Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 54, Shloka 1
Adhyaya 54 — Cosmography of Jambudvipa: Continents, Oceans, Varshas, and Mount Meru
कrauष्टुकिरुवाच ।
कति द्वीपाः समुद्राः वा पर्वताः वा कति द्विज ।
कियन्ति चैव वर्षाणि तेषां नद्यश्च का मुने ॥
krauṣṭukir uvāca |
kati dvīpāḥ samudrā vā parvatā vā kati dvija |
kiyanti caiva varṣāṇi teṣāṃ nadyaś ca kā mune ||
Sinabi ni Krauṣṭuki: “Ilan ang mga kontinente, ilan ang mga karagatan, at ilan ang mga bundok, O dalawang-ulit-na-ipinanganak? At ilan ang mga rehiyon (varṣa), at anu-ano ang mga ilog nito, O pantas na rishi?”
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FAQs
The Purāṇa models śāstric learning as precise questioning: the student asks for enumerations and names, implying that right understanding begins with clear categories and careful curiosity.
It introduces the cosmographic expansion that supports Sarga (world-structure) and Manvantara (world-order across time), though this verse itself is the prastāvanā (opening inquiry).
Counting dvīpas and mapping rivers can symbolize charting the ‘inner world’—distinct domains of experience and the ‘streams’ (nadīs/flows) through which consciousness moves.