Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c6.s1.24

c6.s1.24

vikhyātāś=catvāraḥ, 55-56(catvāro yasya vai deśāḥ) ; 41. 83 (catur-mahādvīpavatī s=eyam=urvī), 85 (catvāro n-aika-varṇ-āḍhyā mahādvīpāḥ), 86 (catur-mahādvīpā nānā-dvīpa-samākulā pṛthivī) ; 42. 79-80 (pṛthivī...catur-mahādvīpavatī). The word dvīpa is often explained as the land having a watercourse each on its two sides (Brahmāṇḍa, 53. 140 : dvir-āpastvāt=smṛto dvipaḥ). Cf. Raychaudhuri, op. cit., p. 68, note 5.