The Geography of the Puranas c7.s4.27

c7.s4.27

The above observations are corroborated by the earliest Buddhist cosmology¹⁷ where the original concept has been overlaid by Purāṇic ideas but the theory of concentric dwipas is clearly secondary. Especially noteworthy are the passages in the Mahāvastu and the Lalitavistāra which mention only the four dwipas—Jambū Dwīpa, Pūrvavideha, Aparagodānīya and Uttarakuru (grouped around Meru to the south, east, west and north respectively)—and constituting the whole world, ‘Lokadhātu’ and give no hint of the Purāṇic geography. They most probably represent an older period than does the Mahābhārata (6, 5-12) in its present form. The general idea is the same, the particular names vary.