Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 59
Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications
________________
OCTOBER, 1930 ]
THE NINE DVIPAS OF BHARATAVARSA
205
12. Parve kiráta hyasydste pascime yavandh smrlah
Andhra daksinato vira turtakästva pi cottare
Brahmandh ksatriyah ..................... The Gar. (55, 4 f.) follows the Vam, in the same form, but it does not contain line B of floka No. 11 of the Vamana.
va. 45, 80. Ayam tu navamasteşám dvipah sågarasanvrtah10
Yojananam sahasram tu dvipo'yam daksînottaram 81. Ayato hya kumárikyada Ganga-prabhavácca vai Tiryaguttaravistírnah sahasrdni navaiva tu
B 82. Durpo'hyupanivisto'yam mlecchairanteşul nityasah
Parve kiráta hyasyante pascime yavandh smrtáh
Brahmandh kaatriya .......... The Bd. repeats (149, 14) the three blokas in the same words. The Mat. (114, 9.11) also repeats the three slokas in the same form and in the same setting, except that in place of Sloka No. 81 of the Va. it reads : Mat. 114, 10. Ayatastu Kumarito Gangayah pravahavadhi
Tiryagürdhvamtu vistirnah sahasrani dašaiva tu That the ninth dvípa was called Kumarikå has already been made known to us from the story of the Skanda Purdna cited above. 11 Rajasekhara also enlightens us in this respect,19 The text of all the Puranas quoted above pass it over, simply saying that it was surrounded by the ocean (sdgarasamvrtch), whereas the Vamana of all the Puranas call it Kumara. Then what is meant by the Kumâra or Kumarikå dvipa ? It appears from the texts quoted above that by Kumâra India in the proper sense of the term18 was intended. It may be added that in the enumeration of the other eight dvipas no note or comment whatsoever is added by the other Purdnas. They are enumerated most plainly without any explanatory note. But on coming to the navama dvipa, the Purdnas give emphasis to it as ayamto nava. madvipa, surrounded by the ocean; and in this all the Puranas are unanimous. This expres. sion ayamto suggests that particular attention should be paid to it, as if it were somewhat different from the other dvipas, and so evidently implies that India proper is referred to, for no other meaning can be thought of when an expression like ayamto which means this very,' is used by a person writing in India. Rajasekhara also puts ayam after Kumari dvipa. It thus follows that the slokas of A group refer to India proper, which is surrounded on three sides by the ocean. It might be argued that as India is not surrounded on all sides by the. ocean, so the ninth dvipa, which was surrounded on all sides by the ocean (sågarasamurtah). cannot refer to India proper. But dvipa, we know, is defined by Panini as meaning dvai dp. 1.6., having water on two sides, and so India having the ocean on three sides might reasonably be called a dvípa, and might more plausibly suggest the idea that it was adgarasamustah.
Then in the slokas of B group, which are a continuation of the description of the navama dvfpa, are described the boundaries of a country, which evidently must refer to the Kumara or the ninth dvipa. This is specially clear in the series of texts of the Vayu, Brahmanda and Matsya Puranas. The sloka No. 81 of the Vayu and so of the Brahmanda, which is forgotten by the other Purdnas, is of extreme importance in the sense that it supplies the missing link between
10 Albir ûnt is, therefore, wrong when he writes nagarasamurtta (Sachau's edition, vol. 1, p. 296). 11 Skanda Purana, i, 2, 39, 69. 13 Kdvyamimdmal (Dedavibhdga), p. 92. Kumdriduspalodyam navamah.
13 Bounded on the east by the hills of Lakhimpur (Assam), Manipur, Lughai, Chittagong and Arakan. thus formning a long wall of mountains, separating India from Burma and other countries of the Far East. The three other boundaries are recognized and well known and need not be mentioned.
