The Geography of the Puranas c7.s4.3

c7.s4.3

THE geography of the world and its regions figures in most of the Purāṇas, the main features of the continents and oceans and their subdivisions remaining essentially the same. The Agni and Brahma are word for word the same as the Viṣṇu; and the Kūrma, Liṅga, Matsya, Mārkaṇḍeya and Vāyu present many passages common to them and the Viṣṇu or to one another. The Vāyu enters most fully into particulars. The Bhāgavata differs in its nomenclature of minor details from all, and is followed by the Padma. The others either omit the subject, or refer to it briefly. The Mahābhārata ( Bhīṣma Parva) gives an account which is essentially the same, and many of the stanzas are common to it and the different Purāṇas.