Adhyaya 88: Account of the Extents of Śālmaladvīpa, Gomedadvīpa, and Puṣkaradvīpa
Śālmaladvīpa–Gomedadvīpa–Puṣkaradvīpa-vistara-kathana
Ancient-Geography (Purāṇic Cosmography)
Within the Varāha–Pṛthivī teaching frame, Rudra gives a concise cosmographic account of the dvīpas and their proportional expansion. He begins with Śālmaladvīpa, twice Krauñcadvīpa and encircled by the ghee-ocean (ghṛta-samudra), listing seven principal mountains, seven varṣas, and their river systems, including named kula-parvatas. He then describes the sixth continent, Gomedadvīpa, twice Śālmaladvīpa and surrounded by a liquor-ocean (suroda), with two chief mountains such as Kumuda. Next comes Puṣkaradvīpa, ringed by the sugarcane-juice ocean (ikṣurasa), featuring Mānasaparvata and a varṣa divided into two. Rudra concludes with measures of Earth and the brahmāṇḍa, notes innumerable cosmic eggs, and recalls Nārāyaṇa’s boar-form stabilizing of Earth—presenting cosmography as a doctrine of terrestrial balance—before departing for Kailāsa.
Primary Speakers
Key Concepts
Shlokas in Adhyaya 88
Verse 1
रुद्र उवाच । त्रिषु शिष्टेषु वक्ष्यामि द्वीपेषु मनुजान्युत । शाल्मलं पञ्चमं वर्षं प्रवक्ष्ये तन्निबोधत । क्रौञ्चद्वीपस्य विस्ताराच्छाल्मलो द्विगुणो मतः ॥ ८८.१ ॥
Rudra said: “O best of humans, I shall now speak of the three remaining dvīpas. I will explain Śālmala, the fifth varṣa; attend to this well. In extent, Śālmala is held to be twice that of Kraunca-dvīpa.”
Verse 2
श्रीवराह उवाच । एवमुक्त्वा गतो रुद्रः क्षणाददृश्यमूर्तिमान् । ते च सर्वे गता देवा ऋषयश्च यथागतम् ॥ ८८.३ ॥
Śrī Varāha said: “Having spoken thus, Rudra departed, becoming invisible in an instant; and all those gods and seers likewise went away, each returning as they had come.”
Verse 3
घृतसमुद्रमावृत्य व्यवस्थितस्तद्विस्तारो द्विगुणस्तत्र च सप्त पर्वताः प्रधानास्तावन्ति वर्षाणि तावत्यो नद्यः । तत्र च पर्वताः । सुमहान् पीतःशातकुम्भात् सार्वगुणसौवर्णरोहितसुमनसकुशल ----- जाम्बूनदवैद्युता इत्येते कुलपर्वता वर्षाणि चेति । अथ षष्ठं गोमेदं कथ्यते । शाल्मलं यथा सुरोदेनावृतं तद्वत् सुरोदोऽपि तद्द्विगुणेन गोमेदेनावृतः । तत्र च प्रधानपर्वतौ द्वावेव । एकस्य तावत्तावसरः । अपरश्च कुमुद इति । समुद्रश्चेक्षुरसस्तद्द्विगुणेन पुष्करेणावृतः । तत्र च पुष्कराख्ये मानसो नाम पर्वतः । तदपि द्विधा छिन्नं वर्षं तत्प्रमाणेन च । स्वादोदकेनावृतम् । ततश्च कटाहम् । एतत् पृथिव्याः प्रमाणम् । ब्रह्माण्डस्य च सकटाहविस्तारप्रमाणम् । एवंविधानामण्डानां परिसंख्यां न विद्यते । एतानि कल्पे कल्पे भगवान् नारायणः क्रोडरूपी रसातलान्तःप्रविष्टानि दंष्ट्रैकैनोद्धृत्य स्थितौ स्थापयति । एष वः कथितो मार्गो भूमेरायामविस्तरः । स्वस्ति वोऽस्तु गमिष्यामि कैलासं निलयं द्विजाः
Enclosed by the Ghee-ocean, its expanse there is established as double; and there are seven principal mountains, as many regions (varṣas), and as many rivers. The mountains there—Sumahān, Pīta, Śātakumbha, Sārvaguṇa, Sauvarṇa, Rohita, Sumanas, Kuśala, … Jāmbūnada, Vaidyuta—these are the boundary (kula) mountains, and likewise the regions. Now the sixth dvīpa, Gomeda, is described. Just as Śālmala is enclosed by the Sura-ocean, so too the Sura-ocean is enclosed by Gomeda at twice that measure. There are only two principal mountains there: one is Tāvat-tāvasara, and the other is called Kumuda. The ocean is sugarcane-juice (Ikṣurasa), enclosed by Puṣkara at twice that measure. In the dvīpa called Puṣkara there is a mountain named Mānasa. That region too is divided into two, in due proportion. It is enclosed by the Sweet-water (Svādodaka) ocean; and then comes the cosmic ‘cauldron’ (kaṭāha). This is the measure of the earth, and also the measure of the brahmāṇḍa’s expanse together with its cauldron-like enclosure. The number of such egg-like universes is not known. In each aeon, Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, in the form of a boar, entering to the end of Rasātala, lifts them up with a single tusk and establishes them in stability. Thus the account of the earth’s length and breadth has been told to you. May there be well-being for you; I shall go to Kailāsa, my abode, O twice-born.”
Frequently Asked Questions
The chapter frames cosmographic measurement as a doctrine of order and stability: Earth (Pṛthivī) is depicted as periodically stabilized by Nārāyaṇa in boar-form, implying that terrestrial balance is maintained through a larger cosmic governance rather than human ritual action in this passage.
No tithi, lunar month, seasonal (ṛtu), or calendrical markers are specified in Adhyaya 88; the content is primarily spatial and proportional (dvīpa and ocean extents) rather than ritual-timing instruction.
It explicitly connects Earth’s stability to the Varāha motif: Nārāyaṇa, taking a boar form, enters rasātala and raises/sets the worlds into a stable condition. This functions as an early preservation narrative where cosmic structure and Earth’s habitability depend on periodic restorative intervention.
No royal genealogies or administrative lineages are named here. The principal figures are Rudra (as instructor), Varāha/Nārāyaṇa (as cosmic stabilizer), and the implied audience of sages (ṛṣayaḥ) and gods (devāḥ).