Shloka 10
मेरोर्दिग्वर्णनम् / Digvarṇana of Meru: Uttara-Kuru, Bhadrāśva, and Jambūdvīpa Motifs
तत्र स्वयंप्रभा देवी नित्यं वसति शाण्डिली । उत्तरेण तु शृड्गस्य समुद्रान्ते जनाधिप
tatra svayaṃprabhā devī nityaṃ vasati śāṇḍilī | uttareṇa tu śṛṅgasya samudrānte janādhipa |
அங்கே ‘ஸ்வயம்பிரபா’ எனப் பெயர்பெற்ற சாண்டிலீ தேவி எந்நாளும் வாசம் செய்கிறாள். மனுஜாதிபனே! அந்தச் சிகரத்தின் வடக்கே, கடலின் எல்லையில், ஒரு நிலப்பகுதி உள்ளது.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes a worldview where certain regions are sanctified by continuous divine presence; sacred geography is presented as a source of order, auspiciousness, and reverence within the epic’s cosmological imagination.
Sañjaya is describing a particular locale: a goddess named Śāṇḍilī, called Svayaṃprabhā, dwells there eternally, and he locates the place further by noting it lies north of a peak and near the ocean’s shore, as part of a broader geographical/cosmological description.