अष्टादश सहस्राणि योजनानां विशां पते ॥
षट्शतानि च पूर्णानि विष्कम्भो जम्बुपर्वतः ॥
लावणस्य समुद्रस्य विष्कम्भो द्विगुणः स्मृतः ॥
नानाजनपदाकीर्णो मणिविद्रुमचित्रितः ॥
नैकधातुविचित्रैश् च पर्वतैर् उपशोभितः ॥
सिद्धचारणसंकीर्णः सागरः परिमण्डलः ॥
शाकद्वीपं च वक्ष्यामि यथावद् इह पार्थिव ॥
शृणु मे त्वं यथान्यायं ब्रुवतः कुरुनन्दन ॥
जम्बूद्वीपप्रमाणेन द्विगुणः स नराधिप ॥
विष्कम्भेण महाराज सागरो ऽपि विभागशः ॥
क्षीरोदो भरतश्रेष्ठ येन संपरिवारितः ॥
तत्र पुण्या जनपदा न तत्र म्रियते जनः ॥
कुत एव हि दुर्भिक्षं क्षमातेजोयुता हि ते ॥
शाकद्वीपस्य संक्षेपो यथावद् भरतर्षभ ॥
उक्त एष महाराज किम् अन्यच् छ्रोतुम् इच्छसि ॥
aṣṭādaśa sahasrāṇi yojanānāṃ viśāṃ pate ||
ṣaṭśatāni ca pūrṇāni viṣkambho jambuparvataḥ ||
lāvaṇasya samudrasya viṣkambho dviguṇaḥ smṛtaḥ ||
nānājanapadākīrṇo maṇividrumacitritaḥ ||
naikadhātuvicitraiś ca parvatair upaśobhitaḥ ||
siddhacāraṇasaṃkīrṇaḥ sāgaraḥ parimaṇḍalaḥ ||
śākadvīpaṃ ca vakṣyāmi yathāvad iha pārthiva ||
śṛṇu me tvaṃ yathānyāyaṃ bruvataḥ kurunandana ||
jambūdvīpapramāṇena dviguṇaḥ sa narādhipa ||
viṣkambheṇa mahārāja sāgaro 'pi vibhāgaśaḥ ||
kṣīrodo bharataśreṣṭha yena saṃparivāritaḥ ||
tatra puṇyā janapadā na tatra mriyate janaḥ ||
kuta eva hi durbhikṣaṃ kṣamātejoyutā hi te ||
śākadvīpasya saṃkṣepo yathāvad bharatarṣabha ||
ukta eṣa mahārāja kim anyac chrotum icchasi ||
"O lord of the peoples, the breadth of Jambu-parvata is eighteen thousand six hundred yojanas. The breadth of the salt ocean is held to be twice that; it is filled with many countries, adorned with gems and coral, radiant with mountains of varied minerals, full of siddhas and charanas, and it encircles the island all around. Now, O king, I shall duly tell of Shakadvipa; listen to me, O joy of the Kurus, as I set it forth in order. It is twice the size of Jambudvipa, O lord of men; and the ocean around it, O great king, is likewise proportionally twice as great. This is the ocean of milk, O best of the Bharatas, by which Shakadvipa is surrounded. There the countries are holy; the people there do not die. How, then, could there be famine, when they are endowed with patience and splendor? Thus, O bull among the Bharatas, Shakadvipa has been briefly and duly described. What else do you wish to hear, O great king?"
f3316ef1489c · published Jul 17, 2026, 8:47:27 PM UTC
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Shakadvipa is at once set apart from Bharata-varsha: it is encircled not by the salt ocean but by an ocean of milk, and its people are free from death and hunger. This cosmography speaks of differing states of existence, in which the quality of one's surroundings answers to the quality of one's consciousness and merit.