Description of the Seven Dvipas

Sanatkumara said

I will speak of Bharatavarsha, south of the Himalaya mountains and north of the ocean. Its people are called Bharatis. It extends nine thousand yojanas. The learned call it the land of action for those who desire heaven or liberation, since from here men go to heaven or hell. It has nine sub-divisions: Indradyumna, Kaseru, Tamravarna, Gabhastimat, Nagadvipa, Soumya, Gandharva and Varuna, the ninth being Sagarasambhrita. This dvipa extends a thousand yojanas from south to north. The Kiratas live in the east, the Yavanas are known to be in the west and south, and ascetics live in the north. In the middle region live brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras, who perform sacrifices, fight, trade and do other things for a living. The seven principal mountain ranges here are Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Shuktimat, Sudama, Vindhya and Pariyatra. Sage, the Vedasmriti and other ancient rivers flow from Pariyatra, and seeing or touching them destroys all sins. Seven great rivers, Narmada, Surasa and others, flow from the Vindhyas, auspicious and destroying all sins, along with thousands of minor rivers. Godavari, Bhimarathi and Tapi, the chief rivers flowing from Mount Riksha, instantly take away fear of sin. Krishna, Venya and others are said to flow from Sahya's feet. Kritamala and Tamraparni are foremost of those from Malaya. Triyama, Rishikulya and others flow from Mahendra, and Rishikulya, Kumari and others from the feet of Shuktimat. Many people live in different countries in their basins, drinking from the rivers and from various lakes. Great sage, the four yugas, krita, treta, dvapara and kali, exist in Bharatavarsha and nowhere else. People here perform sacrifices, do good deeds and give gifts, and for the world hereafter mendicants lovingly torment themselves in austerities. Many kinds of karma are done in Jambudvipa, and among all its divisions Bharatavarsha is best; the other places are lands of enjoyment. After thousands of births one is born a mortal creature here, and after thousands more, sometimes, one gains enough merit to be born a human. So the gods sing a song: blessed are those born in this land of Bharata, for beings born as men here can follow the path to both heaven and liberation. Having occasionally gained human birth, I must resolve to do all karma for its fruits, vesting everything in Shambhu, a form of the supreme self, and eventually be united with his form. Only humans are blessed and happy, since they can act; even other beings born in Bharata are blessed, since they can gain both heaven and liberation. Jambudvipa's whole breadth is a hundred thousand yojanas, surrounded on all sides by the salt ocean, which on the outside surrounds it for that same hundred thousand yojanas.

Brahmana, as Jambudvipa is surrounded by a salt ocean of a hundred thousand yojanas, Plakshadvipa surrounds that ocean and is said to be twice the size. Seven mountains serve as its boundaries: Gomanta, Chandra, Narada, Dardura, Somaka, Sumanas and Vaibhraja. With gods and gandharvas the people always live in these lovely varshas and their mountains. They never suffer bodily or mental ailments and live ten thousand years. Its seven rivers are Anutapta, Shikhi, Papaghni, Tridiva, Kripa, Amrita and Sukrita, with thousands of smaller rivers and mountains. The people of its settlements drink from these rivers and are very happy. The divisions into yugas do not exist in those seven regions, and the time is always like the treta yuga. There are brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras there. Right in the middle stands a huge tree like a wish-tree, and since it is called Plaksha, this is Plakshadvipa. Bhagavan Shankara, who brings welfare to the worlds, performs sacrifices there, and Hari and Brahma too perform sacrifices there with Vedic yantras and mantras.

Now hear briefly of Shalmali. It too has seven varshas: Shveta, Harita, Jimuta, Rohita, Vaikala, Manasa and Suprabha the seventh. Because of the name of a shalmali tree the dvipa is called Shalmala. It is surrounded on every side by an ocean twice its size. The rivers in its varshas are Shukla, Rakta, Hiranya, Chandra, Shubhra, Vimochana and Nivritti the seventh, sacred and very cool. The four varnas in those seven varshas always worship Bhagavan Shambhu with many different sacrifices, and the gods live near them in that lovely region. This dvipa is surrounded on all sides by an ocean of liquor.

That ocean is surrounded on every side by Kushadvipa, twice the size of Shalmala. Humans live there with daityas, danavas, gods, gandharvas, yakshas, kimpurushas and others, four varnas each busy with their own duties. In Kushadvipa they sacrifice to Brahma, Janardana and Ishana, who grants every desire as fruit. Its seven mountains are Kusheshaya, Hari, Dyutimat, Pushpavat, Manidruma, Hemashaila and Mandara the seventh. The seven rivers there are Dhutapapa, Shiva, the sacred Sanmiti, Vidya, Dambha, Mahi and one more, which dispel all sins, with thousands of other minor rivers of auspicious water and golden sands. Kushadvipa has a clump of kusha grass and is surrounded by an ocean of ghee.

Now hear of another great region, Krounchadvipa, surrounded by an ocean of curd twice its size. Its mountains are Krouncha, Vamana, Andhakaraka third, Divavriti, Manas, Pundarika and Dundubhi. With hosts of gods the people live happily without fear in the varshas and mountains, which are golden all over and beautiful. There are brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras in order. There are seven great rivers and thousands of smaller ones, and they drink their auspicious waters: Gouri, Kumudvati, Sandhya, Ratri, Manojava, Shanti and Pundarika. Bhagavan is worshipped there in his form as Yogarudra.

The ocean of curd is surrounded by Shakadvipa, twice the size, with seven mountains: Udaygiri in the east, then Jaladhara, Astagiri toward the back, Avikesha and Kesari. A great shaka tree stands there, frequented by siddhas and gandharvas. There are sacred settlements filled with the four varnas, and extremely sacred rivers that cleanse all sins: Sukumari, Kumari, Nalini, Venuka, Ikshu, Dhenuka and Gabhasti the seventh, with thousands of minor ones and hundreds and thousands of mountains. Dharma does not suffer there, and humans go there from heaven and amuse themselves with one another in those varshas. In Shakadvipa's settlements people always happily worship Surya, and, as said before, control themselves and do their own karma properly. In every direction Shakadvipa is surrounded by an ocean of milk.

Vyasa, that ocean of milk is surrounded in every direction by the region called Pushkara, which is twice the size of the ocean of milk. A great varsha there is famous as Manasa, five thousand yojanas high, with a circle all round it a hundred thousand yojanas long. Pushkaradvipa is like a circle, and a mountain in the middle divides it into two parts, each like a half-circle and making two similar varshas. Men there live ten thousand years, free of disease and grief, without attachment or hatred. Their minds do not turn to adharma and they do not imprison or kill anyone. For those living there there is no notion of truth or falsehood. All humans there are golden-complexioned and alike in dress and features. Kaleya, its varshas are held to be like heaven on earth, with no old age or disease and always conducive to happiness. This is how it is in the Mahavita and Dhataki parts of Pushkara. There is a banyan there, Brahma's excellent place, where Brahma lives, worshipped by gods and asuras. Pushkara is surrounded by an ocean of sweet water.

So the seven dvipas are surrounded by seven oceans, and each dvipa and ocean is twice the size of the one before. The water in these oceans is said to be always constant, never rising or falling, yet, supreme sage, as water in a vessel diminishes when fire is applied, so when the moon waxes the water in the ocean rises and as it wanes it falls, with the bright and dark fortnights, so that the water has been seen to rise and fall hundreds and thousands of times. All the people in Pushkaradvipa always eat lumps of sugar that come of their own accord. Beyond this place there are no worlds. The mountain called Lokaloka stands there, twice the size of the ground round it and devoid of living beings, ten thousand yojanas high and long and a thousand wide. Beyond it is a cauldron of terrible darkness. With its dvipas and mountains the earth extends fifty crore yojanas. It is the support of all beings. Kaleya, it sustains all that moves and has more qualities than anything else.