Suta said:
1. On hearing this and desirous of hearing further, the delighted sages asked Lomaharshana:
The Sages said:
2-3. The sub-continent of Bharata has been described by you. Now describe the Kimpurusha1 and Hari Varshas.2 Thus requested by the Brahmanas, Lomaharshana replied suitably this question as follows (lit. in the manner indicated in this Purana).
1. Kimpurusha Varsha a mythical land-GAMI, p. 366; Kimpurusha desa-Nepal (De, 100).
2. Hari-Varsa-mythical territory (GAMI, P. 559); the western Tibet (De, p. 74).
Suta said:
4. Please listen, O Brahmanas, to what you are pleased to hear. In the Kimpurusha country, there is a big grove of Plaksha trees comparable to the Nandana forest.
5. The span of life in the Kimpurusha land is said to be ten thousand years. The men are gold-complexioned and the women resemble Apsaras-s.
6. They do not suffer from ailments; they are devoid of sorrows; they are pure in mind, they possess the lustre of molten gold.
7. In this holy country Kimpurusha, there is a fig tree exuding honey. All the inhabitants of Kimpurusha Varsha drink its excellent juice.
8. Adjoining Kimpurusha, there is Harivarsha where the people are yellow as gold in complexion.
9. All the people there are descended from Devaloka and have divine forms. In Harivarsha, all people quaff the splendid juice of sugarcane.
10. They rive joyously upto eleven thousand years. They remain delighted in their minds. Old age does not afflict them nor do the people get decrepit or senile.
11. In the central sub-continent Ilavruta1 which I have mentioned before, the sun does not blaze fiercely and men do not get aged (pre-maturely).
1. Ilavruta-The country surrounding the Pamirs (AGP, p. 32, fig 2).
12. In Ilavruta the moon, the sun and the stars are dim. Men have the colour, lustre and fragrance of the lotus flower. Their eyes are as wide as the lotus leaf.
13. They feed on the juice of Jambu fruit. They neither grow aged nor decay. They have fragrance. They are cultured and polished. They enjoy pleasures as the fruit of their auspicious rites.
14. They are fallen from Devaloka. They are non-senile and deathless. These excellent men live for thirteen thousand years.
15-16. In the sub-continent Ilavruta, they live the full span of life. The sub-continent is twenty-six thousand Yojanas in length and nine thousand Yojanas in breadth around Meru. It is fashioned like a saucer.
17. Nine thousand Yojanas to the west of Meru lies, the mountain Gandhamadana, thirtyfour thousand Yojanas long.
18. To the north and south, it stretches upto Nila and Nishadha mountains. Its height is forty thousand Yojanas. It penetrated downwards to a thousand Yojanas.
19. The mountain Malyavan lies in the east. Its magnitude has already been mentioned. It is to the south of Nila and to the north of Nishadha. The great mountain Meru of extensive magnitude lies in the centre of these mountains, which seem to penetrate it.
20-22. Its extent is hundred thousand Yojanas since the ocean is circular and since it sanctifies the zone of the earth. Measurements are reduced in rectangular areas when they are undemarcated. Coming to the middle they split (?)
23. A river of Jambu juice resembling liquified collyrium flows from the south of Meru to the north of Nishadha.
24-26. There is an everlasting Jambu tree called Sudarshana. It blooms and bears fruits perpetually. It is resorted to by Siddhas and Charanas. It is the biggest tree in Jambudvipa, a hundred thousand Yojanas high. This lordly tree touches heaven. The length of the fruit is eight hundred and sixty-one Aratnis. This is determined by sages who know the truth.
27. When the fruits fall on the ground, they make a loud noise. The juice of the Jambu fruits develops into a flowing river.
28. The river passes around Meru and then enters Jambu mula and the people there drink of it. They are delighted and surrounded by the tasty Jambu fruits.
29. Imbibing the juice they conquer old age. Certainly, they never fall sick or die.
30. The gold called Jambunada which Devas wear as ornaments is found there. It appears as splendid as the glow worn.
31. The splendid juice of the fruits of all Varsha-trees (Jambu) strengthens the people (of the continent). It is the gold that is used for ornaments of Devas.
32. Their excretions (faeces and urine) are scattered all round. Thanks to the blessings of the Lord, the earth absorbs the refuge and the dead bodies.
33. The Rakshasas, Pishachas and Yakshas reside on Himayat. The Gandharvas and Apsaras-s live on mountain Hemakuta.
34. The Nagas including Shesha, Vasuki and Takshaka live on Nishadha. The thirtythree groups of Devas, the Yajnikas, wander over the great Meru. On the Nila, full of lapis lazuli, Siddhas and Brahmarshis live.
35. The mountain Shveta is the abode of Daityas and Danavas. The mountain Shrungavan is the place which the Pitris frequent.
36. Thus the mobile and immboile beings have settled in the nine continents in their respective places.
37. The population of Devas and human beings is too enormous to be enumerated. It should be accepted with faith by those who wish to know it (by experience).