Shloka 29
Devotion in Kimpuruṣa-varṣa and the Glory of Bhārata-varṣa
Rāmacandra & Nara-Nārāyaṇa; Rivers, Varṇāśrama, and Liberation
श्रीशुक उवाच जम्बूद्वीपस्य च राजन्नुपद्वीपानष्टौ हैक उपदिशन्ति सगरात्मजैरश्वान्वेषण इमां महीं परितो निखनद्भिरुपकल्पितान् ॥ २९ ॥ तद्यथा स्वर्णप्रस्थश्चन्द्रशुक्ल आवर्तनो रमणको मन्दरहरिण: पाञ्चजन्य: सिंहलो लङ्केति ॥ ३० ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca jambūdvīpasya ca rājann upadvīpān aṣṭau haika upadiśanti sagarātmajair aśvānveṣaṇa imāṁ mahīṁ parito nikhanadbhir upakalpitān; tad yathā svarṇaprasthaś candraśukla āvartano ramaṇako mandarahariṇaḥ pāñcajanyaḥ siṁhalo laṅketi.
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, some learned authorities describe eight smaller islands encircling Jambūdvīpa. When the sons of Mahārāja Sagara searched everywhere for the lost horse, they dug up the earth on all sides, and thus these eight adjoining islands came into being. Their names are Svarṇaprastha, Candraśukla, Āvartana, Ramaṇaka, Mandara-hariṇa, Pāñcajanya, Siṁhala, and Laṅkā.
In the Kūrma Purāṇa there is this statement about the desires of the demigods:
FAQs
This verse states that authorities describe eight upadvīpas of Jambūdvīpa, said to have been formed by the digging of Sagara’s sons during their search for the sacrificial horse.
Śukadeva is narrating the cosmological and geographical structure described in the Bhāgavatam; he links the eight sub-islands of Jambūdvīpa to a well-known Purāṇic event involving Sagara’s sons.
Even descriptive sections of the Bhāgavatam connect the world’s features to dharmic history, reminding a reader to see creation through sacred narrative and to study scripture with patience and reverence.