Eighth Skandha · Chapter 11
Sourceश्रीनारायण उवाच भारताख्ये च वर्षेऽस्मिन्नहमादिजपूरुषः । तिष्ठामि भवता चैव स्तवनं क्रियतेऽनिशम् ॥ १ ॥ नारद उवाच ॐ नमो भगवते उपशमशीलायोपरतानात्म्याय नमोऽकिञ्चनवित्ताय ऋषिऋषभाय नरनारायणाय परमहंसपरमगुरवे आत्मारामाधिपतये नमो नम इति । कर्तास्य सर्गादिषु यो न बध्यते न हन्यते देहगतोऽपि दैहिकैः । द्रष्टुर्न दृश्यस्य गुणैर्विदूष्यते तस्मै नमोऽसक्तविविक्तसाक्षिणे ॥ २ ॥ इदं हि योगेश्वरयोगनैपुणं हिरण्यगर्भो भगवाञ्जगाद यत् । यदन्तकाले त्वयि निर्गुणे मनो भक्त्या दधीतोज्झितदुष्कलेवरः ॥ ३ ॥ यथैहिकामुष्मिककामलम्पटः सुतेषु दारेषु धनेषु चिन्तयन् । शङ्केत विद्वान् कुकलेवरात्यया- द्यस्तस्य यत्नः श्रम एव केवलम् ॥ ४ ॥ तन्नः प्रभो त्वं कुकलेवरार्पितां त्वं माययाहं ममतामधोक्षज । भिन्द्याम येनाशु वयं सुदुर्भिदां विधेहि योगं त्वयि नः स्वभावजम् ॥ ५ ॥ एवं स्तौति सदा देवं नारायणमनामयम् । नारदो मुनिशार्दूलः प्रज्ञाताखिलसारदृक् ॥ ६ ॥ अस्मिन् वै भारते वर्षे सरिच्छैलास्तु सन्ति हि । तान्प्रवक्ष्यामि देवर्षे शृणुष्वैकाग्रमानसः ॥ ७ ॥ मलयो मङ्गलप्रस्थो मैनाकश्च त्रिकूटकः । ऋषभः कूटकः कोल्लः सह्यो देवगिरिस्तथा ॥ ८ ॥ ऋष्यमूकश्च श्रीशैलो व्यङ्कटाद्रिर्महेन्द्रकः । वारिधारश्च विन्ध्यश्च मुक्तिमानृक्षपर्वतः ॥ ९ ॥ पारियात्रस्तथा द्रोणश्चित्रकूटगिरिस्तथा । गोवर्धनो रैवतकः ककुभो नीलपर्वतः ॥ १० ॥ गौरमुखश्चेन्द्रकीलो गिरिः कामगिरिस्तथा । एते चान्येऽप्यसंख्याता गिरयो बहुपुण्यदाः ॥ ११ ॥ एतदुत्पन्नसरितः शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः । पानावगाहनस्नानदर्शनोत्कीर्तनैरपि ॥ १२ ॥ नाशयन्ति च पापानि त्रिविधानि शरीरिणाम् । ताम्रपर्णी चन्द्रवशा कृतमाला वटोदका ॥ १३ ॥ वैहायसी च कावेरी वेणा चैव पयस्विनी । तुङ्गभद्रा कृष्णवेणा शर्करावर्तका तथा ॥ १४ ॥ गोदावरी भीमरथी निर्विन्ध्या च पयोष्णिका । तापी रेवा च सुरसा नर्मदा च सरस्वती ॥ १५ ॥ चर्मण्वती च सिन्धुश्च अन्धशोणौ महानदौ । ऋषिकुल्या त्रिसामा च वेदस्मृतिर्महानदी ॥ १६ ॥ कौशिकी यमुना चैव मन्दाकिनी दृषद्वती । गोमती सरयू रोधवती सप्तवती तथा ॥ १७ ॥ सुषोमा च शतद्रुश्च चन्द्रभागा मरुद्वृधा । वितस्ता च असिक्नी च विश्वा चेति प्रकीर्तिताः ॥ १८ ॥ अस्मिन्वर्षे लब्धजन्मपुरुषैः स्वस्वकर्मभिः । शुक्ललोहितकृष्णाख्यैर्दिव्यमानुषनारकाः ॥ १९ ॥ भवन्ति विविधा भोगाः सर्वेषां च निवासिनाम् । यथा वर्णविधानेनापवर्गो भवति स्फुटम् ॥ २० ॥ एतदेव च वर्षस्य प्राधान्यं कार्यसिद्धितः । वदन्ति मुनयो वेदवादिनः स्वर्गवासिनः ॥ २१ ॥ अहो अमीषां किमकारि शोभनं प्रसन्न एषां स्विदुत स्वयं हरिः । यैर्जन्म लब्धं नृषु भारताजिरे मुकुन्दसेवौपयिकं स्पृहा हि नः ॥ २२ ॥ किं दुष्करैर्नः क्रतुभिस्तपोव्रतै- र्दानादिभिर्वा द्युजयेन फल्गुना । न यत्र नारायणपदपङ्कज- स्मृतिः प्रमुष्टातिशयेन्द्रियोत्सवात् ॥ २३ ॥ कल्पायुषां स्थानजयात्पुनर्भवा- त्क्षणायुषां भारतभूजयो वरम् । क्षणेन मर्त्येन कृतं मनस्विनः संन्यस्य संयान्त्यभयं पदं हरेः ॥ २४ ॥ न यत्र वैकुण्ठकथासुधापगा न साधवो भागवतास्तदाश्रयाः । न यत्र यज्ञेशमखा महोत्सवाः सुरेशलोकोऽपि न वै स सेव्यताम् ॥ २५ ॥ प्राप्ता नृजातिं त्विह ये च जन्तवो ज्ञानक्रियाद्रव्यकलापसम्भृताम् । न वै यतेरन्न पुनर्भवाय ते भूयो वनौका इव यान्ति बन्धनम् ॥ २६ ॥ यैः श्रद्धया बर्हिषि भागशो हवि- र्निरुप्तमिष्टं विधिमन्त्रवस्तुतः । एकः पृथङ्नामभिराहुतो मुदा गृह्णाति पूर्णः स्वयमाशिषां प्रभुः ॥ २७ ॥ सत्यं दिशत्यर्थितमर्थितो नृणां नैवार्थदो यत्पुनरर्थिता यतः । स्वयं विधत्ते भजतामनिच्छता- मिच्छापिधानं निजपादपल्लवम् ॥ २८ ॥ (यद्यत्र नः स्वर्गसुखावशेषितं स्विष्टस्य पूर्तस्य कृतस्य शोभनम् । तेनाब्जनाभे स्मृतिमज्जन्म नः स्या- द्वर्षे हरिर्भजतां शं तनोति ॥) श्रीनारायण उवाच एवं स्वर्गगता देवाः सिद्धाश्च परमर्षयः । प्रवदन्ति च माहात्म्यं भारतस्य सुशोभनम् ॥ २९ ॥ जम्बुद्वीपस्य चाष्टौ हि उपद्वीपाः स्मृताः परे । हयमार्गान्विशोधद्भिः सागरैः परिकल्पिताः ॥ ३० ॥ स्वर्णप्रस्थश्चन्द्रशुक्र आवर्तनरमाणकौ । मन्दरोपाख्यहरिणः पाञ्चजन्यस्तथैव च ॥ ३१ ॥ सिंहलश्चैव लङ्केति उपद्वीपाष्टकं स्मृतम् । जम्बुद्वीपस्य मानं हि कीर्तितं विस्तरेण च ॥ ३२ ॥ अतः परं प्रवक्ष्यामि प्लक्षादिद्वीपषट्ककम् ॥ ३३ ॥
śrīnārāyaṇa uvāca bhāratākhye ca varṣe'sminnahamādijapūruṣaḥ | tiṣṭhāmi bhavatā caiva stavanaṃ kriyate'niśam || 1 || nārada uvāca oṃ namo bhagavate upaśamaśīlāyoparatānātmyāya namo'kiñcanavittāya ṛṣiṛṣabhāya naranārāyaṇāya paramahaṃsaparamagurave ātmārāmādhipataye namo nama iti | kartāsya sargādiṣu yo na badhyate na hanyate dehagato'pi daihikaiḥ | draṣṭurna dṛśyasya guṇairvidūṣyate tasmai namo'saktaviviktasākṣiṇe || 2 || idaṃ hi yogeśvarayoganaipuṇaṃ hiraṇyagarbho bhagavāñjagāda yat | yadantakāle tvayi nirguṇe mano bhaktyā dadhītojjhitaduṣkalevaraḥ || 3 || yathaihikāmuṣmikakāmalampaṭaḥ suteṣu dāreṣu dhaneṣu cintayan | śaṅketa vidvān kukalevarātyayā- dyastasya yatnaḥ śrama eva kevalam || 4 || tannaḥ prabho tvaṃ kukalevarārpitāṃ tvaṃ māyayāhaṃ mamatāmadhokṣaja | bhindyāma yenāśu vayaṃ sudurbhidāṃ vidhehi yogaṃ tvayi naḥ svabhāvajam || 5 || evaṃ stauti sadā devaṃ nārāyaṇamanāmayam | nārado muniśārdūlaḥ prajñātākhilasāradṛk || 6 || asmin vai bhārate varṣe saricchailāstu santi hi | tānpravakṣyāmi devarṣe śṛṇuṣvaikāgramānasaḥ || 7 || malayo maṅgalaprastho mainākaśca trikūṭakaḥ | ṛṣabhaḥ kūṭakaḥ kollaḥ sahyo devagiristathā || 8 || ṛṣyamūkaśca śrīśailo vyaṅkaṭādrirmahendrakaḥ | vāridhāraśca vindhyaśca muktimānṛkṣaparvataḥ || 9 || pāriyātrastathā droṇaścitrakūṭagiristathā | govardhano raivatakaḥ kakubho nīlaparvataḥ || 10 || gauramukhaścendrakīlo giriḥ kāmagiristathā | ete cānye'pyasaṃkhyātā girayo bahupuṇyadāḥ || 11 || etadutpannasaritaḥ śataśo'tha sahasraśaḥ | pānāvagāhanasnānadarśanotkīrtanairapi || 12 || nāśayanti ca pāpāni trividhāni śarīriṇām | tāmraparṇī candravaśā kṛtamālā vaṭodakā || 13 || vaihāyasī ca kāverī veṇā caiva payasvinī | tuṅgabhadrā kṛṣṇaveṇā śarkarāvartakā tathā || 14 || godāvarī bhīmarathī nirvindhyā ca payoṣṇikā | tāpī revā ca surasā narmadā ca sarasvatī || 15 || carmaṇvatī ca sindhuśca andhaśoṇau mahānadau | ṛṣikulyā trisāmā ca vedasmṛtirmahānadī || 16 || kauśikī yamunā caiva mandākinī dṛṣadvatī | gomatī sarayū rodhavatī saptavatī tathā || 17 || suṣomā ca śatadruśca candrabhāgā marudvṛdhā | vitastā ca asiknī ca viśvā ceti prakīrtitāḥ || 18 || asminvarṣe labdhajanmapuruṣaiḥ svasvakarmabhiḥ | śuklalohitakṛṣṇākhyairdivyamānuṣanārakāḥ || 19 || bhavanti vividhā bhogāḥ sarveṣāṃ ca nivāsinām | yathā varṇavidhānenāpavargo bhavati sphuṭam || 20 || etadeva ca varṣasya prādhānyaṃ kāryasiddhitaḥ | vadanti munayo vedavādinaḥ svargavāsinaḥ || 21 || aho amīṣāṃ kimakāri śobhanaṃ prasanna eṣāṃ sviduta svayaṃ hariḥ | yairjanma labdhaṃ nṛṣu bhāratājire mukundasevaupayikaṃ spṛhā hi naḥ || 22 || kiṃ duṣkarairnaḥ kratubhistapovratai- rdānādibhirvā dyujayena phalgunā | na yatra nārāyaṇapadapaṅkaja- smṛtiḥ pramuṣṭātiśayendriyotsavāt || 23 || kalpāyuṣāṃ sthānajayātpunarbhavā- tkṣaṇāyuṣāṃ bhāratabhūjayo varam | kṣaṇena martyena kṛtaṃ manasvinaḥ saṃnyasya saṃyāntyabhayaṃ padaṃ hareḥ || 24 || na yatra vaikuṇṭhakathāsudhāpagā na sādhavo bhāgavatāstadāśrayāḥ | na yatra yajñeśamakhā mahotsavāḥ sureśaloko'pi na vai sa sevyatām || 25 || prāptā nṛjātiṃ tviha ye ca jantavo jñānakriyādravyakalāpasambhṛtām | na vai yateranna punarbhavāya te bhūyo vanaukā iva yānti bandhanam || 26 || yaiḥ śraddhayā barhiṣi bhāgaśo havi- rniruptamiṣṭaṃ vidhimantravastutaḥ | ekaḥ pṛthaṅnāmabhirāhuto mudā gṛhṇāti pūrṇaḥ svayamāśiṣāṃ prabhuḥ || 27 || satyaṃ diśatyarthitamarthito nṛṇāṃ naivārthado yatpunararthitā yataḥ | svayaṃ vidhatte bhajatāmanicchatā- micchāpidhānaṃ nijapādapallavam || 28 || (yadyatra naḥ svargasukhāvaśeṣitaṃ sviṣṭasya pūrtasya kṛtasya śobhanam | tenābjanābhe smṛtimajjanma naḥ syā- dvarṣe harirbhajatāṃ śaṃ tanoti ||) śrīnārāyaṇa uvāca evaṃ svargagatā devāḥ siddhāśca paramarṣayaḥ | pravadanti ca māhātmyaṃ bhāratasya suśobhanam || 29 || jambudvīpasya cāṣṭau hi upadvīpāḥ smṛtāḥ pare | hayamārgānviśodhadbhiḥ sāgaraiḥ parikalpitāḥ || 30 || svarṇaprasthaścandraśukra āvartanaramāṇakau | mandaropākhyahariṇaḥ pāñcajanyastathaiva ca || 31 || siṃhalaścaiva laṅketi upadvīpāṣṭakaṃ smṛtam | jambudvīpasya mānaṃ hi kīrtitaṃ vistareṇa ca || 32 || ataḥ paraṃ pravakṣyāmi plakṣādidvīpaṣaṭkakam || 33 ||
English translation
1. Narayana said In this Bharatavarsa (India) I am present, as the First of all, in the shape of the Man, at present existing before you. Let you praise Me incessantly thus:--
2-28. Narada said Thou art the Bhagavan. Obeisance to Thee. Thou art completely free from attachment and envy and Thou art the incarnate of Dharma, Jhana and Vairagyam (Dispassion). No trace of Ahamkara (egoism) is in Thee. Obeisance to Thee. Thou hast nothing of wealth; Thou art the foremost of the family of Risis; Thou art Nara Narayana. Thou art the Parama Hamsa (the highest class of ascetics and renouncers of the world). Thou art the Highest Guru; Thou art happy with Thyself and the Leader of all; I bow down to Thee. Thou art the Lord of all, yet not mixed in the work of creation, etc. Though Thou residest in every embodied being, yet no hunger and thirst can press Thee; though Thou art the Witness, yet Thy sight is not at all disturbed by the proximity. Thou art not at all connected and no desires can come to Thee; Thou art the Witness. So I bow down to Thee. This path of Yoga had come out of Thee and it is established in Thee. The Bhagavan Hiranyagarbha has given instructions on the cleverness in Yoga, thus That leaving aside the egoism of this body, the seat of all evils, the people at last will take resort to the path of Bhakti and set their minds on Thee, Who art beyond the pale of the three Gunas. If, like the ignorant persons very much attached to this world as well as the next, the wise pass their time in the thoughts of their sons, wives, and riches and ultimately become very much pained on the destruction of this ugly body, persons, versed in Jhana and Vijhana be afraid in the end of their separation fron the body, then their study of the S'astras and all their labours become labours merely, without any effect. When such a thing occurs to the learned, then O Thou, the Subduer of the
knowledge of senses! Thou Thyself givest us instructions that we may easily think of Thee. Then this terrible clinging to this ugly body that Thy Maya brings about and which it is very difficult to discard by other means, will leave us quickly. Narada, the seer of all, well qualified with the knowledge of all the Tattvas, the foremost of the Munis, thus worships it and praises Narayana Who is unaffected by any of the Upadhis and who corresponds to Nitya and Leela (both Permanent and the Pastime-making). O Devarsi! I now describe to you the rivers and mountains in Bharatvarsa. Hear attentively. Malaya, Mangalaprastha, Mainaka, Chitrakuta, Risabha, Kutaka, Kolia, Sahya, Devagiri, Risyamuka, S'ris'aila, Vyankata, Mahendra, Varidhara, Vindhya, S'uktiman, Riksa, Pariyatra, Drona, Chitrakuta, Gobardhana, Raivataka, Kakubha, Nila, Gaurmukha, Indrakila, Kamagiri and many other mountains, that cannot be numbered.
Great merits accrue on seeing these mountains. Hundreds and thousands of rivers issue from these mountains. Drinking their waters, bathing in them and visiting them and singing their praises completely destroy the sins of mind, word and body. The names of the rivers are Tamraparni, Chandravas'a, Kritamala, Vatodaka, Vaihayasi, Kaveri, Vena, Payasvini, Tungabhadra, Krisnavena, S'arkara, Vartaka, Godavari, Bhimarathi, Nirbindhya, Payosnika, Tapi, Reva, Surasa, Narmada, Sarasvati, Charmanvati, and the Indus, Andha, and Sone, Risikulya, Trisama, Vedasmriti, Mahanadi, Kaus'iki, Yamuna, Mandakini, Drisadvati, Gomati, Sarayu, Oghavati, Saptavati, Susama, S'atadru, Chandrabhaga, Marudbridha, Vitasta, Asikni and Vis'va and many other rivers. Those persons that take their births in this Varsa enjoy the (Divya) Divine, human, and the lower enjoyments, as the effects of their Karmas, in accordance with their Sattvik, Rajasik, and Tamasik qualities. All the inhabitants of this Varsa take their Sannyasa, Vanaprasthas, etc., in accordance with the rules of their Varnas (castes) respectively and enjoy beatitudes as dictated (in their S'astras). The Vedavadis (the propounders of the Vedas), the Risis, and the Devas declare that this Varsa is superior to all the other Varsas as the Grace of God is easily obtained here. They say: Oh! What an amount of good works, the inhabitants of Bharata Varsa did in their previous lives, that by their
influence, the Bhagavan Hah has become pleased with them without their having any Sadhanas (good Yogic practices). Therefore we also desire to have our births there, for there if we be born amidst the persons there, we would be able serve Hah, Mukunda in every way. What will severe austerities, gifts, sacrifices, and practising vows avail us? Even if we go to Heaven, what benefit we will derive there? Then we would never be able to bring our mind to the lotus- feet of the Bhagavan Narayana. Our tastes for sense enjoyments would increase and we would be wholly deprived of Bhagavan. Far better it is to be born in this Bharata Varsa as short-lived persons, than to acquire other places where one can live up to the period of Kalpa and then be reborn. For the intelligent people of Bharata, getting this mortal coil can within a short period devote themselves to the Bhagavan Hari and be free from rebirth. That place is never to be visited and served, even if that be Svarga Loka where the nectar-like ocean of the sayings of Vaikuntha are not heard; where there are no assemblages of saints who take refuge of the Lotus feet of Bhagavan; where the great sacrifices and festivities of the Bhagavan Visnu are not celebrated. Those persons, that do not try for Moksa, when they get human births and when they possess Jhana, Kriya (methods of doing sacrifices and other works for the help of Jhana) and Dravya (materials for those sacrifices), are certainly like beasts and get themselves repeatedly entanged into bondages. The people of Bharata Varsa offer oblations to Indra and other deities, invoking their names separately, with proper rules (Vidhis), mantras, and purodasas (a sacrificial oblation made of ground rice and offered in Kapalas or vessels); but the All sufficient Bhagavan Hari, the Giver of blessings accepts those very gladly.
True that He grants unto the people what they ask from Him; but He hardly gives anybody the Paramartha, the Highest Goal. The reason being that the people ask again and again after receiving what they had asked. So He gives of Himself His own lotus-feet to those who, having abandoned all their desires, worship Him and Him only with
the idea of love. (1) Thus We are living very happily in the Heavens as the fruit of the Istapurta that we performed fully; yet we want that we may also be born in Bharata Varsa with our memory all renewed with the thought of the Bhagavan Hah. The Bhagavan residing in this Bharatvarsa, awards the highest welfare to its inhabitants.
29-32. Narayana said O Devarsi! Thus the Devas of the Heavens, the Siddhas, the Highest Risis, sing the excellent merits of this Bharatavarsa. There are the eight Upadvipas of this JambudvTpa When the sons of the King Sagara were searching for the footprints of the stolen horse (for AsVamedha sacrifice), they found these Upadvipas; so it is definitely stated. The names of out and made these are Svarnaprastha, Chandras'ukra, Avartana, Ramanaka, Mandaropakhya, Harina, Panchajanya, and Ceylon. The length and breadth of JambudvTpa have been described; now the other six DvTpas, Plaksa and others will be described. Hear.
Here ends the Eleventh Chapter of the Eighth Book on the description of the continents and of Bharatavarsa in the Mahapuranam, S'rT Mad DevT Bhagavatam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyasa.
Complete chapter-aligned witnesses. Sanskrit Wikisource page 23832, revision 73374 (2016-07-03T03:01:47Z). English is Swami Vijñanananda’s complete 1921–23 public-domain translation, controlled against the archival OCR and its chapter page at https://sacred-texts.com/hin/db/bk08ch11.htm. Historic spelling and transliteration are lightly normalized; no verse-by-verse alignment is asserted.