Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 53, Shloka 30
Adhyaya 53 — Rudrasarga and the Measure of the Manvantaras: Svayambhuva Manu, Priyavrata’s Line, and the Seven Dvipas
आनन्दञ्च शिवञ्चैव क्षेमकञ्च ध्रुवन्तथा ।
प्लक्षद्वीपादिभूतेषु शाकद्वीपान्तिमेषु वै ॥
ānandañ ca śivañ caiva kṣemakañ ca dhruvan tathā /
plakṣadvīpādibhūteṣu śākadvīpāntimeṣu vai
प्लक्षद्वीप से आरम्भ करके अन्तिम शाकद्वीप तक के देशों में ‘आनन्द’, ‘शिव’, ‘क्षेमक’ तथा ‘ध्रुव’—ये नाम प्रसिद्ध हैं।
FAQs
Purāṇic geography is not merely cartographic; the toponyms (Ānanda, Śiva, Kṣema, Dhruva) encode ideals—bliss, auspiciousness, security, and steadfastness—implying that ordered worlds are sustained by stable dharmic qualities.
Primarily ‘Sthāna’ (cosmic arrangement/locations) via dvīpa-varṣa naming; secondarily supports ‘Vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita’ context as the chapter transitions toward dynastic genealogy.
The repeated ideal-names across dvīpas suggest archetypal ‘states’ of being: bliss (ānanda), auspicious clarity (śiva), protected wholeness (kṣema), and inner steadiness (dhruva), read as inner cosmology mapped onto outer space.