila, Sveta and Sringavna. The width of these ranges again is that of Nila, and others. By Bharata we are to understand Nabhi.

On the west of Ilavrita is the Malyavat range and on the east lies the Gandha Madana range, These ranges extend north up to the Nila range and on the south up to the Nishadha range. They are two thousand Yojanas wide. They are the boundary ranges of Ketumala and Bhadrasva respectively. (East and west there is the Meru surrounded by Ilavrita, then there are the two ranges Malyavat and Gandha Madana, and the two varshas Bhadrasva and Ketumala and nothing besides).

North and south, there is the Meru then Ilavrita, 6 mountain ranges and 6 Varshas, 3 on each side and nothing else.

[Where do you then get a _laksha_ of Yojanas? It is said: - Meru has a diameter of 16,000. Ilavrita has 18,000. The 6 Varshas have 6 x 9,000 = 54,000. The 6 mountain ranges have together a width of 6 x 2,000 = 12,000. Thus north and south, we have 16,000 + 18,000 + 54,000 + 12,000 = 100,000.

East and west we have 34000 (9000 + 16000 + 9000) across Meru and Ilavrita and the two mountain ranges 2 x 2000 = 4000.

The expanse of the two Varshas up to the ocean side is 62000. This gives us 34000 + 4000 + 62000 = 100,000. Thus there is no conflict.

_Sridhara_.]

[This discussion of Sridhara throws immense light on the text. We find that the area is measured by the diameter. We find that 16000 is the diameter of Meru at the foot. We find that Ilavrita has 9000 from Meru to Nila and 9000 from Meru to Nishadha. We understand also why Bhadrasva and Ketumala were said to be exceptions, their expanse being 34,000. A diagram will now best ill.u.s.trate what we say.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A diagram of Jambu-Dvipa.]

[Bharata as a Varsha must not be mistaken for India. For Bharata here stands for Nabhi or the whole of our known earth.

Bharata Varsha extends from the base of the Earth opposite the Himalayas on the side of America to the highest point of the Himalayas.]

Kinpurusha Varsha, so called from its dwellers, extends from the highest point of the Himalayas as its base to the highest point of Hemakuta.