Chapter 17 - Varṣas of Jambūdvīpa, Kimpuruṣā, Hari and Ilāvṛta

The sages said:

1. Recount to us the sub-continents of Kimpuruṣā and Harivarṣa as actually they are really. The sub-continent of Bhārata has already been recounted by you.

Sūta said:

2. Listen attentively, O Brāhmaṇas, to what you are desirous of hearing. There is a very large grove of Plakṣa trees in the sub-continent Kimpuruṣā. It can be compared with the (heavenly) Nandana park.

3. It is remembered that the span of life in Kimpuruṣa is for ten thousand years. The men have golden complexion and the women are comparable to celestial damsels.

4. All people there, are free from ailments and sorrows. They are perpetually joyous in their minds. They have the lustre of hot glowing gold.

5. In the holy sub-continent of Kimpuruṣa, there is an auspicious tree oozing out (exuding) honey. All the Kimpuruṣas drink its excellent juice.

6. They say that the sub-continent Harivarṣa is beyond Kimpuruṣa. The people there are born resembling gold in the colour of their complexion.

7. All the people in the sub-continent of Harivarṣa are those who have been dropped down from the Devaloka (Region of the Devas). All of them have the characteristics and racial features of the Devas. They drink the auspicious sugarcane juice.

8. In the sub-continent Harivarṣa, all the people live for eleven thousand years without any ailment. All of them are joyous in their minds.

9-10. Old age does not affect them nor do they die prematurely.

The middle land which had already been described by me, is known by the name Ilāvṛta. The sun does not blaze very hot there. The men do not become aged. In Ilāvṛta, the moon and the sun as well as the stars are not very bright.

11. Men are born there with the lustre of the lotus. They have the colour of their complexion resembling that of the lotus. They have eyes like lotus and fragrance like that of the lotus petals.

12. Their diet consists of the fruit and juice of the rose-apple. They do not have sweat trickling down from their bodies. They are sweet-smelling. They are intelligent. They enjoy all sensual pleasures, and the fruits of their meritorious actions.

13-14a. They are fallen down from the world of the Devas. They have golden garments. The excellent men who live in the sub-continent Ilāvṛta have a span of life extending to thirteen thousand years.

14b-15. It (Ilāvṛta) extends to nine thousand (Yojanas) in. every direction from the Meru.

Its overall area is thirty-six thousand Yojanas square. It is situated like a platter.

16-17. The Gandhamādana mountain is nine thousand Yojanas away from the Meru on the western side. It extends to thirty-four thousand Yojanas from north to south. It extends as far as the Nīla and Niṣaḍha mountains. Its height above the ground level is forty-thousand Yojanas.

18. It goes down a thousand Yojanas deep into the earth. Its girth also is the same. The mountain Mālyavān is to its (i.e. Meru’s) east and its dimensions have been already recounted (as the same).

19. The Nīla mountain is in the south and the Niṣadha is in the north. The Mahāmeru is well established in their midst with its dimensions.

20. In the case of all these mountains, the girth is the same as the extent to which they go deep down into the earth. It is remembered that their total length is a hundred thousand Yojanas.

21.^[1] (?) Their outward appearance is circular (spherical) like the earthern sphere (within the enveloping) ocean. The lengths dwindle down and they are then remembered (more or less) equal to a square.

22. There is a river composed of the juice of the rose apple. It flows through the middle of the oblong-shaped Ilāvṛta dividing it (into two). It has the colour of the fresh collyrium.

23. On the southern side of the Meru and to the north of the Niṣadha, there is an ancient eternal Rose-apple tree named Sudarśana.

24. It is perpetually laden with blossoms and fruits. It is resorted to by Siddhas and Cāraṇas. The whole continent is called Jambūdvīpa after the name of that tree.

25. The height of that noble-souled lordly tree is one thousand and one hundred Yojanas. Everywhere it touches the firmament on all sides.

26. The thickness (diameter) of its fruit is calculated by the sages with visions of principles (of reality) as eight hundred and sixty one Aratnis (1 Aratni = 18-20 Cms.)

27. As they fall on the ground, these fruits make a loud sound. The juice of the fruits of that Jambū (Rose apple) tree flows as a river.

28. This river circumambulates the Meru and penetrates into the ground deep down at the root of the Jambū tree. The delighted (inhabitants) of Ilāvṛta always drink the juice of the Jambū.

29. When the juice of the Jambū is drunk neither old age nor hunger, neither weariness nor death nor languor oppresses them.

30. A type of gold named Jāmbūnada is produced there. It is a glowing ornament of the gods. It has the resemblance of Indra so far in lustre.

31. The auspicious juice of the fruits of the respective representative trees of all the sub-continents is hailed by all. When it (the juice) becomes scattered over it (the alluvial remains of it) become shining gold, an ornament fit for gods.

32. It is due to the grace of god that their (= of the inhabitants) urine and faeces scattered over all directions as well as bodies of the dead are swallowed up by (absorbed in) the earth.

33. It is declared that the Rākṣasas, Piśācas and the Yakṣas—are all the residents of the Himavat. It should be known that the Gandharvas live on the Hemakūṭa along with the groups of the Apsaras.

34. Śeṣa, Vāsuki, Takṣaka—(yes) all the serpents (live) on the Niṣadha. The thirty-three (groups of) Devas (gods) authorised to partake of the shares in the Yajña, sport about on the Mahāmeru.

35. The Siddhas and the Brahmanical sages devoid of impurities live on the Nīla full of Vaiḍurya (Lapis Lazuli). It is mentioned that the mountain Śveta belongs to the Daityas and the Dānavas.

36-37. The excellent mountain Śṛṅgavān is the place where the Pitṛs frequently move about. Living beings—both the mobile and the immobile—are settled in these nine subcontinents with their different divisions duly situated.

Their prosperous growth, both divine and human, is seen in diverse ways. It cannot be adequately enumerated. It should be believed by those who wish to be{GL_NOTE::} (?)

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Vā.P.46.38b—anububhūṣata—(be believed) by one desirous to comprehend.