Mudgalapurana 2.10: dvīpavarṇanaṃ nāma daśamo'dhyāyaḥ

Homage to the glorious Gaṇeśa!

Mudgala said:
Ten sons of great might were born to Priyavrata; / they were radiant, devoted to dharma, renowned, and very strong:

Āgnīdhra, Idhmajihva, the great Yajñabāhu, / Vīra, Hiraṇyaretas, Savana, and Ghṛtapṛṣṭha,

Medhātithi, Vītihotra, and Kavi—they shone like their father. / Kavi, Savana, and Vīra had no inclination for kingship;

The remaining seven sons were made lords of the seven continents by him. / The king appointed his son Āgnīdhra the lord of Jambūdvīpa;

He made his son Idhmajihva lord of Plakṣadvīpa; / and the king consecrated Yajñabāhu over Śālmala;

He made his son Hiraṇyaretas lord of Kuśadvīpa; / and he made Ghṛtapṛṣṭha lord of Krauñcadvīpa;

He made Medhātithi the perpetual lord of Śākadvīpa; / and the king made Vītihotra lord of Puṣkara.

Then the glorious king Priyavrata went to the forest; / receiving yoga from Nārada, he became a Gāṇapatya.

In the end he assumed the form of Gaṇeśa through the practice of yoga; / a king equal to Priyavrata has never been, nor will there ever be.

In Puṣkara two sons were born to Vītihotra: / named Ramaṇa and Dhātaki, of great heroism and very righteous.

The realm of Ramaṇa is known by the name of that great soul, / and this division of Dhātaki is called Dhātaki by the wise.

There is a solitary mountain called Mānasa in the middle of it, shaped like a ring; / its height is ten thousand yojanas, extending all around.

The lifespan there is ten thousand years; / there Brahmā himself abides visibly in the Puṣkara continent.

The gods, humans, and others constantly worship him; / O Dakṣa, that continent is surrounded on all sides by sweet water.

That wondrous ocean measures sixty-four hundred thousand yojanas; / at its end is remembered a delightful mountain named Lokāloka.

On one side is the dwelling of living beings; on the other side, it is devoid of beings; / on this side of the Lokāloka mountain is the light of the moon and the sun;

Beyond that, O Dakṣa, there is darkness on every side; / therefore it was called the Lokāloka mountain by the sages in ancient times.

In Puṣkara there are many rivers arising from the Mānasa mountain, / with sweet water, possessing merit, and pure in every way.

By drinking their water, painful diseases are destroyed;

[Section 2, Chapter 10, Page 25] fatigue, sweat, and the like never exist at all.

Then seven sons were born to the lord of Śākadvīpa: / Pavamāna, and before him Purojava and Manojava,

Dhūmrānīka, Citrarepha, Bahurūpa, and Jagaddhara; / and there are seven regions on that continent, with seven principal mountains.

The first realm is called by the name of Purojava; / another division is named after Manojava;

The division belonging to Pavamāna is likewise known as Pāvamāna; / the fourth is Dhaumrānīka, and the fifth is Caitrarephaka;

The sixth is named after Bahurūpa, and the seventh is Vaiśvadhāra; / unperturbed, they protected their respective divisions, O Prajāpati.”

The lifespan there is considered to be ten thousand years / for men who are free from defects and always endowed with youth.

The supreme continent is surrounded by the ocean called Dadhyodaka [ocean of curds], / of the same extent in yojanas, O Prajāpati.

And the extent of the continent is measured at thirty-two hundred thousand yojanas; / the men there worship Vāyu as the Lord.

The extent of Krauñcadvīpa is sixteen hundred thousand [yojanas], O sage, / declared in yojanas, and there are seven sections there.

Seven mountains are proclaimed right there, and seven rivers; / and other rivers of small size are situated everywhere.

The sons of Ghṛtapṛṣṭha are traditionally remembered as the seven lords of the sections there; / their sections are known by their respective names, O Prajāpati:

Āmo, Madhuruha, Ghṛtapṛṣṭha, Sudhātmaka, / Bhrājiṣṭha, Lohita, and Vanaspati—these are considered the seven.

The lifespan of men is eleven thousand years; / there people always worship Nārāyaṇa, who consists of water.

And the continent is surrounded on all sides with reverence by the ocean of milk; / it is of the same extent, and is also considered Śvetadvīpa.

The seven sons of Hiraṇyaretas, lord of Kuśadvīpa, are: / Vasu, Vasudāna, and the third, Dṛḍharuci;

Satyavrata, Nābhigupta, Vivikta, and Devaka; / and their seven sections, O Prajāpati, are [named] after their respective names.

Right there are seven mountains, considered boundary mountains, / and seven rivers of great swiftness, having good water, removing sorrow.

The lifespan there is ten thousand years; / and Kuśadvīpa has a measure of eight hundred thousand yojanas.

It is completely surrounded by the ocean of clarified butter of equal extent; / everywhere there they worship the lord of gods, Havyavāha [Agni].

The sons of Yajñabāhu, lord of Śālmaladvīpa, are recorded: / Surocana, Saumanasya, Ramaṇa, Devavarṣaka,

Āpyāyana, Pāribhadra, and the seventh is known as Vijñāta; / and their sections are renowned by those respective names, O Prajāpati.

There are seven rivers of great swiftness and seven mountains there; / its extent on every side is four hundred thousand yojanas.

It too is surrounded by the ocean of wine of equal extent; / the lifespan of men there is indeed eight thousand years.

Then the sons of Idhmajihva, lord of Plakṣadvīpa, are likewise: / Śiva, Yavīyasa, Kṣānta, Kṣema, Subhadraka,

Amṛta, and the one named Abhaya; these seven are proclaimed. / Their sections there are declared to be marked with their respective names.

[Khaṇḍa 2, Adhyāya 11, Page 26] Right there are seven mountains and seven rivers with abundant water; / the lifespan of men there is five thousand years.

Its extent on every side is two hundred thousand yojanas; / and it is surrounded by the juice-ocean of sugarcane of equal size.

In Plakṣadvīpa, devoted to dharma, they worship the Sun, / the god who causes rain to stream down, situated in the form of light.

In the continents beginning with Plakṣadvīpa up to Śākadvīpa, it should be known / that people abide in their own duty (svadharma) according to the division of class and stage of life (varṇāśrama).

In Puṣkara, knowing all dharma, they rely on a single path; / there, O Prajāpati, they have a single class and stage of life and equal conduct.

For them there is naturally no measure of the cosmic ages (yuga) nor the dharma of cosmic ages; / time is always uniform, and such is considered their own duty.

There is neither greed nor malice; they are devoted to mutual welfare; / those men are virtuous in character and satisfied, devoted to their own wives.

Experiencing the fruits of their actions in those continents, O Śaunaka, / they all became faithful, devoted to playing like gods.

They worshipped the god residing in their respective continents; then, happily, / all those people attained the four states [of liberation] beginning with dwelling in the same world (sālokya).

Oṃ tat sat. Thus ends the tenth chapter, named 'Description of the Continents,' in the Ekadantacarita, in the second section of the glorious and venerable Maudgala-Mahāpurāṇa, a Purāṇic Upaniṣad.