Varaha Purana 75.32 — Adhyaya 75, Shloka 32
Description of Jambūdvīpa: its regions, mountains, measurements, and cosmic structure
इलावृतात् परं नीलं रम्यकं नाम विश्रुतम् । रम्यकाच्च परं श्वेतं विश्रुतं तद्धिरण्मयम् । हिरण्मयात् परं चैव शृङ्गवन्तं कुरु स्मृतम् ॥ ७५.३२ ॥
ilāvṛtāt paraṁ nīlaṁ ramyakaṁ nāma viśrutam | ramyakāc ca paraṁ śvetaṁ viśrutaṁ tad dhiraṇmayam | hiraṇmayāt paraṁ caiva śṛṅgavantam kuru smṛtam || 75.32 ||
ถัดจากอิลาวฤต ใกล้ภูเขานีละมีแคว้นอันเลื่องชื่อชื่อว่า ‘รมัยกะ’ ถัดจากรมัยกะเป็น ‘ศเวตะ’ อันมีชื่อเสียง และถัดไปเป็นแคว้น ‘หิรัณมยะ’ ครั้นพ้นหิรัณมยะแล้ว แคว้นกุรุเป็นที่ระลึกนามว่า ‘ศฤงควันต์’
Varāha
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false,"aspect_highlighted":"None","boar_form_detail":"None","earth_interaction":"None"}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":true,"speaker_role":"instructor","bhu_devi_state":"curious, focused","key_question":"What regions lie beyond Ilāvṛta, and how do Nīla, Śveta, and the varṣas Ramyaka, Hiraṇmaya, and Kuru/Śṛṅgavant relate in sequence?"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false,"specific_site":"None","parikrama_context":"None","krishna_connection":"None"}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":false,"topic":"None","instruction_summary":"None","karmic_consequence":"None"}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false,"vrata_name":"None","tithi_month":"None","promised_fruit":"None"}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false,"symbolic_interpretation":"None","yajna_varaha_imagery":"None","vedantic_connection":"None"}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"cosmic taxonomy","core_concept":"Naming and ordering the cosmos is a form of sacred knowledge (vidyā) that stabilizes the mind.","practical_application":"Use structured recollection (smaraṇa) of cosmic order as a contemplative discipline; recognize limits of empirical geography and value of symbolic mapping."}
Subject Matter: ["Cosmology","Geography","Heritage Sites"]
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Type: purāṇic varṣas and bounding mountains in Jambūdvīpa
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 75.75.31, 75.75.33-35 (same cosmographic unit)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A panoramic cosmographic tableau: Meru-centered Ilāvṛta with successive northern regions—Ramyaka near Nīla, then Śveta, then Hiraṇmaya, culminating in Kuru/Śṛṅgavant—shown as concentric or stepped bands.","item_prompts":["banded landscape zones with name cartouches","distinctive mountains: Nīla (dark/blue), Śveta (white), Śṛṅgavat (peaked/ridged)","Varāha pointing, Bhu Devī observing","celestial rivers/cloud bands separating regions"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Iconographic bands of color: deep indigo Nīla, bright white Śveta; Varāha and Bhu Devī at lower register; ornamental borders and stylized peaks.","tanjore_prompt":"Gold-leaf highlights on mountain ridges; embossed region labels; symmetrical layout with Meru implied off-frame; rich temple-art ornamentation.","mysore_prompt":"Naturalistic yet idealized mountains with fine shading; elegant script-like labels; calm instructional scene with restrained grandeur.","pahari_prompt":"Layered Himalayan-like ridges; cool palette for Nīla and Śveta; delicate trees and streams; small seated figures of Varāha and Bhu Devī in a corner as narrators."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"measured, descriptive","suggested_raga":"Yaman","pace":"medium","voice_tone":"narrative, precise"}
FAQs
It preserves a Purāṇic cosmographic tradition that organizes regions (varṣas) and mountain ranges of Jambūdvīpa, reflecting how premodern Sanskrit literature mapped space through named sacred landscapes rather than modern cartography.
The verse lists Ilāvṛta, Ramyaka, Hiraṇmaya, and Kuru alongside Nīla, Śveta, and Śṛṅgavat; these are primarily cosmographic toponyms in Purāṇic literature and are not securely equated with single modern locations, though they are studied comparatively across Purāṇas and related Sanskrit sources.
The passage is descriptive rather than prescriptive; its philosophical function is to situate human and cultural memory within an ordered sacred geography, supporting a broader Purāṇic worldview in which landscapes are treated as culturally significant and worthy of careful preservation in narrative tradition.
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