Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 58, Shloka 14
Adhyaya 58 — The Kurma-Form of Narayana: Mapping Bharata through Nakshatras, Regions, and Planetary Afflictions
कशायाः मेखलामुष्टास्ताम्रलिप्तैकपादपाः ।
वर्धमानाः कोशलाश्च मुखे कूर्मस्य संस्थिताः ॥
kaśāyā mekhalāmuṣṭās tāmraliptaikapādapāḥ / vardhamānā kośalāś ca mukhe kūrmasya saṃśthitāḥ
The Kaśāyas, the Mekhalāmuṣṭas, the Tāmraliptas, the Ekapādapāsas, the Vardhamānas, and the Kośalas are situated in the mouth of the cosmic tortoise.
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FAQs
By placing communities within a cosmic body, the text frames geography as sacralized order—suggesting a worldview where social and spatial diversity are components of a single dharmic cosmos.
Primarily Sthāna (ordering of the world/regions).
‘Mouth’ placement can imply ‘ingress/utterance’ symbolism—regions at the mouth are metaphorically at the interface of intake and speech, i.e., exchange, trade, and communication (often consistent with coastal/market associations in later identifications).