History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c95.129

v7.c95.129

The Vāyu (45, 75-81) states that Bhāratavarṣa is to the north of the ocean and to the south of Himavat (Himālaya) and Manu was called Bharata because he supported his subjects and therefore this varṣa is called Bhārata. The Brahmāṇḍa (II. 16.7, says the same thing. The same (Vāyu) Purāṇa contradicts itself by stating (in 33. 50-52) that Nābhi's son was Ṛṣabha, whose son was Bharata after whom Bharata-varṣa is so called. Brahmāṇḍa (II. 14.60-62) says the same thing; Vāyu also stated (in 99. 134) that from Duṣyanta and Śakuntalā was born Bharata and Bhārata is so called²⁴⁸³ after him. The seven principal mountains of Bhāratavarṣa are Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Śuktimat, Ṛkṣaparvata, Vindhya and Pāriyātra. The Purāṇas affirm that Bhārata is the best in the varṣas of Jambudvīpa (Brahma 19. 23-24, Viṣṇu III. 3. 22, Brahmāṇḍa II. 16. 17). Some of them contain fine eulogies of Bhārata (e. g. Brahma 27. 2.9 and 69-79, Viṣṇu II. 3. 23-26.).