Vishnupurana 2.3.2
The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition 2.3.2
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2.3.2
The seven main chains of mountains in Bhárata are Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Śuktimat, Riksha, Vindhya, and Páripátra.
2.3.2.n1
These are called the Kula parvatas, family mountains, or mountain ranges or systems. They are similarly enumerated in all the authorities, and their situation may be determined with some confidence by the rivers which flow from them. Mahendra is the chain of hills that extends from Orissa and the northern Circars to Gondwana, part of which, near Ganjam, is still called Mahindra Malei, or hills of Mahindra: Malaya is the southern portion of the western Ghats: Śuktimat is doubtful, for none of its streams can be identified with any certainty: Sahya is the northern portion of the western Ghauts, the mountains of the Konkan: Riksha is the mountains of Gondwana: Vindhya is the general name of the chain that stretches across central India, but it is here restricted to the eastern division; according to the Váyu it is the part south of the Narmada, or the Sathpura range: Páripátra, as frequently written Páriyátra, is the northern and western portion of the Vindhya: the name, indeed, is still given to a range of mountains in Guzerat (see Col. Tod's map of Rajasthán), but the Chambal and other rivers of Málwa, which are said to flow from the Páriyátra mountains, do not rise in that province. All these mountains therefore belong to one system, and are connected together. The classification seems to have been known to Ptolemy, as he specifies seven ranges of mountains, although his names do not correspond, with exception of the Vindus mons: of the others, the Adisathrus and Uxentus agree nearly in position with the Páriyátra and Riksha: the Apocopi, Sardonix, Bettigo, and Orudii must be left for consideration. The Bhágavata, Váyu, Padma, and Márkańd́eya add a list of inferior mountains to these seven.
Linked texts (1)
- Viṣṇupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit