From the Beginning of Time : Modern Science and the Puranic Universe by Ganesh Swaminathan

Author:Ganesh Swaminathan [Ganesh Swaminathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Notion Press
Published: 2020-10-13T00:00:00+00:00

(‘000s yojana )

Jambu-dvipa

100

Lavana Sagara

100

Plaksa-dvipa

200

Iksu Sagara

200

Salmali-dvipa

400

Suroda Sagara

400

Kusa-dvipa

800

Ghrtoda Sagara

800

Kraunca-dvipa

1,600

Kshiroda Sagara

1,600

Saka-dvipa

3,200

Dadhi Sagara

3,200

Puskara-dvipa

6,400

Jala Sagara

6,400

The description is repeated in many of the Puranas. The sequence of names varies slightly, but the structure in terms of islands and oceans is very consistent. That said, the modern mind can relate to very little of this description of dvipa and oceans. Most of us have a good understanding of the earth and its seas, and we struggle to map this picture to anything that we are familiar with.

While these descriptions of the size of the dvipa and the oceans in themselves do not give sufficient clarity, there are mentions elsewhere in the Puranas that shed more light. These various mentions, when put together, suggest a view of the Bhumandala that is a little more familiar. We start with the outermost of the seven dvipa , the Puskara dvipa .

A verse in the Bhagavata Purana describes the Puskara dvipa as having a mountain in its middle called the Manasottara mountain. The verse is as follows:

30. Over it (the Manasottara mount) revolves the (other) wheel, in the form of a year (Samvatsara,) of the chariot of the Sun -god.

Bhagavata Purana, Book V, Ch. 20

The motion of the sun around the earth is visualized as a single-wheeled chariot that can only move in a circle. The sun is on top of this wheel that travels over the Manasottara mountain.

The distance between Mt. Manasottara and Jambudvipa would, therefore, be the distance between the sun and the earth. This distance can be computed by adding the dimensions of the intervening dvipa and oceans, in the table above. The distance calculated, when converted to km (at 12.3 km to a yojana ), is about 20% away from the actual measure of 150 million km. A good result, given the age of the text.

The Purana has yet another verse describing the sun.

7. The learned say that a distance of nine crores and fifty one lakh Yojanas is thus traversed by the Sun in its revolution round the Manasottara mountain.

Bhagavata Purana, Book V, Ch. 21

The circumference of the circular path is the ‘distance traversed’ by the sun. The radius of this circular path of 9.5 crore yojana aligns with the distance of the earth from the sun computed earlier, reinforcing our conclusion.

The Puskara dvipa , therefore, describes a region of space where the sun is seen as moving around the earth. Its distance from the earth is, therefore, the same as the distance of the sun from the earth. The computations above validate this and show the distance as being close to what we see today. Once we are anchored in this idea, we can conceive of the other dvipa and oceans as being intermediate regions of space.

After the Puskara dvipa , we have the Saka dvipa . The Markandeya Purana mentions the Saka dvipa in the following verse.

40. And Visvakarman, being permitted by the Sun in Saka -dvipa, mounted the Sun on his wheel and set to work to pare down his glory.

Markandeya Purana Ch.

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