Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c6.s2.11

c6.s2.11

According to the Buddhist conception, in each Cakravāla, between the Cakravāla-parvata and the outermost of the rocky circles which environ the Meru mountain, lies a vast ocean, and the four mahādvipas (great islands or continents) are situated in the said ocean, equidistant from each other. The northern among them is called Uttara-Kuru (or Kuru), the southern Jambu-dvīpa, the eastern Pūrva-Videha and the western Apara-Godāna (Goyāna in Pali). Of the four continents, Jambu-dvīpa is bigger than the others. It is one hundred thousand yojanas in diameter, and India is included it. The four continents are sometimes called merely the catvāro dvīpāḥ (the four islands).²⁰