The Geography of the Puranas c10.100

c10.100

The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa has also a second classification, apart from this seven, into nine, adopted certainly from the astronomical and astrological work of Varāhamihira and Parasara. As mentioned earlier, India is described as resting on Viṣṇu in the form of a tortoise looking eastward; the various countries and peoples of Bhāratavarṣa are distributed accordingly over the different parts of his body, together with corresponding lunar constellations. The majority of the names of countries and peoples is very much the same as we find in the Nadyadi Varnana section of the same Purāṇa, but there are also many names that are entirely new and original.