
Śālmaladvīpa–Gomedadvīpa–Puṣkaradvīpa-vistara-kathana
Ancient-Geography (Purāṇic Cosmography)
Dalam bingkai ajaran Varāha–Pṛthivī, Rudra menyampaikan ringkas kosmografi tentang susunan dan perluasan berbanding dvīpa. Ia memulai dengan Śālmaladvīpa yang dua kali luas Krauñcadvīpa dan dikelilingi samudra ghee (ghṛta-samudra), disertai daftar tujuh gunung utama, tujuh varṣa, serta sistem sungai dan kula-parvata. Lalu dibahas dvīpa keenam, Gomedadvīpa, dua kali Śālmaladvīpa dan dikelilingi samudra minuman keras (suroda), dengan dua gunung utama termasuk Kumuda. Berikutnya Puṣkaradvīpa, dikelilingi samudra sari tebu (ikṣurasa), memiliki Mānasaparvata dan varṣa yang terbagi dua. Rudra menutup dengan ukuran bumi dan brahmāṇḍa, menyebut tak terhitung telur kosmis, serta mengingat laku Nārāyaṇa dalam wujud Varāha yang menegakkan bumi, lalu berangkat ke Kailāsa.
Verse 1
रुद्र उवाच । त्रिषु शिष्टेषु वक्ष्यामि द्वीपेषु मनुजान्युत । शाल्मलं पञ्चमं वर्षं प्रवक्ष्ये तन्निबोधत । क्रौञ्चद्वीपस्य विस्ताराच्छाल्मलो द्विगुणो मतः ॥ ८८.१ ॥
Rudra bersabda: “Wahai manusia terbaik, tentang tiga dvīpa yang tersisa kini akan kukatakan. Aku menjelaskan Śālmala, varṣa kelima; pahamilah dengan saksama. Dalam keluasan, Śālmala dianggap dua kali Kraunca-dvīpa.”
Verse 2
श्रीवराह उवाच । एवमुक्त्वा गतो रुद्रः क्षणाददृश्यमूर्तिमान् । ते च सर्वे गता देवा ऋषयश्च यथागतम् ॥ ८८.३ ॥
Śrī Varāha bersabda: “Setelah berkata demikian, Rudra pergi seketika dengan wujud tak terlihat. Semua dewa dan para resi pun kembali, masing-masing sebagaimana mereka datang.”
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
Dikelilingi oleh Samudra Ghee, luasnya ditetapkan menjadi dua kali; di sana ada tujuh gunung utama, sebanyak itu pula wilayah (varṣa) dan sebanyak itu pula sungai. Gunung-gunung di sana—Sumahān, Pīta, Śātakumbha, Sārvaguṇa, Sauvarṇa, Rohita, Sumanas, Kuśala, … Jāmbūnada, Vaidyuta—itulah gunung-gunung batas (kula), demikian pula wilayah-wilayahnya. Kini dvīpa keenam, Gomeda, dijelaskan. Sebagaimana Śālmala dikelilingi oleh Samudra Sura, demikian pula Samudra Sura dikelilingi oleh Gomeda dengan ukuran dua kali. Di sana hanya ada dua gunung utama: yang satu bernama Tāvat-tāvasara, dan yang lain disebut Kumuda. Samudranya adalah Ikṣurasa (sari tebu), yang dikelilingi oleh Puṣkara dengan ukuran dua kali. Di dvīpa bernama Puṣkara ada gunung bernama Mānasa. Wilayah itu pun terbagi dua secara sepadan. Ia dikelilingi oleh samudra Svādodaka (air manis); lalu (datang) kaṭāha, ‘kawah’ kosmis. Inilah ukuran bumi, dan juga ukuran keluasan brahmāṇḍa beserta selubungnya yang laksana kawah. Jumlah alam semesta yang berbentuk telur demikian tidak diketahui. Pada tiap kalpa, Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, dalam wujud Varāha, memasuki hingga ujung Rasātala, mengangkat semuanya dengan satu taring dan menegakkannya dalam kestabilan. Demikian telah dikisahkan kepadamu uraian panjang-lebar bumi. Semoga sejahtera bagimu; aku akan pergi ke Kailāsa, kediamanku, wahai para dvija.”
Within the Varāha–Pṛthivī teaching frame, Rudra resumes cosmographic instruction, announcing he will describe the remaining dvīpas beyond those already covered, emphasizing proportional expansion and orderly arrangement.
Rudra details the extents and encircling oceans of Śālmaladvīpa (twice Krauñcadvīpa; surrounded by a ghṛta-samudra), then Gomedadvīpa (twice Śālmaladvīpa; surrounded by a suroda-samudra), and finally Puṣkaradvīpa (surrounded by an ikṣurasa-samudra), including their mountains, varṣa-divisions, and river systems in the standard sapta-parvata/sapta-varṣa idiom (with Puṣkara’s distinctive bifurcation).
The cosmographic catalogue culminates in brahmāṇḍa-pramāṇa: Rudra states measures of Earth and the cosmic egg(s), notes innumerable brahmāṇḍas, and re-centers the entire mapping in the Varāha doctrine—Nārāyaṇa’s boar-form stabilizes Pṛthivī from rasātala, making cosmic measurement a teaching about terrestrial balance and preservation.
Purāṇic cosmographic regions: Śālmaladvīpa, Krauñcadvīpa, Gomedadvīpa, Puṣkaradvīpa; oceans/seas: ghṛta-samudra, suroda-samudra, ikṣurasa-samudra, svādūdaka; mountains: (kula-parvatas listed) Sumahān, Pīta, Śātakaumbha, Sārvaguṇa, Sauvarṇa, Rohita, Sumanas, Kuśala, Jāmbūnada, Vaidyuta; principal mountain: Kumuda; Mānasaparvata; Kailāsa; rasātala; kaṭāha (cosmic basin imagery).
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).
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