Shloka 7
Adhyāya 6: Pañca-mahābhūta–guṇa-nirdeśa and Sudarśana-dvīpa
Five Elements, Sensory Qualities, and a Cosmographic Island
वसन्ति तेषु सत्त्वानि नानाजातीनि सर्वश: । इदं तु भारतं वर्ष ततो हैमवतं परम्,उनमें सब ओर नाना जातियोंके प्राणी निवास करते हैं, उनमेंसे यह भारतवर्ष है। इसके बाद हिमालयसे उत्तर हैमवतवर्ष है
vasanti teṣu sattvāni nānājātīni sarvaśaḥ | idaṃ tu bhārataṃ varṣa tato haimavataṃ param ||
Sañjaya said: “In those regions dwell living beings of many kinds, in every direction. Among them is this land called Bhārata-varṣa; beyond it, to the north of the Himālaya, lies the region known as Haimavata.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Bhārata within a wider world of diverse beings and regions, emphasizing plurality of life and the ordered description of lands; it is descriptive rather than prescriptive, grounding the epic’s events in a broader cosmographic context.
Sañjaya continues a geographical/cosmological account, noting that many kinds of beings inhabit various regions, identifying Bhārata-varṣa, and then pointing to the Haimavata region lying beyond (to the north of) the Himālaya.