Historical Geography of Ancient India c5.s1.2

c5.s1.2

The geographical accounts in the different *Purāṇas* are more or less identical, and the account in one is often repeated in another; in some cases a larger account is summarized into a shorter one. The list in the *Vāyu*, *Matsya* and *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇas* is a long one, while that in the *Viṣṇu* is very short. The Pauranic lists of countries and peoples occur also in the *Mahābhārata*, sometimes in a more detailed form. The particulars of the country of Bharata as given in the *Bhīṣmaparva* of the *Mahābhārata* (ślokas 317-78) are almost the same as in the *Purāṇas*, but in some cases additional information can be gathered. It is obvious that these lists are framed in pursuance of a traditional account handed down from earlier times. But it must be admitted that the accounts are substantially correct. The fabulous element as pointed out by Cunningham is confined, as a rule, to outside lands, and their allusions to purely Indian topography are generally sober.