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2024-04-19, 9:05 AM |
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Chapter
20: The
Structure
of
the
Different
Dvîpas and the Prayers by their Different People
(1) S'rî
S'uka
said: 'Let me now describe the dimensions,
characteristics
and
form of the divisions of Plaksha
and
the
others
dvîpas that
are called varshas [or lands, see 5.1: 32]. (2) The
way Mount Meru
is surrounded by the dvîpa of Jambû, that dvîpa
on its turn is [as seen
from the inside]
surrounded
by a salty ocean that is just as wide. That ocean is surrounded, like a
moat by a park, by the dvîpa of Plaksha which stretches out twice as much. It was named after the plaksha tree that is as tall
as a jambû but twice as wide. At the root of that tree
which rises magnificently
splendorous, there is
a fire that counts seven flames.
The master of that dvîpa
is the son of Priyavrata named Idhmajihva. When he retired for the yoga of self-realization he divided the dvîpa into seven
varshas that he named after his seven sons. (3-4) S'iva,
Yavasa,
Subhadra,
S'ânta,
Kshema,
Amrita
and
Abhaya, are thus
the
varshas. They have seven rivers and mountains. The seven mountain ranges marking the
varshas
are known as Manikûtha, Vajrakûtha, Indrasena,
Jyotishmân, Suparna, Hiranyashthhîva and Meghamâla.
The main rivers are the Arunâ, Nrimnâ,
Ângirasî,
Sâvitrî, Suptabhâtâ, Ritambharâ and the
Satyambharâ. Touching their water
washes away the passion and darkness of the four types of men whom one
there [according to their vocations] calls the Hamsas, Patangas,
Ûrdhvâyanas and
Satyângas [the swanlike ones, the rulers, the ambitious ones and
the
faithful ones]. For a
thousand years they live there like gods with most beautiful bodies,
having children and performing Vedic rituals at the gate to heaven.
They worship the Supreme Lord, the Supersoul in the form of the sun god
the way it is prescribed in the holy scriptures praying: (5) 'Let
us take to the
shelter of Sûrya, the god
of the sun who is a
manifestation of Lord Vishnu,
the authentic Soul of the truth of righteousness,
of Brahman and of eternal life and death.'
(6) In Plaksha and the other four dvîpas the people are
without
exception
born
with
the
perfections
of
a
long
life,
good
sense,
bodily
and
mental fortitude, physical power, intelligence and bravery. (7) Surrounded
by
an
ocean
of
sugarcane
juice
equally
wide,
there
is
beyond
Plakshadvîpa
another dvîpa called
S'âlmala which is twice as big and surrounded by an ocean of
liquor [or wine; surâ*]. (8) That
dvîpa
received its name from a s'âlmalî tree as big as the
plaksha tree and in that tree, so one says, Garuda the carrier bird of
Vedic prayers unto Lord Vishnu, has his residence. (9) The son of Priyavrata called
Yajñabâhu is the master
of
that
dvîpa.
He divided it into seven varshas according to the seven
names of his sons: Surocana,
Saumanasya, Ramanaka,
Deva-varsha, Pâribhadra, Âpyâyana and
Avijñâta. (10) The
seven mountains
there are known by the names of Svarasa,
S'atas'ringa,
Vâmadeva,
Kunda,
Mukunda,
Pushpa-varsha
and
the
Sahasra-s'ruti. The seven
rivers are the Anumati,
Sinîvâlî, Sarasvatî, Kuhû, Rajanî,
Nandâ and Râkâ. (11) The
people living in
those varshas
are known as the
S'rutadharas, Vîryadharas, Vasundharas and Ishandharas [those
who
listen, are
heroic, are wealthy and are obedient]. Fully conversant with the Vedic
knowledge they worship the Supreme Lord in the form of
Soma-âtmâ ['the
true
self of the sacrificial beverage' or the moon god]: (12) 'With
his
effulgence he divides the time in the light and dark period of the
month
[s'ukla and krishna]. May he, that divinity of the moon
and the grain to be distributed to the forefathers and the
gods, may that king of all people, remain favorably disposed unto us.'
(13) Next there is outside of
that ocean the dvîpa called Kus'a which, like the dvîpa
mentioned before, is twice as big and surrounded by an ocean
of
ghee that is equally wide. The kus'a grass created
by God gave that dvîpa its name because all directions are illumined by the effulgence of the young sprouting
grass that glows like another
kind of fire. (14) The
son of
Mahârâja Priyavrata called Hiranyaretâ
oh King divided as the master of that island, when he retired for his penance, his
dvîpa among his seven sons with the names of Vasu, Vasudâna,
Dridharuci, Nâbhigupta, Stutyavrata, Vivikta and Vâmadeva. (15) The
seven
mountain ranges of these varshas are the Cakra, Catuhs'ringa,
Kapila,
Citrakûtha, Devânîka, Ûrdhvaromâ and
Dravina mountains and the rivers are the Ramakulyâ,
Madhukulyâ, Mitravindâ, Srutavindâ, Devagarbhâ,
Ghritacyutâ and Mantramâlâ. (16) At
those
waters the
inhabitants of Kus'advîpa who are named the Kus'alas, Kovidas,
Abhiyuktas and Kulakas [or the grass sitters, the experienced ones, the
competitors and the artisans] skilled in the rituals worship the
Supreme Lord in the form of the fire god called Jâtaveda ['he
who awards the wages']: (17) 'Of
all
the
demigods of the Supreme Brahman who constitute the limbs of the
Original
Person, you oh god of the fire, are the one who personally
carries
the offerings of
ghee and grains [to the Lord]. [Please accept] therefore our sacrifice
for the Supreme
Personality of Godhead.'
(18) Just as
Kus'advîpa is surrounded
by an ocean of ghee, Krauñcadvîpa outside of it and being twice as big, is
surrounded by an ocean of
milk [or plant juice] of the same size. The king
of the mountains named Krauñca situated there gave that
dvîpa its name. (19) Even though Guha [the son of
S'iva, Kârttikeya] destroyed
the vegetation there with his weapons, he [the mountain] stands
unafraid because he constantly bathes in the ocean of milk and enjoys
the protection of the mighty Varuna [the demigod of the seas]. (20) Ghritaprishthha,
the
son
of
Mahârâja
Priyavrata,
the
ruler
of
that dvîpa gave its
seven sections, its varshas, the names of his sons whom he, all just as powerful as he was, appointed as their rulers.
He thereafter resorted to the lotus
feet of the Supreme Lord Hari, the Soul of all souls whose glories are
so auspicious. (21) Âma,
Madhuruha,
Meghaprishthha,
Sudhâmâ,
Bhrâjishthha,
Lohitârna
and
Vanaspati
were
the
sons
of
Ghritaprishthha
and
the
seven
mountain
ranges
were celebrated as the S'ukla and
Vardhamâna, Bhojana, Upabarhina, Nanda, Nandana and Sarvatobhadra
mountains. The seven rivers were the Abhayâ, Amritaughâ,
Âryakâ, Tîrthavatî, Rûpavatî,
Pavitravatî and the S'uklâ. (22) Sanctified
by
bathing in
the pellucid waters of all those rivers the inhabitants of those
varshas who are called the Purushas, the Rishabas, the Dravinas and
the
Devakas [or the authentic, the superior, the wealthy and the sporting
ones], worship with folded hands filled with water [the Lord in the
form of Varuna] the deity of water:
(23) 'Oh
water, oh might of the Original Personality, you sanctify the earth,
its
life, its paradise. May our touching this water, that because of its
nature destroys the spirit of evil, purify our bodies.'
(24) Beyond the ocean of milk the
dvîpa of S'âka is
situated
measuring a 3.2 million yojanas wide. It is surrounded by an
ocean of whey of the same width and owes its
name to a most fragrant fig tree that can be smelled all over the
dvîpa. (25) Another son
of Priyavrata named Medhâtithi is the ruler there. He also
divided
his dvîpa
in seven varshas with the names of his seven sons
Purojava,
Manojava, Pavamâna, Dhûmrânîka, Citrarepha,
Bahurûpa and Vis'vadhâra whom he appointed there as their
rulers. He thereafter entered the forest for penance with his mind
absorbed in the infinity of the Supreme Lord. (26) The seven mountains
forming the borders of the varshas are the
Îs'âna, Urus'ringa, Balabhadra, S'atakesara, Sahasra-srota,
Devapâla and Mahânasa mountains and the seven rivers there
are
the Anaghâ, Âyurdâ, Ubhayasprishthi,
Aparâjitâ, Pañcapadî, Sahasra-s'ruti and the
Nijadhriti. (27) The
people
of
those varshas,
the
Ritavratas,
the Satyavratas, the Dânavratas and the Anuvratas
[the varnas of the God-fearing ones, the ones vowed to the
truth,
the providers, and the followers]
cleanse themselves of their passions and ignorance with the practice of regulating their
breath which is ruled by the demigod Vâyu. They absorbed in transcendence worship
him
as
the
representative
of
the
Supreme
Personality
with: (28) 'You
entering all living beings are the one
Supersoul within, the direct controller who maintains by the functions of the inner airs.
Please direct us, for you control the entire cosmos.'
(29) Also beyond this ocean
of whey there is another dvîpa
named Pushkara which is
twice as big as the previous one and surrounded by an ocean of
sweet water of the same size. There a very big lotus flower is found
with 100 million flower petals of pure gold that are like the flames of
a blazing fire. This
lotus is considered the sitting place of the all-powerful Lord of
the Lotus [Brahmâ]. (30) That dvîpa has one mountain range
named
Mânasottara that separates the varshas on the inner and
the outer side. Measuring a 10.000 yojanas high and wide,
it harbors in its four directions the cities of the four demigods
ruling there [Indra, Yama,
Varuna and Soma]. The chariot of the sun god Sûrya, circumambulating mount Meru on its highest point, moves
around in an orbit that
calculated in terms of the
days and nights of the demigods [**] consists of one complete year. (31) The
ruler of that
dvîpa, also a son of Priyavrata with the name
Vîtihotra, named the two varshas there after his two
sons Ramanaka and Dhâtaki and appointed them as their rulers when
he, just as his other brothers did, restricted himself to virtuous
activities to satisfy the Supreme Lord. (32) The
people of those lands
worship for the fulfillment of their desires with ritualistic activities the Supreme Lord in
the form of Lord Brahmâ and
pray the following: (33) 'Someone of a
firm conviction must free from duplicity and peacefully, by consciously
dealing with the illusion [with the help of ritualistic activities]
worship the Supreme Personality in the form of him [Lord Brahmâ]
who
discloses the supreme
Brahman. That almighty
Lord we offer our obeisances.'
(34) Beyond that realm there is [outside of the
ocean
of
sweet water] all around a formation named
Lokâloka which is described as the boundary between the world of
light and
the world without light. (35) The realm [called Loka-varsha within that
border] is as wide as the area
between mount Meru and the
Mânasottara range, [and changes outside into] another domain made
of gold [called Aloka-varsha, the
dark region] which is as smooth
as a
mirror. Anything dropped there
can impossibly be retrieved and therefore the place is avoided by all
living entities. (36) The formation Lokâloka [that
is
the
outer
shell
of
the
universe] is
situated
in
between the lands that one
speaks of as being inhabited and
not inhabited. (37) That
outer
limit of the three worlds that was created all around by the Lord, is
that
far distant that it for the rays of all the luminaries - from the
sun up to those of Dhruva's goal of liberation [the center of the
universe, see 4.12: 12] -, is not possible to reach
further. (38) The
scholars who investigated
the
positions, characteristics and situations of all the worlds [the
planets and stars], calculated
that the area between the centre and the outer Lokâloka limit of
the universe
covers as much as half a billion yojanas, one quarter [of the size or total
energy] of the celestial globe.
(39) By the source of the self who is the
spiritual teacher of the entire universe [Brahmâ] the
four gaja-patis ['the
best of all elephants']
Rishabha, Pushkaracûda, Vâmana and Aparâjit are established in the four
directions on top of that
[formation], in order to take
care of the stability of the different planets in the universe. (40) He [Lord Vishnu] is of
all His locally
ruling,
personal divinities [His 'elephants'] and all the types of heroes who
are expansions of His potency, the
Supreme
Lord,
the
foremost
and
greatest personality, the great
master of all powers, the Soul of all souls and the True Self of the
purest goodness characterized by religion, spiritual knowledge,
detachment, all opulence and the eight great perfections [see 3.15: 45]. Decorated by the different
weapons held up by
His stout arms
and surrounded by
expansions
like Vishvaksena and other representatives and eminent associates, He,
for the benefit of all worlds, manifests His form on all
sides of
that greatest of all mountains. (41) For
the duration of a kalpa
the Supreme Lord
assumes that appearance
just to maintain the
life in the different worlds that He evolved on the basis of His outer
potency. (42) About
the area beyond the [uninhabitable, dark] realm [of Aloka-varsha] which stretches outside of
Lokâloka as far as the width of the area inside, one says that it
is the
destination for those who free from all contamination walk the path of
the Lord of Yoga.
(43) In the center of the universe the suns are found situated
between
heaven and earth. That sunny
globe in the middle consists of
a quarter of a
billion stars. (44) Because of having entered the lifeless
form of
this globe at its time
of creation, he [Brahmâ] is known as Mârtanda ['the god of
the suns']. The designation known as Hiranyagarbha ['the gold inside'
or
Brahmâ] came about because he received his body from that [golden
splendor]. (45) Because
of
the
sun
god
[Sûrya]
we
are
able
to
differentiate
between the directions, the
ether, the planets
above and the worlds below, as also tell the difference between all the
heavenly
abodes, the abodes for liberation and the hellish places such as Atala.
(46) The
sun god is the controller
of all sorts of living beings, he is the life, soul and vision of the
gods, the lower animals, the human beings and everything crawling and
creeping.'
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