The Geography of the Puranas c7.s4.32

c7.s4.32

Significant is the fact that while the Mahābhārata states that the dwīpas are surrounded by oceans, nowhere is it stated that the dwīpas surround the oceans. The Mahābhārata does not show any knowledge of the theory of concentric circles of land. Its dwīpas are really islands or doabs. The Purāṇic theory may be due merely to a misunderstanding of this passage of the Mahābhārata, or distant islands and peninsulas such as Indo-China, Jāvā, Sumātrā and Arabia may have been regarded as forming circles of land.