Adhyaya 53 — Rudrasarga and the Measure of the Manvantaras: Svayambhuva Manu, Priyavrata’s Line, and the Seven Dvipas
आनन्दञ्च शिवञ्चैव क्षेमकञ्च ध्रुवन्तथा ।
प्लक्षद्वीपादिभूतेषु शाकद्वीपान्तिमेषु वै ॥
ānandañ ca śivañ caiva kṣemakañ ca dhruvan tathā /
plakṣadvīpādibhūteṣu śākadvīpāntimeṣu vai
প্লক্ষদ্বীপ থেকে আরম্ভ করে অন্তিম শাকদ্বীপ পর্যন্ত যে সকল দেশে, সেখানে ‘আনন্দ’, ‘শিব’, ‘ক্ষেমক’ এবং ‘ধ্রুব’—এই নামগুলি প্রসিদ্ধ।
Purāṇic geography is not merely cartographic; the toponyms (Ānanda, Śiva, Kṣema, Dhruva) encode ideals—bliss, auspiciousness, security, and steadfastness—implying that ordered worlds are sustained by stable dharmic qualities.
Primarily ‘Sthāna’ (cosmic arrangement/locations) via dvīpa-varṣa naming; secondarily supports ‘Vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita’ context as the chapter transitions toward dynastic genealogy.
The repeated ideal-names across dvīpas suggest archetypal ‘states’ of being: bliss (ānanda), auspicious clarity (śiva), protected wholeness (kṣema), and inner steadiness (dhruva), read as inner cosmology mapped onto outer space.