The Geography of the Puranas c15.3

c15.3

²² For reference to 'many dvīpas', see Hopkins, JAOS, 1910, pp. 370-2. The number 'seven' is not to be taken too literally—cf. 1.75.19: Purūravas 'had sway over thirteen dvīpas of the sea'; 3.3.52: 'The whole earth with her thirteen dvīpas'; 3.134.20: 'Thirteen dvīpas exist on earth'; 7.70.15 refers to eighteen dvīpas; 12.14.25: After the statement that the king had conquered Bhadrāśva, Ketumāla, Bhārata and Uttarakuru it is said that he penetrated the ocean and ruled the populous dvīpas and antardvīpas. It seems clear that these passages describe the whole earth and reveal no knowledge of concentric dvīpas.