Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c5.s1.42

c5.s1.42

¹ There is another Purāṇic conception according to which the earth consists of four great *dvīpas* resembling four petals of a lotus. The pericarp of this earth-lotus is the Meru or Sumeru mountain. Similar is the conception of the Buddhists as found in the Pali literature: ‘In each *cakravāla*, between the *cakravāla-parvata* and the outermost of the rocky circles which environ Meru, lies a vast ocean. In this ocean are situated, equidistant from each other, four *mahā-dvīpas*, ‘great islands’ or continents. On the north is Uttarakuru, on the south Jambudvīpa, on the east Purvavideha and on the west Aparagoyāna. Of these, Jambudvīpa is larger than the rest, being a hundred thousand *yojanas* in diameter, and includes India.’ Cf. *Vāyu Purāṇa*, ch. 34; Childers’ Dictionary, *s.v. mahādīpo*.