The Geography of the Puranas c7.s1.15

c7.s1.15

Perhaps the most important contribution of the Vedic literature to the Purāṇas (next to its cosmogony and cosmology) is its system of regional division. The Vedic regions are in fact ‘human’ or ‘cultural’ regions, i.e., the division of land into the ‘countries’ of different tribes or communities. This system became so popular and deep-rooted that none of the later works, religious or secular, could break away from it. The pattern was laid down by the Vedas for all time to come.