Dvipa

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In Indian mythology, dvīpa (Devnagari: वीप "peninsula, island"; also mahadvipa "great island") is the term for the major divisions of the terrestrial sphere, sometimes translated as "continents" or "planets". There are either 7, 4or 13 or 18 dvipas. The list of seven (sapta-dvipa) is (e.g. Mahabharata 6.604 = Bhagavad Gita 5.20.3-42):

Jambu ("rose apple tree")
Plaksha ("fig tree")
Go-medaka (a gem)
Shalmali (a river of the infernal region)
Kusha ("grass")
Kraunca ("of curlews")
Shaka ("power", also "of the Saka")
Pushkara ("lotus")

The list of four is (e.g. Mahabharata 6.208)

Bhadrashva
Ketumalla
Jambudvipa
Uttara Kurava

The list of 13 adds nine to the four above: Indra-dvipa, Kaseru-mat, Tamra-varna, Gabhasti-mat, Naga-dvipa, Saumya, Gandharva, Varuna and Bharata (Vishnu Purana 2.3.6f.), between them forming Bharatavarsha.

They are situated round the Mount Meru, and separated from each other by distinct concentric circumambient oceans.The intermediate oceans consist of salt-water, sugarcane juice, wine, ghee, curd, milk and water respectively.^[1],^[2]

1 Shakadvipa
2 See also
3 Notes
4 External links

[edit] Shakadvipa

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Shakadvipa is described as surrounded by a sea of whey, with an extent of thirty-two lakh Yojans. It has a huge tree of Shaka, hence its name. With a sweet fragrance of this tree, the whole island emits a pleasant scent. The ruler of this island, Medhatithi was also a son of Priyvrata. He too had seven sons- Purojav, Manojav, Pawamana, Dhumranik, Chitraref, Bahurup and Vishwdhar. They were made the rulers of the seven divisions of the island. People of the island use Pranayama to weaken their Rajoguna and Tamoguna, and worship Hari (Vishnu) in Vayu (form) through meditation.

Kurma Purana:^{[citation needed]}