Vamana Purana — Structure of Jambudvipa, Shloka 56
The Structure of Jambudvipa: Nine Varshas, Navadvipa Bharata, Mountains, Rivers, and Peoples
अथो देशान् प्रवक्ष्यामः पर्वताश्रयिणस्तु ये निराहारा हंसमार्गाः कुपथास्तङ्गणाः खशाः
atho deśān pravakṣyāmaḥ parvatāśrayiṇastu ye nirāhārā haṃsamārgāḥ kupathāstaṅgaṇāḥ khaśāḥ
À présent, je décrirai les contrées—ceux qui demeurent dans des refuges de montagne : les Nirāhāras, les Haṃsamārgas, les Kupathas, les Taṅgaṇas et les Khaśas.
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FAQs
The verse functions less as moral instruction and more as a Purāṇic mapping of the inhabited world, acknowledging diverse frontier communities within a single sacred cosmological order.
This aligns most closely with Sthāna (description of the world/regions) within the Purāṇic fivefold characteristics, rather than sarga/pratisarga or dynastic narration.
Mountain-dwelling ‘edge’ peoples symbolize the Purāṇic concern to include liminal geographies—outer zones of Āryāvarta—within the narrative of dharma and cosmic order, even when not tied to a specific avatāra episode.