Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c6.s4: 4. Jambu-dvīpa and Bhārata-varṣa

Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c6.s4

Language
English

4. Jambu-dvīpa and Bhārata-varṣa

c6.s4.1

The Jambu-dvīpa is also called Sudarśana-dvīpa and both the names are derived from a Jambu tree, bearing the name Sudarśana in some accounts, the branches of which are often said to have extended over a space of 100 yojanas.⁵⁰ The dvīpa is described as ‘low on the south and north and highly elevated in the middle’.⁵¹ As we have seen above, sometimes it is supposed to be shaped like a lotus with Mount Meru as its pericarp (karṇikā) and the mahādvīpas or varṣas entitled Bhadrāśva, Bhārata (also called Jambu-dvīpa), Ketumāla and Uttara-Kuru as its four petals.⁵² The elevated central region of the Jambu-dvīpa is styled Ilāvṛta-varṣa or Meru-varṣa,⁵³ which is one of the nine divisions into which the dvīpa is divided. There are 3 varṣas (Ramyaka, Hiraṇmaya and Uttara-Kuru) to the north and another 3 (Bhārata, Kimpuruṣa and Hari) to the south of the division called Meru or Ilāvṛta. To these seven, two other varṣas of a longitudinal character (Bhadrāśva to the east and Ketumāla to the west of the Ilāvṛta division around the Meru mountain) appear to have been added later to make the number nine.⁵⁴ The Jambu-dvīpa is circular in shape so that the northernmost and southernmost varṣas (Uttara-Kuru and Bhārata) are each shaped like a bow.⁵⁵

c6.s4.2

⁵⁰ Matsya, 114. 74-75 ; Brahmāṇḍa, 37. 28-34 ; 50. 25-26 ; Mahābhārata, vi. 5. 13-16 ; 7. 19-20. Since the name Sucakṣu (Oxus) is replaced in a passage of the Mahābhārata by that of the Jambu-nadī, Raychaudhuri conjectures that Jambu may be the same as Amu, i.e. Amu Darya or Oxus (op. cit., p. 71, note).

c6.s4.3

⁵¹ Mārkaṇḍeya, 54. 12f.

c6.s4.4

⁵² Brahmāṇḍa, 44. 35, 41 and 50 ; Mārkaṇḍeya, 55. 20f. ; Nīlakaṇṭha on the Mahābhārata, vi. 6. 3-5.

c6.s4.5

⁵³ Brahmāṇḍa, 35. 22 ; Mārkaṇḍeya, 60.7.

c6.s4.6

⁵⁴ Cf. Raychaudhuri, op.cit., p. 72 ; for the number 7, see Matsya, 113. 7 ; Brahmāṇḍa, 35. 24 and 28 ; cf. Mahābhārata, vi. 6. 53 ; for the number 9, see Matsya, 114. 85 ; Brahmāṇḍa, 34. 48 ; 35. 7 ; Nīlakaṇṭha on the Mahābhārata, vi. 6. 37.

c6.s4.7

⁵⁵ Matsya, 113. 32 ; Brahmāṇḍa, 35. 33 ; Mahābhārata, vi. 6.

c6.s4.8

The Ramyaka-varṣa is also called Ramaṇaka⁵⁶ and Nila⁵⁷ and it is sometimes placed to the north-west of the Meru.⁵⁸ Hiraṇmaya is also called Hiraṇvat,⁵⁹ Śveta or Śukla.⁶⁰ It is occassionally located to the south-east of Mount Meru⁶¹ and the Hairaṇvati-nadī is said to be flowing through it.⁶² Uttara-Kuru is also called Śṛṅgavat⁶³ and Airāvata⁶⁴ while the names Hima,⁶⁵ Haimavata⁶⁶ and Ajanābha⁶⁷ are sometimes applied to Bhārata. Again, Kimpurusa is likewise called Hemakūṭa,⁶⁸ Haimavata⁶⁹ and Kinnara-khaṇḍa,⁷⁰ and Hari is occassionally mentioned as Naiṣadha⁷¹ and placed to the south-west of Meru.⁷²

c6.s4.9

³⁸ The same shape is indicated by Hiuen-tsang who compares it to a half-moon with its broad side to the north (Watters, On Yuan Chwang’s Travels in India, Vol. i, p. 140). Another Chinese author speaks of India’s shape as narrow towards the south and broad towards the north (Cunningham’s Ancient Geography of India, ed. Majumdar Sastri, p. 12). Nīlakaṇṭha (on the Mahābhārata, vi. 6. 3-5) calls it trikoṇa or triangular.

c6.s4.10

⁵⁶ Matsya, 113. 61 ; Mahābhārata, vi. 8. 2.

c6.s4.11

⁵⁷ Brahmāṇḍa, 34. 46.

c6.s4.12

⁵⁸ Garuda, 55.

c6.s4.13

⁵⁹ Matsya, 113. 64 ; Mahābhārata, vi. 8. 5.

c6.s4.14

⁶⁰ Brahmāṇḍa, 34. 46 ; Agni, 107.

c6.s4.15

⁶¹ Garuda, 56. 1.

c6.s4.16

⁶² Mahābhārata, vi. 8. 5.

c6.s4.17

⁶³ Brahmāṇḍa, 37. 47.

c6.s4.18

⁶⁴ Mahābhārata, vi. 6. 37.

c6.s4.19

⁶⁵ Brahmāṇḍa, 84, 44 and 53.

c6.s4.20

⁶⁶ Brahmāṇḍa, 35. 30 ; Matsya, 113. 28.

c6.s4.21

⁶⁷ Raychaudhuri, op. cit., p. 72, note 4.

c6.s4.22

⁶⁸ Brahmāṇḍa, 34. 44.

c6.s4.23

⁶⁹ Mahābhārata, vi. 6. 7.

c6.s4.24

⁷⁰ 'Ain-i-Akbarī, op. cit., pp. 30-31.

c6.s4.25

⁷¹ Brahmāṇḍa, 34. 45.

c6.s4.26

⁷² Garuda, 55. 2.

c6.s4.27

As regards the two longitudinal varṣas, Bhadrāśva is sometimes called Mālyavat,⁷³ Pūrva-dvīpa⁷⁴ or Supārśva⁷⁵ while Ketumāla is given the name Gandhamādana.⁷⁶ Many of the alternative names are derived from those of the mountains, called varṣa-parvata, which separate any two of the varṣas lying to the south and north of the Meru or Ilāvṛta-vaṣa. Thus (1) the Himavat stands between Bhārata and Kimpuruṣa, (2) the Hemakūṭa between Kimpuruṣa and Hari, (3) the Niṣadha between Hari and Ilāvṛta, (4) the Meru at the centre of Ilāvṛta, (5) the Nīla between Ilāvṛta and Ramyaka, (6) the Śveta between Ramyaka and Hiraṇmaya, and (7) the Śṛṅgin, Triśṛṅga or Śṛṅgavat between Hiraṇmaya and Uttara-Kuru⁷⁷ which is, however, sometimes located to the south of the Nīla range and on the border of the Meru.⁷⁸

c6.s4.28

⁷³ Brahmāṇḍa, 34. 47 ; but cf. above, p. 46.

c6.s4.29

⁷⁴ Brahmāṇḍa, 45. 24 ; 46. 35 ; cf. Pūrva-Videha.

c6.s4.30

⁷⁵ Agni, 108. 14.

c6.s4.31

⁷⁶ Brahmāṇḍa, 34. 48 ; but cf. above, p. 46.

c6.s4.32

⁷⁷ Cf. Raychaudhuri, op. cit., p. 89.

c6.s4.33

⁷⁸ Mahābhārata, vi. 7. 2

c6.s4.34

Sometimes the varṣas, excluding Bhārata, are given a mythical character as we have mentioned already specially in connection with Uttara-Kuru. Thus it is said, “And in these lands, the ages do not exist, nor bodily nor mental sicknesses ; nor is there any undertaking involving merit or demerit there.”⁷⁹

c6.s4.35

³ Some of the details in the late Purāṇic statements may be due to Jain influence.

c6.s4.36

⁷ Cf. Śveta-dvīpa mentioned in the Nārāyaṇīya section of the Mahābhārata (xii. 334 ff.).

c6.s4.37

⁷⁹ Cf. Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, 56. 22-26 ; cf. 53. 35-36 ; Viṣṇu, ii. 4. 9. 15.

c6.s4.38

The bow-shaped Bhārata-varṣa would appear to be the Indian subcontinent since it is described as semi-circular and lying between the Himavat in the north and the sea in the south⁸⁰ or as catuḥ-saṃsthāna-saṃsthita having the Himavat like the string of a bow in the north and the sea in the south, east and west.⁸¹ But it is said to have been divided into nine subdivisions (nava-bheda), all of which ‘extend to the ocean, but are mutually inaccessible.’82 As regards the shape of the Bhārata-varṣa, described as ‘constituted with a fourfold conformation’ (probably a rhomboid or rectangle or unequal quadrilateral), we have to note that it was known to Eratosthenes and other Western writers.⁸³ Besides the above two conceptions, the Kūrmavibhāga (Kūrmaniveśa) in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa and in the astronomical works concieve of the Bhārata-varṣa as conforming to the shape of a tortoise lying outspread and facing towards the east.⁸⁴

c6.s4.39

⁸⁰ Vāyu, 45. 75-76 ; Viṣṇu, ii. 3. 1.

c6.s4.40

⁸¹ Mārkaṇḍeya, 57. 58-59—etat=tu Bhārataṃ varṣam catuḥ-saṃsthāna-saṃsthitam | dakṣiṇ-āparato hy=asya pūrveṇa ca mahodahiḥ | Himavān=uttareṇ=āsya kārmukasya yathā guṇaḥ ||
82. Mārkaṇḍeya, 57. 5-6.

c6.s4.41

⁸³ Majumdar Sastri, Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India, p. 2 ; CHI, Vol. i, pp. 400-02.

c6.s4.42

⁸⁴ Mārkaṇḍeya, 58 ; cf. Varāhamihira's Bṛhatsaṃhitā, xiv.

c6.s4.43

The nine subdivisions of the Bhārata-varṣa are enumerated in the earlier Purāṇas as—(1) Indra-dvīpa, (2) Kaserumat, (3) Tāmraparṇa, (4) Gabhastimat, (5) Nāga-dvīpa, (6) Saumya, (7) Gāndharva, (8) Vāruṇa, and (9) Sāgarasaṃvṛta (surrounded by the sea), the last of the list being described as 1000 yojanas from north to south and being inhabited by the Kirāta on the eastern border, the Yavana on the western border and the Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya and Śūdra in the middle.⁸⁵ Some late Puranic passages mention Kaṭāha, Siṃhala and Kumāra (also called Kumārī or Kumārikā) instead of Saumya, Gāndharva and Sāgarasa-mṛta.⁸⁶ As regards the inhabitants of the ninth supdivision of the Bhārata-varṣa, these passages add the Andhras on the southern border and the Turuṣkas on the northern.⁸⁷ In any case, the ninth division of the Bhārata-varṣa apparently indicates the Indian subcontinent with a part of Central Asia, so that the Bhārata-varṣa itself would appear to be a bigger unit. The Kula-parvatas,⁸⁸ peoples and rivers of the Indian sub-continent are all located in the said ninth subdivision.

c6.s4.44

⁸⁵ Mārkaṇḍeya, 57. Al-Bīrūnī wrongly reads Sāgarasaṃvṛta as Nagarasaṃvṛta (Sachau, op. cit., Vol. i, p. 295). The extent of the ninth division from Kumārikya to the source of the Gaṅgā seems to be given as 9,000 yojanas (Vāyu, 45. 81—āyato hy=ā Kumārikyād=ā Gaṅgāprabhavāc=ca vai | tiryag=uttara-vistīrṇaḥ sahasrāṇi nav=aiva tu).

c6.s4.45

⁸⁶ Vāmana, 13. 10-11 ; Garuḍa, 55. 5 ; Skanda, Kumārikā-khaṇḍa, 39-69 ; ’Ain-i-Akbarī, op. cit., Vol. iii, p. 31.

c6.s4.46

⁸⁷ Garuḍa, 55. 6.

c6.s4.47

⁸⁸ These are (1) Mahendra (Eastern Ghāṭs), (2) Malaya (Southernmost portion of the Western Ghāṭs), (3) Sahya (Western Ghāṭs), (4) Śuktimat (part of the Vindhyan range around the Śakti hills in the Raigarh region of Madhya Pradesh), (5) Ṛkṣavat (part of the Vindhyan range to the south of Malwa), (6) Vindhya, and (7) Pāriyātra or Pāripātra (western Vindhyas together with the Aravali).

c6.s4.48

Strangely enough, medieval writers like Al-Bīrūnī and Abul Fazal tried to locate the subdivisions of the Bhārata-varṣa in the sub-continent itself: (1) Indra-dvīpa—Mid-India (Al-Bīrūnī), between Laṅkā and the Mahendra range (Abul Fazl) ;⁸⁹ (2) Kaserumat—to the east of the Madhya-deśa (Al-Bīrūnī), between the Mahendra and the Śuktimat (Abul Fazl); (3) Tāmraparṇa—in South-Eastern India (Al-Bīrūnī), between the Śuktimat and Malaya (Abul Fazl); (4) Gabhastimat—south of the Madhya-deśa (Al-Bīrūnī), between the Ṛkṣavat and the Pāriyātra (Abul Fazl); (5) Nāga-dvīpa ; (6) Saumya ; (7) Gāndharva—to the north-west of the Madhya-deśa (Al-Bīrūnī); (8) Vāruṇa—western part of the tract between the Sahya and the Vindhya (Abul Fazl). No importance can of course be attached to these suggestions. But equally strange is the fact that Suvarṇa-dvīpa or Suvarṇa-bhūmi, well-known from various other sources, is not mentioned in the list.

c6.s4.49

⁸⁹ The Skanda Purāṇa (Kumārikā-khaṇḍa, 39. 113) locates the Indra-dvīpa beyond the Mahendra.

c6.s4.50

Very few of the names can be satisfactorily identified. Thus the Nāga-dvīpa is the Jaffna Peninsula of Ceylon, while Tāmraparṇa (Greek Taprobane, Aśokan Tāmraparṇī) is a well-known name of Ceylon. When the implication of some of the names was forgotten, the names Siṃhala (Ceylon) and Kaṭāha (Kedah region of the Malay Peninsula) were introduced in the list. The only other name about which some information is available is the Indra-dvīpa which is mentioned in another geographical section of the Purāṇas. Of the seven streams of the Gaṅgā rising from Lake Bindu in the Himalayas, Nalinī, Hlādinī and Pāvanī are said to be flowing towards the east, and one out these three is described as crossing the lands of the Kupatha, Kharapatha, Vetrapatha, Śaṅkupatha, Kuthaprāvaraṇa, etc., and entering the sea in or near the Indra-dvīpa. Kharapatha, Śaṅkupatha and Vetrapatha (passes to be crossed with the help of mules, pegs and canes) are mentioned in Indian literature in connection with the Suvarṇa-bhūmi or land beyond the Bay of Bengal.⁹⁰ The Indra-dvīpa may therefore be identified with some tract in Indochina, or Indonesia. The other names can scarcely be identified with any amount of plausibility.

c6.s4.51

⁹⁰ Sircar, Stud. Geog. Anc. Med. Ind., pp. 65-66. See also below
91. Elsewhere the Haimavata, Hari, Videha, Ramyaka and Hiraṇyavata varṣas are associated respectively with the Śabdāpāti, Vikaṭāpāti (Gandhāpāti), Mandara (Meru), Gandhāpāti (Mālyavat) and Mālyavat (Vikaṭāpāti). See Kirfel, op. cit, p. 222.

c6.s4.52

According to the Jain writers, who apparently depended on the Puranic conception of the Jambu-dvīpa, the said island was divided into seven parts (varṣa, kṣetra, etc.) by six mountain ranges running from west to east, which are called Varṣadhara-pravata or Kula-parvata. The 6 mountains (from south to north) are—(1) Himavat or Kṣudra-Himavat, (2) Mahā-Himavat, (3) Niṣadha, (4) Nīla, (5) Rukmin and (6) Śikharin while the 7 zones (from south to north) are (1) Bharata (not Bhārata), (2) Haimavata, (3) Hari, (4) Videha, (5) Ramyaka, (6) Hiraṇyavata and (7) Airāvata.91 Each of the mountains has a number of peaks and a vast lake on the summit. The lake on the Himavat is called Padma which is 1000 yojanas long, 500 yojanas broad and 10 yojanas deep. The name of the deity worshipped on a huge lotus in it is Śrī. The three big rivers running from the Padma lake to the east, west and north are respectively the Gaṅgā, the Sindhu and the Rohitāṃśā.⁹² There are not only similar details about all the other mountains, lakes and regions, but also about the other six divisions of the Jambu-dvīpa. Thus it is said that, in the middle of the Videha-varṣa, stands the Mandara or Meru mountain which has 14 names—(1) Manorama, (2) Sudarśana, (3) Svayamprabha, (4) Girirāja, (5) Ratnoccaya, (6) Śiloccaya, (7) Lokamadhya, (8) Lokanābhi, (9) Accha (Ṛkṣa), (10) Sūryāvarta, (11) Sūryāvaraṇa, (12) Uttama, (13) Diśādi and (14) Avataṃsa or Viḍiṃsa.⁹³ The Videha-varṣa is said to have been divided into two halves, viz. Pūrva-Videha and Apara-Videha. Likewise the Bharata and Airāvata varṣas are described as divided into two halves by the mountain range called Vaitāḍhya.⁹⁴

c6.s4.53

⁹² The rivers issuing from the lakes on the other mountains are the following : (1) the Mahāpadma on the Mahā-Himavat—the Rohita flowing to the south and the Harikāntā to the north ; (2) the Tiṅgiccha on the Niṣadha—the Harita to the north and the Śitodā to the south ; (3) the Kesarin on the Nīla—Śitā to the south and Nārī to the north ; (4) the Mahāpuṇḍarīka on the Rukmin—the Narakāntā to the south and the Rūpyakūlā to the north ; and (5) the Puṇḍarīka on the Śikharin—the Svarṇakūlā to the south, the Raktā to the east and the Raktodā to the west. Cf. Kirfel, loc. cit.

c6.s4.54

⁹³ Ibid., pp. 233, 250.

c6.s4.55

⁹⁴ Ibid., p. 250.

c6.s4.56

The central continent called Jambu-dvīpa is surrounded by the Lavaṇoda ocean (200,000 yojanas in breadth). Around the said ocean is the second continent called Dhātakī-khaṇḍa (400,000 yojanas in breadth) which is encircled by the Kāloda ocean (800,000 yojanas in breadth). Surrounding the Kāloda ocean stands the third continent called Puṣkara-dvīpa (1600,000 yojanas in breadth) which is surrounded by the Puṣkaroda ocean (3200,000 yojanas in breadth). This ocean is surrounded by the fourth continent called Vāruṇivara encircled by the Vāruṇyoda ocean with waters smelling rum (cf. the Surā-samudra of the Purāṇas). The above is surrounded by the Kṣīravara, the fifth continent, which is itself encircled by the ocean called Kṣīroda (cf. the Dugdha-samudra of the Purāṇas). Next follow the Ghṛtavara, the sixth continent, and the Ghṛtoda ocean (cf. the Puranic Sarpiḥ-samudra) as also Kṣaudravara, the seventh continent, and encircling it the Kṣaudroda ocean (cf. the Puranic Ikṣu-samudra).

c6.s4.57

Besides the above 7 concentric island-continents, each surrounded by a sea, which the Jains adapted principally from the Purāṇas and probably also from the Buddhist sources (cf. the reference to Pūrva-Videha), the Jain writers offer details regarding many other similar island-continents. It seems that originally the Jain authors also thought of only seven island-continents,⁹⁵ the number being gradually increased by later writers who gave the numbers and names of the islands differently. Of the seven islands, the names of Jambu and Puṣkara are well known from the Puranic lists while Dhātaki-khaṇḍa is represented in the Purāṇas as a division of the Puṣkara-dvīpa. The names of the last four out of the seven are coined from those of the Puranic lists of the oceans, though Vāruṇivara reminds us also of the name Vāruṇa applied in the Purāṇas to one of the 9 divisions of the Bhārata-varṣa.

c6.s4.58

⁹⁵ This seems to be suggested by the fact that the Tiloyapaṇṇatti once (V. 30) mentions the following seven oceans specially—(1) Varuṇoda, (2) Kāloda, (3) Lavaṇoda, (4) Ghṛtoda, (5) Kṣīroda, (6) Puṣkaroda, and (7) Svayambhū-ramaṇa.

c6.s4.59

According to the post-Gupta work entitled Tiloyapaṇṇatti (V. 11-26), there are 16 inner and 16 outer islands forming the earth and each of them has an ocean beyond it. Of the 16 inner dvīpas, the first seven have been enumerated above; the other nine are the following: 1. Nandiśvara continent and ocean, 2. Aruṇavara continent and ocean, 3. Aruṇābhāsa continent and ocean, 4. Kuṇḍalavara continent and ocean, 5. Śaṅkhavara continent and ocean, 6. Rucakavara continent and ocean, 7. Bhujagavara continent and ocean, 8. Kuśavara continent and ocean, and 9. Krauñcavara continent and ocean. The 16 outer islands bear the following names each of which is also applied to the ocean beyond the island concerned: 1. Manaḥśilā, 2. Haritāla, 3. Sindūra, 4. Śyāma, 5. Añjanavara, 6. Hiṅgula, 7. Rūpya, 8. Kāñcanaka, 9. Vajravara, 10. Vaidūrya, 11. Nāgavara, 12. Bhūtavara, 13. Yakṣavara, 14. Devavara, 15. Ahīndravara, and 16. Svayambhūramaṇa. Of these Kuśa and Krauñca remind us of the Puranic list of the 7 dvīpas, Manaḥśilā of the Buddhist Manaḥśilātala and Rūpya and Kāñcana of the Ramayanic Suvarṇa-Rūpyaka-dvīpa to be mentioned below. The names Rucaka, Aruṇa, Śaṅkha, etc., are also found in the Purāṇas.

c6.s4.60

How the numbers of the islands and oceans were arbitrarily increased can be seen from their lists in later works which offer the following names, each applied to both an island and an ocean, all lying beyond the Nandiśvara-dvīpa surrounded by the Nandiśvara Ocean: 1. Aruṇa, 2. Aruṇavara, 3. Aruṇavarāvabhāsa, 4. Kuṇḍala, 5. Kuṇḍalavara, 6. Kuṇḍalavarāvabhāsa, 7. Śaṅkha, 8. Śaṅkhavara, 9. Śaṅkhavarāvabhāsa, 10. Rucaka, 11. Rucakavara, 12. Rucakavarāvabhāsa, 13. Hāra, 14. Hāravara, 15. Hāravarāvabhāsa, 16. Ardhahāra, 17. Ardhahāravara, 18. Ardhahāravarāvabhāsa, 19. Kanakāvali, 20. Kanakāvalivara, 21. Kanakāvalivarāvabhāsa, 22. Ratnāvali, 23. Ratnāvalivara, 24. Ratnāvalivarāvabhāsa, 25. Muktāvali, 26. Muktāvalivara, 27. Muktāvalivarāvabhāsa, 28. Ajina, 29. Ajinavara, 30. Ajinavarāvabhāsa, 31. Sūrya, 32. Sūryavara, 33. Sūryavarāvabhāsa, 34. Deva, 35. Nāga, 36. Yakṣa, 37. Bhūta, and 38. Svayambhūramaṇa.⁹⁶

c6.s4.61

⁹⁶ See Kirfel, op. cit., pp. 253-61.

c6.s4.62

It will be seen that this list offers 45 names of islands in place of the 32 names of the Tiloyapaṇṇatti of an earlier date and that, in the later list, 22 new names have been coined out of 11 names by suffixing the expressions vara and varāvabhāsa to the latter. There are also numerous fantastic details about all the islands and oceans which have little to do with real geography. But thanks are due to the Jain writers for their power of imagination and passion for useless description in which they appear to have excelled the Puranic writers.

Linked texts (14)