Jambu-Dvip comprises of nine khands :
Ilavart-Khand, Ketumal-Khand, Ramyak Khand, Hiranyamay-Khand, Kuru-Khand, Bhadrashva-Khand, Harivarsh-Khand, Kimpurush-Khand and Bharat-Khand. These are the nine khands of Jambu-Dvip.
We know about the Bharat khand but can anyone please give the modern geographical names of rest 8 khands or continents ?
Replies
Hare Krsna, my humble obeisances.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam, 5th canto, the other 8 varsas of Jambudvipa are described as bhauma-svarga, which means earthly heavens. There the inhabitants have bodily characteristics and ambiental circumstances that are far beyond what we see now on earth. So those regions are other-dimensional, and unaccessible to our senses. I don't think they might be exactly geografically located on the earth as we know it, although certain geographical links with some of them seem to exist on our earth. They are touched upon by Prabhupada in his commentary on 1.16.12. One should also read the canto 5 chapters 16-19.
YsY
Hare Krishna Prabhuji,
PAMHO,
It is mentioned in the Mahabharata that Arjuna, during his conquest of northern kingdoms also visited the Kimpurusha Kingdom. After crossing the White mountains, he subjugated the country of the Kimpurushas ruled by Durmaputra, after a collision involving a great slaughter of Kshatriyas, he brought the region under his complete sway.
Hence, if Bharat khand, which is a part of Jambu dwip can be located and it's residents can be perceived by normal senses, then as per the above instance from Mahabharata, the residents of other khands should be definitely perceivable by senses. There must be some modern geographical names for them.
To Arjuna's senses, yes. I would't say that it necessarily follows that we should be able to perceive it too. From a number of instances in Bhagavatam it appears that the people in previous yugas had perceptive and physical access to much a wider area of earthly reality than we do now. Dhruva Maharaja (Satya-yuga) reigned the entire Bhu-Mandala. Yudhisthira (Dvapara ending) reigned the entire Jambudvipa. And Arjuna is still more special case. He was able to go to the stars, to wander among them and watch them face to face, and also to visit the devas.
Besides, Bharata-varsa is originally the whole planet that we deal with. Only in Kali-yuga the name Bharata has been restricted to nowadays India. Originally, however, the whole globe is Bharata. So, if we want to locate the other varsas within this planet, it means we want to locate other varsas within Bharata-varsa. That is not logical, as they are clearly described as separated from it by means of enormously high mountain ranges.
However, Arjuna did enter from our Bharata into other regions. That's why i wrote that it appears that there are links, within Bharata geography, with other varsas, or let's say entrances into other varsas. Madhvacarya accessed to the Uttara-badarikasrama to see Vyasadeva face to face, by climbing into the Himalayas. But that Badarikasrama is inaccessible by us. If someone doesn't believe, let him try (better not, i'm joking). Everything there was so different from what he had experienced previosly. So even Bharata is not fully accessed by us Kaliyuga humans (it is described in the SB 5 that in the Bharata there is Narada instructing the future Manu on the science of self realization), what to speak about the other varsas, which are of still higher status.
I hope you find this as intriguing as do i.
Your humble servant
YJd
Dear Yamuna Jivana Prabhuji,
There is a difference between khand (i.e a continent) and a planet. Bharat Varsha is a 'khand' i.e a continent and hence we can not call it a planet (or a 'graha'). However, we can call Jambu dwip as 'graha' or planet.
Let's assume that Bharata Varsha is originally the whole planet. So, what are the Vedic names for Asia, Africa, North-America, South-America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia i.e 7 continents or 'khands'?
Interestingly, I have stumped upon the following image :
For more details, kindly click the below link :
http://decodehindumythology.blogspot.in/2012/02/jambudweep-global-i...
I hope you will find this an enriching experience !
Hare Krishna !
Hare Krsna, Prabhu Krsna Mukherji.
Please don't mind me, but i fail to see how your points are sastric.
Who and where have defined the "khanda" as continent?
You seem to say that only "grahas" can be called planets. However, grahas are 9, well defined in Surya Siddhanta, and they hold, besides a cosmographical significance, also an astrological significance ("grah" means to "hold", indicating the holding of the sway upon the destinies of individuals). Planets, however, are innumerable and all over the universe. More appropriate term for a planet is "loka", and you will find such a translation throughout the Bhagavatam.
As far as Bharata, whether you term it a khand or a varsh, it can rightfully be called a planet, because it has the dimensions and characteristics of a planet, and is said to be this whole planet in a number of places in Srimad Bhagavatam. To give you a few: 1.12.20, 2.7.10, 3.18.19 (look in the purports), and there are many more.
As far as the vedic names for the 7 continents, i do not know them. I do not know even if the continents as we know them now were at all there in the remote past, or if the earth had a pretty diverse geographical shape. In which way is it authorized to give the names of Jambudvipas' varsas to our continents?
The same questions holds for the image you have stumped upon. Where in the ancient texts are the 9 varsas of Jambudvipa equated to the geographical regions of our globe as marked on the image? And where is the Jambudvipa equated to our globe itself? Quite on the contrary, Srimad Bhagavatam defines Jambudvipa to be a tract of land whose dimensions are far far greater than the dimensions of our globe. And the khandas of Jambudvipa have dimensions far far larger than the dimensions of our continents. As far as the dimensions given, there's a drastic difference. Please read carefully the relevant portions of the 5th canto.
(It is true that even the Bharata-varsa from SB is quite bigger than the dimensions of our globe. We don't deny it. Our globe is, therefore, only one part of the whole Bharata-varsa of which the Bhagavatam speaks. Prabhupada had admitted that "Modern scientists... indeed, are hardly conversant with the planet on which we are now living. 5.20.37 pp)
Finally, as far as the link you offer, even at the first glance it gives a very pro-western impression. It's title "decode hindu mythology" indicates clearly that they consider Puranic and Mahabharata accounts as mythology, as just some methaphorical stories which are in need to be decoded by some smart person. While the Puranas themselves, and the Mahabharata itself, and the Ramayana itself, and so on, all of them are quite clear in considering themselves to be true accounts of true events, and true descriptions of true situations. And the acaryas of guru-parampara confirm stalwartly the same. And both warn us seriously, that if we are willing to take our sensory perception as the verdict of reality, we are closing our consciousness into a cave completely cut-off from what reality really is.
The site you mention does contain some useful information, it is undeniable, even plenty of those, and is very carefully and nicely done. However, it seems to be neglecting the data non favorable to the picture the author wants to draw, as for example the dimensions i mentioned from the Bhagavatam. And its basic premises seem to be misleading. So i would hesitate to be following the views from the site just on account of being charmed by the (undeniable) beauty of the site. Sadaputa Prabhu gives fairer and more complete views in his book "Mysteries of the Sacred Universe". Another excellent book by Sadaputa P is mentioned by Gaur Gadadhar Prabhu -- "Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy."
Hare Krsna
Your humble servant
YJd
Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy
By Richard L. Thompson
Published by Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 2003
ISBN 8120819543, 9788120819542
Click to see Full Book: >>>>>>
Mysteries of the Sacred Universe
The Cosmology of the Bhagavata Purana
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Contents
The Astronomical Siddhantas ...........................7
yojanas , Aryabhata , astronomical
Vedic Cosmography ...........................47
Jambudvipa , Mount Meru , celestial equator
The Vertical Dimension ...........................83
Rahu , ecliptic , Svarga
The Empirical Case for the Vedic World System ...........................105
Cova da Iria , Jacques Vallee , Danava
Modern Astrophysics and the Vedic Perspective ...........................119
vimanas , classical physics , Sumeru
Red Shifts and the Expanding Universe ...........................145
red shifts , quasars , Hubble constant
Questions and Answers ...........................161
jyotisa , Jambudvipa , Puranas
Appendix ...........................181
Hipparchus , Indian astronomy , mean longitudes
Bibliography ...........................201
Redshift Quantization , Bhaktivedanta Book Trust , Galaxy Dynamics
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