Shloka 30
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.
They are named Svarṇaprastha, Candraśukla, Āvartana, Ramaṇaka, Mandara-hariṇa, Pāñcajanya, Siṁhala, and Laṅkā—these are said to be the surrounding sub-islands of Jambūdvīpa.
In the Kūrma Purāṇa there is this statement about the desires of the demigods:
FAQs
In Canto 5, Chapter 19, Śukadeva states that some authorities describe eight upadvīpas of Jambūdvīpa—Svarṇaprastha, Candraśukla, Āvartana, Ramaṇaka, Mandarahariṇa, Pāñcajanya, Siṁhala, and Laṅkā—said to have been formed when Sagara’s sons dug around the land while searching for the sacrificial horse.
Because the narrative explanation for how these geographic divisions arose is linked to their famous horse-search episode; Śukadeva uses that historical-puranic event to account for the origin of Jambūdvīpa’s subsidiary islands.
It trains the mind to see the world as the Lord’s ordered creation (īśāvāsya-bhāva), encouraging humility, reverence, and remembrance of Bhagavān rather than viewing the earth only as an object for exploitation.