Dhveepams, Khandams , Varshams

[Guest guest]

Dear Professor NaarAyaNan :

 

Thanks for your note on the Sankalpam . It is my

guess that the temple priests / Aagama Saasthra NipuNAs

affiliated with the Srirangam temple ( Malibu Temple ) ,

Thirupathi ( Pittsburgh Temple ) , Mathurai temple (Houston -

MeenAkshi Temple ) et al might be the sources of this sankalpam

customized for the temples in North America. As you know ,

many of the Aagama experts , who come frequently here from their

Bangalore ( Sri SampathkumAra Bhattar ) , Chennai , Srirangam

( Sri Veda VyAsa Bhattar of ParAsara Bhattar's lineage )

and Thirupathi bases for SamprOkshaNam , PrANa prathishtai ,

Yaagams train some of the Bhattars here and might be

the sources of these customized sankalpams .

 

Now coming back to the words used in the MahA Sankalpam ,

DvipAs come first . Dvipam is indeed a division of the terrestrial

world , whose numbers vary according to different PurANic and

KaavyA sources. They vary from 4 , 7 ,9 , 13 or 18. The large numbers

arise from the inclusion of Upadveepams in the count of Dveepams.

 

"Saptha DveepA vasundharA " is the commonly quoted portion

of a slokam . All are conceived as being situated around Mount Meru

like the petals of a lotus flower .They are visulaized as being separated

from each other by distinct concentric and circumambient oceans.

According to the traditional MahA sankalpam , Jambhu Dveepam

is at the epicenter and includes Bharatha KhanDam in it as

a subdivision .

 

Srimadh Bhagavatham ( 5th canto , chapters 17 to 25 ) and

Sri NArAyaNeeyam ( 21st Dasakam ) give the detailed account

of the Dveepams. They give the name of the Gods resident there

and the Manthrams for them . There are individual kanDams

in each of the DveepAs . For instance , Jambhu Dveepam surrounded

by salty ocean is included in our MahA Sankalpam . It has nine

divisions ( KanDams ) and Bharatha KanDam is one of the nine.

The rest of the eight are : ILAvrutham , BhadrAchalam ,

Hari Varsham , KethumAlam , Ramyakam , HiraNmayam ,

Uttara Kuru , and Kimpurusham . Bhagavan NarasimhA is

the presiding deity of Hari Varsha Dveepam . The presiding deity

of Bharatha Varsham is Nara NaarAyaNa Murthy .

 

In the seven dvepA count , the six dveepams beyond Jambhu

Dveepam are : Plaksha , Saalmala , Kusa , KROUNCHAA ,

Saaka and Pushkaram . Bhagavan shines as SuryA

in Plaksha Dveepam known for KallAla trees. This is surrounded

by sugar cane juice ocean. This has seven kanDAs of its own .

 

Saalmalam is surrounded by Madhu ( surai ) samudram .

Saalmalam trees are also abundant here. The Veda-

maya Garudan is the BhagavAn here. This has seven divisions

( KhanDams ) again .

 

Kusa Dveepam is surrounded according to PurANAs by

the ocean of ghee. Kusa grass is abundant . HiraNyarethas

is the overall Lord here.

 

KROUNCHA Dveepam is surrounded by the milky ocean .

It has the famous mountain named KrounchA , which was

split by SubramaNyA and ParasurAmA of yore. Kruthaprushtar

is the Lord of this Dveepam . Matsya , VarAha and Bhavishyath

PurANams describe the Krouncha Dveepam . According to

the Soora Samharam legend , KrounchA mountain was off

the coast of Thirucchendoor .

 

Saaka Dveepam is surrounded by the ocean of curds.

Saakam is another type of tree that grows plentifully in

this dveepam . The Lord of this Dveepam is MedhAthithi.

 

Pushkara Dveepam is surrounded by ocean of water

free from salt. BrahmA is resident here .

 

VishNu purANam , MahA Bharatham , Raghu Vamsam

Saakunthalam , Dharma SangrahA texts provide additional

details on these dveepams and their characterestrics.

 

Varsha parvatham : Varsha mountains in our PurAnic

literature refers to one of the mountain ranges that

separate the different divisions of " the worlds" from one

another . The seven ( saptha ) varsha parvathAs are :

HimavAn , Hemakuta, NishadO , Meru , Chaitra , KarNee

and Sringhi .

 

The enormity of the overlays of names can be quite

confusing . The original intent was to realize a scheme

of GIS classification and provide coordinates .

 

In summary , the introduction of the items of identification

for American continent named after Amerigo Vespucci ,

such as Krouncha DveepA , HiraNya Varsha ( wall Street ) ,

Go teertha Kanda may be a stretch of the imagination

of our modern day Aagama saasthra experts .

 

There is however a Meru mountain in Bharatha Varsham

of Jambu dveepam . The connection of America to Krouncha

dveepam is an overstretch in my opinion . The part,

MerO: PaschimE PaarsvE " is however correct in terms

of geographical coordinates .

 

Best Regards,

V.Sadagopan