Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 51
अंतरे हेमभूमिष्ठमिलावृतमिहोच्यते । माल्यवत्सागरांतस्य भद्राश्वमिति प्रोच्यते
aṃtare hemabhūmiṣṭhamilāvṛtamihocyate | mālyavatsāgarāṃtasya bhadrāśvamiti procyate
अस्य मध्ये हेमभूमौ प्रतिष्ठितम् इह इलावृतं कथ्यते। माल्यवत्समीपसागरपर्यन्तं देशं भद्राश्वमिति प्रचक्षते॥
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) (deduced: Māheśvara Khaṇḍa narration to sages)
Scene: A Meru-centered cosmic map: a golden central land labeled Ilāvṛta, with an ocean-girdled outer region labeled Bhadrāśva near the Mālyavat range; stylized mountains as jeweled ridges and concentric seas.
FAQs
The Purāṇas sacralize space by naming and describing regions, turning cosmography into a map of meaning and reverence.
Ilāvṛta and Bhadrāśva are cosmic regions; the verse does not praise a specific earthly pilgrimage tīrtha.
None; it is descriptive geography.