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
ಪ್ಲಕ್ಷದ್ವೀಪದಿಂದ ಆರಂಭಿಸಿ ಅಂತಿಮ ಶಾಕದ್ವೀಪದವರೆಗೆ ಇರುವ ದೇಶಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ‘ಆನಂದ’, ‘ಶಿವ’, ‘ಕ್ಷೇಮಕ’ ಹಾಗೂ ‘ಧ್ರುವ’ ಎಂಬ ನಾಮಗಳು ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧವಾಗಿವೆ।
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.