JAMBUDWEEP AND BHARATAVARSH

Sukeshi expressed his desire to the sages to know about Jambudweep. The sages replied- “Jambudweep is a very large island. It is subdivided into nine parts. Ilavritvarsh is situated in its central part while Bhadrashvavarsh is situated towards its eastern side. Some prominent places situated around it are- Hiranyakvarsh towards north-east, Kinnarvarsh towards south-east, Bharatavarsh towards south, Harivarsh towards south-west, Ketumalvarsh towards west, Ramyakvarsh towards north-west and Kuruvarsh towards north. All these nine Varshas are full of natural beauty. The inhabitants of all the eight Varshas except India are never troubled by old age or death. The inhabitants are also religious and virtuous by nature. They attain great accomplishment without making any real effort.

Bharatavarsh has nine sub-islands. All these islands are surrounded by oceans on all sides and it is difficult to go from one island to another. These sub-islands are Indradweep, Kaseruman, Tamravarna, Gabhastiman, Nagdweep, Karaha, Sinhal, Varun and Kumar. Kirat live towards east of Bharatavarsh while Yavan live towards the west. People living towards the south of Bharatavarsh are called Andhra and those living towards the north are called Turuyak. Bharatavarsh is mainly inhabited by people belonging to all the major four castes i.e. Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. The seven prominent mountains situated within Bharatavarsh are Mahendra, Malay, Sahya, Shukti, Manriksh, Vindhya and Pariyatra though there are many more mountains.

The following rivers originate from Himalaya Mountain- Saraswati, Yamuna, Hiranvati, Sutlej, Chandrika, Neela, Vitasta, Airavati, Kuhu, Devika, Ushira, Dhataki, Rasa, Gomti, Gandki, Kaushiki, Sarayu etc. Similarly, many rivers originate from the other mountains.

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