The Geography of the Puranas c8.186

c8.186

The second Varṣa which extended from the Sveta to the Śṛṅgavān was called Hiraṇyavat-Varṣa. The characteristic features of the people of this region and their occupation are similar to those of Ramaṇaka with the only difference that here the characteristic plant is ‘Lakuca’ (a kind of breadfruit plant) instead of Rohiṇa which is found in Ramaṇaka (paras 5-8). In addition, a river Hiraṇyavatī flows through this region. River Zarafshan which literally means ‘scatterer of gold’ is the exact equivalent of Hiraṇyavatī of the Purāṇas. It is, therefore, reasonable to suppose that the basin of the Zarafshan, i.e., Sogdiana and the basin of the Hiraṇyavatī, i.e., Hiraṇyavat-Varṣa are the same. But in the preceding paragraphs the basin of the Zarafshan and Kashka rivers was equated with the Ramaṇaka Varṣa of the Purāṇas. It, therefore, follows that Ramaṇaka and Hiraṇyavat Varṣa are the names of the same Varṣa. This means that there is a discrepancy in the Purāṇas when they say that the latter Varṣa lies north of Ramaṇaka between the Sveta and the Śṛṅgavān ranges. Let us examine this discrepancy.