In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of Sanjaya’s detailed accord on how the world came into existence. Sanjaya talks about how the five elements were created, along with the five senses, which came together to form the “Anta-Kataaham”. Bhagawan Vishnu was the one who created all these, and from this point, He decides that someone else should take up the responsibility to continue the job of creation, and thus, from His divine “Naabhi-Kamalam”, Bhagawan Brahma takes incarnation. As Bhagawan Brahma comes into existence, Bhagawan Vishnu entrusts the job of creation to him, and he continues this further. Thus, in between this “Anta-Kataaham”, is the “Jambu-Dveepam” and within this “Jambu-Dveepam”, there is a huge mountain made of gold, which is in the inverted form. This divine mountain is called “Meru Parvatham”. We would have heard of the great Himalaya mountains and Vindya Mountains, but this is “Meru Mountains”, which we cannot see through our naked eyes. Thus, Sanjaya explains how the Meru Mountain is in the inverted form, and is fully made of gold.
Over and above the Meru Mountain, we have several “Lokhas” and the same is the case below the Meru Mountain as well. Thus, to the south of the “Meru Mountain” (“Meroho Dakshine Paarshve…”) is our Bhaarata Desha situated. Our Bhaarata Desha is situated within one of many “Paarshvas” that have been created by Bhagawan Brahma. Under these Paarshvas, there are many “Kandas”, wherein, our Bhaarata Desha is situated in the “Bharata-Kanda”. Sanjaya says thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! This might be very complex for you to understand. You may imagine a huge lotus flower with many petals branching out from the centre. That centre portion is what is called as the “Jambu-Dveepam”. This is completely south of the huge inverted Meru Mountain. Just like how the petals branch out from the centre of the lotus flower, Mother Ganga branches out from the “Jambu-Dveepam” in three different directions – One towards the Deva Lokha, one towards the Manushya Lokha and one towards the Aakaasha. This is the reason why the River Ganges is extremely holy in our Bhaarata Desha and is referred to as “Triphagatha” or “Trisrothas”. These names are adorned by Mother Ganga because of the reason that she flows in three different directions. Thus, as the River Ganges descends from the “Jambu-Dveepam”, she passes through the “Dhruva-Mandalam” wherein all the “Nakshatras” are present. As per the astrological calculations, there are twenty-seven “Nakshatras”, which are divided into three categories of nine each. It is believed that Surya Bhagawan’s chariot passes through all these twenty-seven “Nakshatras” and this is how the three categories of routes of nine “Nakshatras” each, are formed. Similarly, there are twelve “Raashis” and for each “Raashi”, we have a count of 2.25 “Nakshatras”. Moreover, it is a scientific fact that during the summer season, the day time is longer and night time is shorter. This typically happens from the month of January to June of the English calendar year. In Asgtrology, we call this time period as “Uttharaayanam”, wherein the direction of Surya Bhagawan’s chariot is northwards. Similarly, when the direction of Surya Bhagawan’s chariot changes towards the southern direction, we call it “Dakshinayanam” and here, the day time is shorter and the night time is longer!”
Narrating all these calculations thus, Sanjaya explains how the world was created and what are some key characteristics of the world that all of us live in. So for today, let us understand these technicalities a bit, and I’m also keeping it a bit brief here. We’ve already discussed these things in a great deal of detail in our “Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana” project previously, and readers can refer to the same for more details. We shall continue this discussion further in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 