[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
India and the Kali Yuga
namaste.
The following excerpts are from a translation of the Vishnu Purana by
H.H.Wilson. The narration seems to suggest that the cycle of Yugas is peculiar
to India (please read the last paragraph of chapter 2, book 2 and the last
but one paragraph of chapter 3, book 2). At least, that's my opinion: please
correct me if I'm wrong. What does the Bhagavatam say regarding this?
Considering the date the Purana was written (a few centuries ago?), it's
quite surprising that the geographical description of India (and the world too)
seems pretty much ok (but not completely correct).
------------------Book 2, chapter 1---------------------
Maitreya- you have narrated to me, venerable preceptor, most fully, all that I
was curious to hear respecting the creation of the world; but there is a part
of the subject which I am desirous again to have described. You stated that
Priyavarta and Uttanapada were the sons of Svayambhuva Manu, and you repeated
the story of Dhruva, the son of Uttanapada: you made no mention of the
descendants of Priyavarta, and it is an account of his family that I beg you
will kindly communicate to me.
Parasara - Priyavarta married Kamya, the daughter of the patriarch Kardama,
and had by her two daughters, Samrat and Kukshi, and ten sons, wise, valiant,
modest and dutiful, named Agnidhra, Agnibahu, Vapushmat, Dyutimat, Medhatiti,
Bhavya, Savala, Putra, and the tenth was Jyotishmat, illustrious by nature as
by name. These were the sons of Priyavarta, famous for strength and prowess.
Of these, three, or Medha, Putra and Agnibahu, adopted a religious life:
remembering the occurrences of a prior existence, they did not covet dominion,
but diligently practised the rites of devotion in due season, wholly
disinterested, and looking for no reward.
Priyavarta having divided the earth into seven continents, gave them
respectively to his seven sons...
[ The names of the seven are: Jambudvipa(to Agnidhra), Plaksha-dvipa,
Salmali dvipa, Kusa dvipa, Krauncha dvipa, Saka dvipa, and Puskara dvipa to the
others. I was quite surprised reading this. The author of the VP actually knew
that the earth was divided into seven continents! That raises some questions.
Was the author aware of the Americas? And assuming that the sanskrit word that's
being translated as "continent" is "dvIpa" (island), shouldn't Europe and Asia
have been clubbed together as one Eurasia? ]
...Agnidhra approportioned Jambudvipa among his nine sons...He gave to Nabhi
the country called Hima, south of the Himavat, or snowy mountains...and retired
to a life of penance at the holy place of Salagrama.
The eight Varshas, or countries, Kimpurusha and the rest, are places of
enjoyment, where happiness is spontaneous and uninterrupted. In them there is
no vicissitude, nor the dread of decripitude or death: there is no distinction
of virtue or vice, nor difference of degree as better or worse, nor any of the
effects produced in this region by the revolutions of ages.
Nabhi, who had for his portion the country Himahwa, had by his queen Meru the
magnanimous Rishabha; and he had a hundred sons, the eldest of whom was Bharata.
Rishabha having ruled with equanimity and wisdom, and celebrated many
sacrificial rites, resigned the sovereignity of the earth to the herioc Bharata
...The country was named BhArata from the time that it was relinquished to
Bharata by his father...
Bharata, having religiously discharged the duties of his station, consigned
the kingdom to his son Sumati, a most virtuous prince; and engaging in devout
practices, abandoned his life at the holy place Salagrama: he was afterwards
born again as a Brahmana, in a distinguished family of ascetics. I shall
hereafter relate to you his history...
----------------------------
------------------Book 2, chapter 2---------------------
Maitreya - You have related to me, Brahmana, the creation of Svayambhuva; I am
now desirous to hear from you a description of the earth: how many are its
oceans and islands, its kingdoms and its mountains, its forests and rivers and
the cities of the gods, its dimensions, its contents, its nature, and its form.
Parasara - You shall hear, Maitreya, a brief account of the earth from me: a
full detail I could not give you in a century.
The seven great insular continents are Jambu, Plaksha, Salmali, Kusa, Krauncha,
Saka, and Pushkara...
Jambudvipa is in the centre of all these: and in the centre of this continent is
the golden mountain Meru...
[about three pages later]
In the country of Bhadrasva, Vishnu resides as Hayasira (the horse-headed);
in Ketumala, as Varaha (the boar); in BhArata, as the tortoise (Kurma); in Kuru,
as the fish (Matsya); in his universal form, everywhere; for Hari pervades all
places: he, Maitreya, is the supporter of all things; he is all things. In the
eight realms of Kimpurusha and the rest (or all exclusive of BhArata) there is
no sorrow, nor weariness, nor anxiety, nor hunger, nor apprehension; their
inhabitants are exempt from all infirmity and pain, and live in uninterrupted
enjoyment for ten or twelve thousand years. Indra never sends rain upon them,
for the earth abounds with water. In those places there is no distinction of
Krita, Treta, or any succession of ages. In each of these Varshas there are
respectively seven principal ranges of mountains, from which, oh best of
Brahmanas, hundreds of rivers take their rise.
----------------------------
------------------Book 2, chapter 3---------------------
The country that lies to the north of the ocean, and south of the snowy
mountains, is called BhArata, for there dwelt the descendants of Bharata. It is
nine thousand leagues in extent, and is the land of works, in consequence of
which men go to heaven, or obtain emancipation.
The seven main chains of mountains in BhArata are Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya,
Suktimat, Riksha, Vindhya, and ParipAtra.
[ A footnote here: These are the Kulaparvatas, family of mountains, or mountain
ranges or systems. They are similarly enumerated in all the authorities, and
their situation may be determined with some confidence by the rivers which
flow from them. Mahendra is the chain of hills that extends from Orissa and the
northern Circars to Gondwana, part of which, near Ganjam, is still called
Mahindra Malei, or hills of Mahindra: Malaya is the southern portion of the
western ghats: Suktimat is doubtful, for none of its streams can be identified
with any certainty: Sahya is the northern portion of the western ghats, the
mountains of the Konkan: Riksha is the mountains of Gondwana: Vindhya is the
general name of the chain that stretches across central India, but it is here
restricted to the eastern division; according to the Vayu Purana it is the part
south of Narmada, or the Sathpura range: Paripatra, as frequently written
Pariyatra, is the northern and western portion of the Vindhya: the name, indeed,
is still given to a range of mountains in Guzerat (see Tod's Map of Rajasthan),
but the Chambal and other rivers of Malwa, which are said to flow from the
Pariyatra mountains, do not rise in that province. All these mountains therefore
belong to one system, and are connected together. The classification seems to
have been known to Ptolemy, as he specifies seven ranges of mountains, although
his names do not correspond, with the exception of the Vindus mons: of the
others, the Adisathrus and Uxentus agree nearly in position with the Patiyatra
and Riksha: the Apocopi, Sardonix, Bettigo, and OPrudii must be left for
consideration. The Bhagavata, Vayu, Padma and Markandeya add a list of
inferior mountains to these seven. ]
>From this region heaven is obtained, or even, in some cases, liberation from
existence; or men pass from hence into the condition of brutes or fall into
hell. Heaven, emancipation, a state in mid-air, or in the subterraneous realms,
succeeds to existence here, and the world of acts is not the title of any other
portion of the universe.
...
On the east of BhArata dwell the Kiratas (the barbarians); on the west, the
Yavanas; in the centre reside the Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, vaishyas and Sudras,
occupied in their respective duties of sacrifice, arms, trade and service.
The Satadru, Chandrabhaga and other rivers flow from the foot of the HimAlaya:
the Vedasmriti and others from the Paripatra mountains: the Narmada and Surasa
from the Vindhya hills: the Tapi, Payoshni and Nirvindhya from the Riksha
mountains; the Godavari, Bhimarathi, Krishnaveni, and others, from the Sahya
mountains: the Kritamala, Tamrapani, and others, from the Malaya hills: the
Trisama, Rishikulya, etc. from the Suktimat mountains. Of such as these, and of
minor rivers, there is an infinite number; and many nations inhabit the
countries on their borders.
[ footnote: This is a very meagre list compared with those given in other
Puranas...Of the rivers named in the text, most are capable of verification. The
Satadru, the "the hundred channelled" - the Zaradrus of Ptolemy, Hesidrus of
Pliny - is the Sutlej. The Chandrabhaga, Sandabalis, or Acesines, is the Chinab.
The Vedasmriti in the Vayu and Kurma is classed with the Vetravati of Betwa, the
Charmanvati or Chambal, and Sirpa and PArA, rivers of Malwa, and may be the same
with the Beos of the maps. The Narmada or Narbadda, the Namadus of Ptolemy, is
well known; according to the Vayu it rises, not in the Vindhya, but in the
Riksha mountains, taking its origin in the Gondwana. The Surasa is uncertain.
The Tapi is the Tapti, rising also in Gondwana: the other two are not
identified. The Godavari preserves its name: in other two we have the Beemah and
the Krishna. For Krtamala the Kurma reads Ritumala, but neither is verified. The
Tamrapani is in Tinivelly, and rises at the southern extremity of the Western
Ghats. The Rishikulya, that rises in the Mahendra mountain, is the Rasikula or
Rasikoila, which flows into the sea near Ganjam. The Trisama is undetermined.
The text assigns another Rishikulya to the Suktimat mountains, but in all the
other authorities the word is Rishika. The Kumari might suggest some connexion
with Cape Comorin, but that the Malaya mountains seem to extend to the extreme
south. A Rishikulya river is mentioned (Vana p.v. 3026) as a Tirtha in the
Mahabharata in connexion apparently with the hermitage of VashishhTha, which in
another passage (v. 4096) is said to be on mount Arbuda or Abu. In that case,
and if the reading of the text be admitted for the name of the river, the
Suktimat range would be the mountains of Guzerat; but this is doubtful. ]
The principal nations of BhArata are the Kurus and Panchalas, in the middle
districts: the people of KAmarupa, in the east: the Pundras, Kalingas, Magadhas
and the southern nations, are in the south: in the extreme west are the
Saurashtras, Suras, Bhiras, Arbudas: the Karushas and Malavas, dwelling along
the Paripatra mountains: the Sauviras, the Saindhavas, the Hunas, the Salwas,
the people of Sakala, the Madras, the RAmas, the Ambashthas, and the PArasikas,
and others. These nations drink of the water of the rivers above enumerated,
and inhabit their borders, happy and prosperous.
In the BhArata-varsha it is that the succession of four yugas, or ages, the
Krita, the Treta, the Dvapara, and Kali, takes place; that pious ascetics
engage in rigorous penance; that devout men offer sacrifices; and that gifts are
distributed; all for the sake of another world. In Jambudvipa, Vishnu,
consisting of sacrifice, is worshipped, as the male of sacrificial rites, with
sacrificial ceremonies: he is adored under other forms elsewhere. BhArata is
therefore the best of the divisions of Jambu-dvipa, because it is the land of
works: the others are places of enjoyment alone. It is only after many thousand
births, and the accumulation of much merit, that living beings are born in
BhArata as men. The gods themselves exclaim,"Happy are they who, consigning all
the unheeded rewards of their acts to the supreme and eternal Vishnu, obtain
existence in that land of works, as their path to him. We know not, when the
acts that have obtained us heaven shall have been fully recompensed, where we
shall renew corporeal confinement; but we know that those men are fortunate who
are born with perfect faculties in bhArata-varsha.
I have thus briefly described to you, Maitreya, the nine divisions of
Jambu-dvipa, which is a hundred thousand Yojanas in extent, and which is
encircled, as if by a bracelet, by the ocean of salt water, of similar
dimensions.
----------------------
-Jayanarayanan
