Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 155
ग्रामाणां च चतुर्लक्षो बाल्हिकः परिकीर्त्यते । षट्त्रिंशच्च सहस्राणि लंकादेशः प्रकीर्तितः
grāmāṇāṃ ca caturlakṣo bālhikaḥ parikīrtyate | ṣaṭtriṃśacca sahasrāṇi laṃkādeśaḥ prakīrtitaḥ
ಬಾಲ್ಹಿಕ ದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಗ್ರಾಮಗಳು ನಾಲ್ಕು ಲಕ್ಷವೆಂದು ಕೀರ್ತಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಲಂಕಾ ದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಮுப்பತ್ತಾರು ಸಾವಿರ ಗ್ರಾಮಗಳೆಂದು ಪ್ರಖ್ಯಾತವಾಗಿದೆ.
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) to the sages
Scene: A purāṇic narrator enumerates distant lands—Bālhika and Laṅkā—while a stylized map-like vista shows clustered villages, coastlines, and island contours, suggesting the immensity of the inhabited world.
FAQs
The Purāṇa presents the earth as a sacred tapestry; even distant lands are placed within a dharmic, remembered order.
No single tīrtha is specified; the mention of Laṅkā is geographic rather than a tīrtha-stuti in this verse.
None.