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The Geography of the Puranas c18: Chapter VI

The Geography of the Purāṇas c18

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English

Chapter VI

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CHAPTER VII

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14 Ibid., 32. 15 Their names are: Hansavati, Hahacakrā, Cakrā, Vaktā, Kandī, Surasā, Sakhavati, Indranadī, Meghā, Aṅgara, Vāhinī, Kāverī, Soṛṇavatī, Haritoyā, Suvarṇā, Brahmabhogā, Silā-Sinī, Pañcavadnā, Vanusmatī, Maṇi-Vaprā, Surapsā, Sat, Hṛdā, Vanamālā, Kṛṣṇatoyā, Pūrṇodā, Vasumatī, Pampā, Pampāvatī, Aruṇāvatī, Viṣṇupadī, Mahāpuṇyā, Mahānadī, Hiraṇyavāpinī, Nilā, Skandamālā, Surāvatī, Vamodā, Patākā and Betālī (Vāyu Purāṇa, Ch. 43). 16 Ibid., Ch. 39. 17 I.e., the Jathara. 18 Vāyu Purāṇa, Ch. 40. 19 Ibid., Ch. 43.

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CHAPTER VIII

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1 There is sufficient literature on the geography of Bhāratavarṣa. An exhaustive list of the source material appears in B.C. Law's *Historical Geography of Ancient India* and Cunningham's *Ancient India*. Dr. D. C. Sircar in his *Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India* mainly deals with the physiographic and regional content of Bhāratavarṣa as given in the Purāṇic and later literature. It also contains extracts from the Purāṇas which are relevant to the geography of the country. These and other works of N. L. Dey (*Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval India*), Ray Chowdhury (*Studies in Indian Antiquities*), Dikshiter (*Puranic Index*) and other scholars are helpful in visualising the extent, topography and population pattern of Bhāratavarṣa as described in the Purāṇas.

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¹ The Nāgarasaṃvṛtaḥ of Alberuni is obviously a copyist's mistake (Alberuni's *Indica*, 1, 295). 2 Mark. p. 57. 3 According to the Skanda Purāṇa, Kumārika Khaṇḍa extended from only the Mahendra mountain to the Pariyātra (Kumārika Khaṇḍa, 39, 113); according to the Garuda Purāṇa, however, it was bounded on the east by the Kiratas, on the west by the Yavanas, on the south by the Andhras and on the north by Turuskas (55.6). 4 V. A. Smith, *Early History of India*, 4th edn., p. 491. 5 Cunningham, *Ancient Geography of India* (Calcutta, 1924). 6 Varāhamihira is supposed to have adopted the tradition earlier recorded by Paras'ara in his Paras'aratantra. See, Kern's edn. of *Bṛhatsaṃhitā* of Varāha, p. 32. 7 B. C. Law, *Geography of Early Buddhism*, Intro. 8 *Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa*, 36, 64.

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