Chapter III
On the description of the family of Manu
1-23. Nârâyana said :– O Nârada! When the Bhagavân went away to Vaikuntha, establishing the Earth in due position and equilibrium, Brahmâ spoke thus to his son :– “O Powerful Son of mine, O Svâyamhhuva! The best of those that are filled with Teja (energy) and Tapas! Now go on with your work of creation, as you think proper, on this earth, the Upholdress of all the Jîvas. And worship the Purusa, the Lord of Sacrifices, according to the division of place and time, and with all the necessary materials of various kinds, high and low, and those that will be useful in performing your sacrifices. Do Dharma according to the S’âstras, and according to the Varna(the different castes) and Âsrama (Brahmâcharya, etc.); thus by gradually going on step by step in the path of Yoga, your progeny will be multiplied. Beget lovely sons and daughters, of good fame, culture, modesty and ornamented with various other good qualifications, like yourself; then marry your daughters when they will come to the marriageable age, to proper persons of good qualifications and then fix your mind thoroughly on the Excellent Purusa that is the very Best.
O Child! Now go and serve the Bhagavân with devotion as I have advised you; and you will certainly attain that which is difficult to be worshipped and obtained. Advising thus his son Svâyambhuva Manu, and starting him in his work; of creation, the Lotus-born, the Lord of all the subjects, Brahmâ went away to His own abode. When Brahmâ went away, having ordered his son to create progeny and subjects, Manu, took that seriously in his heart and began to do that work. In due time, he had two powerful sons named Priyavrata and Uttânapâda and three lovely beautiful daughters endowed with various good qualities. Hear the names of the three daughters. The first daughter, the purifier of the world, was named Âkûti; the second was named Devahûti and the third was Prasûti. The first daughter Âkûti was married to the Maharsi Ruchi; the second was married to the Prajapati Karddama; and the third was married to the Prajapati Daksa. And know that all the beings in this world had their origin from this last daughter. Now hear the progeny of these three daughters and the Maharsis respectively :– By Maharsi Ruchi was born one son named Yajña, in the womb of Âkûti; he is the part of the Bhagavân Âdi Purusa Visnu; by Maharsi Karddama, in the womb of Devahûti was born the Bhagavân Kapila Deva, the famous author of the S’ânkhya S’âstra; and in the womb of Prasûti, by the Prajâpati Daksa were born some daughters only; know that the Devas, men, beasts and birds were all created by this Prajâpati Daksa. These offsprings were the first promulgators in the work of creation. In the Svâyambhuva Manvantara, the powerful Bhagavân Yajña, by the help of the Deva named Yâma, saved his mother’s Father Manu from the attacks of the Raksasas; and the great Lord of the Yogis, the Bhagavân Kapila, remained for a while in his Âsrama and gave spiritual instructions to his mother Devahûti, by which Avidyâ could be at once destroyed, and disclosed his S’ânkhya S’âstra, the great work on the Spiritual Philosophy and the special Dhyâna Yoga in all its details and finally went for Samâdhi to the Âsrama of Pulaha where the great Deva Sâmkhyâ chârya lives up to today. Oh! I bow down to the great Yogâchârya, the Bhagavân Kapila Deva, the Fructifier of all desires, the more remembrance of Whose Name makes easily the Yogi realise the meaning of the Sâmkhya Jñâna. The sins are immediately destroyed of those that hear or read the holy anecdote of the progeny of the daughters of Manu. O Child! Now I describe to you the progeny of the sons of Svâyambhuva Manu. Hear attentively. The hearing of which will enable one to enter into the highest place. Now is being described the history about the progeny of those who formed those Dvipas (islands) Varsas(countries) and oceans for the welfare and happiness of all the creation and for the use of them. Hear.
Here ends the Third Chapter of the Eighth Book on the description of the family of Manu in S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, the Mahâ Purânam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
Chapter IV
On the narration of the family of Priyavrata
1-28. The Risi Nârâyana said :– The eldest son of Svâyambhuva, Priyavrata served always his father and was very truthful. He married the daughter of the Prajâpati Vis’va Karmâ, the exceedingly lovely and beautiful Barhismatî, resembling like him, adorned with modesty, good nature and various other qualifications. He begat ten sons, very spiritual and well qualified and one daughter named Ûrjasvatî. This daughter was the youngest of all. The names of the ten sons are respectively :– (1) Âgnîdhra, (2) Idhmajibha, (3) Jajñabâhu, (4) Mahâvîra, (5) Rukmas’ukra (Hiranyaretâ), (6) Ghritapristha, (7) Savana, (8) Medhâtithi, (9) Vîtihotra and (10) Kavi. The name “Agni” was attached to each of the above names. Out of these ten, the three sons named Kavi, Savana, and Mahâvîra were indifferent and dispassionate to the world. In due time, these became extremely free from all desires and they were proficient in Âtmavidyâ (Self-Knowledge). They were all Ûrdharetâ (of perpetual chastity; who has subdued all their passions) and took gladly to the Paramahamsa Dharma. Priyavrata had by his other wife three sons, named Uttama, Tâmasa, and Raivata. These were all widely known; each of them in due time became endowed with great prowess and splendour and became the Lord of one Manvatara. Priyavrata, the son of Svâyambhuva, the King-Emperor enjoyed with his sons and relations, this earth for eleven Arvuda years; the wonder was this, that he lived so long and there was seen no decay in his strength as regards his body or his senses. Once on an occasion, the King observed that when the sun appeared on the horizon and got up, one part of the earth was illumined and the remaining part was enveloped in darkness. Seeing this discrepancy, he thought over for a long time and exclaimed, “What! Will the Darkness be seen in my kingdom, while I am reigning? This can never be. I will stop this by my Yogic powers.” Thus thinking, the King Priyavrata mounted on a luminous chariot, as big as the Sun, to illumine the whole world and circumambulated round the earth seven times. Whatever portion of the earth was trodden by the wheel on each occasion,
became an ocean. Thus the seven oceans had their origins. And the portion of the earth, that was included within the ruts, became the seven islands (Dvîpas). 0 Child! Now hear about the seven Dvîpas and the seven Oceans :– The first is the Jambu Dvîpa; the second is Plaksa, the third is S’almalî; the fourth is the Kus’a Dvîpa; the fifth is Krauncha; the sixth is the S’aka Dvîpa; and the seventh is the Puskara Dvîpa. The second Dvîpa Plaksa is twice the first Jambu Dvîpa and so on; each succeeding Dvîpa is twice as large as its previous one. Now hear the names of the oceans. The first ocean is named Ksâroda (the salt water ocean); the second is Iksurasa (the sugarcane ocean); the third is Surâ (the wine ocean), the fourth is Ghritoda (the clarified butter ocean) the fifth is Ksîroda (the ocean of milk); the sixth is Dadhi Manda (the ocean of curds); and the seventh is that of the ordinary water. The Jambu Dvîpa is surrounded by Ksîra Samudra. The King Priyavrata made his son Âgnîdhra, the lord of this Dvîpa. He gave to his Idhmajibha, the Plaksa Dvîpa surrounded by Iksu Sâgara; so he gave to Jajñabâhu the S’âlmalî Dvîpa surrounded by Surâ Sâgara and he gave the lordship of Kus’a Dvîpa to Hiranyaretâ. Then he gave to his powerful son Ghritapristha the Krauncha Dvîpa surrounded by Ksîra Samudra and to his son Medhâtithi the S’âka Dvîpa surrounded by Dadhimanda Sâgara. Finally he gave to his Vîtihotra, the Puskara Dvîpa surrounded by the ordinary water. Thus distributing duly amongst his sons, the separate divisions of the earth, he married his daughter, the youngest Ûrjasvatî to the Bhagavân Us’anâ. In the womb of Ûrjasvatî the Bhagavân S’ukrâchârya had his famous daughter Devayânî. O Child! Thus giving the charge of each Dvîpa to each of his sons and marrying his daughters to the worthy hands, he took to Viveka (discrimination) and adopted the path of Yoga.
Here ends the Fourth Chapter of the Eighth Book on the narration of the family of Priyavrata in the Mahâ Purânam, S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
Chapter V
On the description of the receptacle of beings and on the mountains and on the origin of rivers
1-31. S’rî Nârâyana said :– O Child Nârada! Now hear in detail about the divisions of the earth into the Dvîpas and the Varsas as marked out by the Devas. In brief, I describe about them; no one can speak about this in details. First, the Jambu Dvîpa is one lâkh Yoyanas in its dimensions. This Jambu Dvîpa is round like a lotus. There are nine Varsas in it and excepting the Bhadrâs’va and Ketumâla, each is nine thousand Yoyanas in its dimensions (i.e., in its diameter or circumference?) and there are eight very lofty mountains, in those Varsas, forming their boundaries. Of the Varsas, the two Varsas that are situated in the North and South, are of the size of a bow (segmental); and the four others are elongated in their size. The centre of all these Varsas is named Îlâvrita Varsa and its size is rectangular. In the centre of this Îlâvarsa is situated the golden Sumeru Mountain, the King of all the mountains, one lakh Yoyanas high. It forms the pericarp of the lotus earth. The top of this mountain is thirty Yoyanas wide. O Child! The sixteen thousand Yoyanas of this mountain is under the ground and the eighty four Yoyanas are visible outside. In the north of this Îlâvarsa are the three mountains the Nîlagiri, the S’vetagiri and the S’ringavau, forming the boundaries respectively of the three Varsas named Ramyaka, Hiranmaya and Kuru respectively. These run along from the east and gradually extend at their base and towards the salt ocean (Lavana Samudra).
These three mountains, that form the boundaries, are each two thousand Yoyanas wide. The length of each from the east towards north is less by one-tenth (1/10) of the above dimensions. Many rivers take their source and flow from them. On the south of Îlâvarsa three beautiful mountain ranges, named Nisadha, Hemakûta, and Himâlayâs, are situated, extending from the east. They are each one Ayuta Yoyanas high. These three mountains form the boundaries again of Kimpurusa and Bhârata Varsa.
To the west of Îlâvrita is situated the mountain called Mâlyavân and to the east are situated the mountains Gandhamâdan, Nîla, and Nisadha, the centres of the highest sublime grandeur and beauty. The length and breadth of these the boundary (limiting) mountains are each two thousand Yoyanas. Then the mountains Mandara, Supârs’vak, and Kumuda and others are situated in the Ketumâla and Bhadrâs’va Varsas; but these all are reckoned as the Pâda Parvatas (mountains at the foot) of the Sumeru mountain. The height and breadth of each of these is one Ayuta Yoyanas. These form the pillars, as it were, of Meru on the four sides. On these mountains, the mangoe, the jack, plantain, and the fig trees and various others are situated, four hundred (400) Yoyanas wide and eleven hundred (1,100) Yoyanas high; they seem to extend to the Heavens and form, as it were, the flagstaffs on the top. The roots, bases of these trees as well as their branches are wonderfully equally thick and extend to enormous distances. On those mountain tops are situated again, the four very capacious lakes. Of these, one lake is all milk; the other lake is all honey; the third lake is all sugarcane juice and the fourth lake is all sweet water. There are, then, again the four very lovely gardens named Nandana, Chaitrarath, Vaibhrâjaka, and Sarvatobhadra, very lovely, enchanting and pleasing to the delicate female sex and where the Devas enjoy the wealth and prosperity and their other Yogic powers. Here the Devas live always with numerous hordes of women and have their free amorous, dealings with them, to their heart’s contents and they hear the sweet songs sung by the Gandharbas and Kinnaras, the Upa Devatâs about their own glorious deeds. On the top of the Mandara mountain, there are the Heavenly mangoe trees eleven hundred Yoyanas high; the sweet delicious nectarlike mangoe fruits, very soft and each of the size as the summit of a mountain, fall to the ground; and out of their juices of a colour of the rising sun, a great river named Arunodâ takes her origin. Here the Devas always worship the great Devî Bhagavatî named Arunâ, the Destructrix of all sins, the Grantrix of all desires, and the Bestower of all fearlessness with various offerings and with the lovely water of this Arunodâ river, with great devotion. O Child! In ancient days, the King of the Daityas worshipped always this Mahâ Mâyâ Arunâ Devî (and obtained immense wealth and prosperity). He who worships Her becomes cured of all diseases, gets his health and other happiness by Her grace. Therefore She is named Âdyâ, Mâyâ, Atulâ, Anantâ, Pustî, Îs’varamâlinî, the Destroyer of the wicked and the Giver of lustre and beauty and thus remembered on this capacious earth. The river Jâmbûnada has come out, as a result of Her worship, containing divine gold.
Here ends the Fifth Chapter of the Eighth Book on the description of the receptacle of beings and on the mountains and on the origin of rivers in the Mahâ Purânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.