Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c6.s4.52

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