Shloka 5
मेरोर्दिग्वर्णनम् / Digvarṇana of Meru: Uttara-Kuru, Bhadrāśva, and Jambūdvīpa Motifs
दक्षिणेन तु नीलस्य निषधस्योत्तरेण तु । वर्ष हिरण्मयं नाम यत्र हैरण्वती नदी,नीलके दक्षिण और निषधके उत्तर हिरण्मयवर्ष है, जहाँ हैरण्यवती नदी बहती है
dakṣiṇena tu nīlasya niṣadhasyottareṇa tu | varṣa hiraṇmayaṃ nāma yatra hairaṇvatī nadī ||
Sañjaya said: To the south of Nīla and to the north of Niṣadha lies the region called Hiraṇmaya, where the river Hairaṇvatī flows.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse conveys a worldview in which the earth is described through ordered regions bounded by mountains and rivers. This sense of structured space supports the epic’s broader ethical vision: human conduct (dharma/adharma) unfolds within a cosmos understood as patterned and intelligible.
Sañjaya is describing a specific geographical region—Hiraṇmaya-varṣa—by locating it between the Nīla and Niṣadha ranges and noting the river Hairaṇvatī that flows there. It is part of a larger descriptive passage mapping the world’s divisions.