dvipa

The word dvipa is a portmanteau of the Sanskrit words dvī (two) and apa (water),{{Cite book |last=Suarez |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wQTQAgAAQBAJ&dq=dvi-apa&pg=PT33 |title=Early Mapping of Southeast Asia: The Epic Story of Seafarers, Adventurers, and Cartographers Who First Mapped the Regions Between China and India |date=2012-08-07 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |isbn=978-1-4629-0696-3 |pages=33 |language=en}} meaning "having water on two sides".{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Richard L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TZmDSr-1msC&dq=sapta+dvipa&pg=PA20 |title=The Cosmology of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa: Mysteries of the Sacred Universe |date=2007 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |isbn=978-81-208-1919-1 |pages=20 |language=en}} It is cognate with the Young Avestan 'duuaēpa', which means the same.Vaan, Michiel de. 2008. Etymological dictionary of Latin and the other Italic languages. Leiden: Brill. p.19.

{{Hindu mythology}}

According to the Matsya Purana and the Bhagavata Purana, the world is divided into seven dvipas, termed as the sapta-dvīpa (the seven islands).{{Cite book |last=Klostermaier |first=Klaus K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=df1SUJMdC9sC&dq=dvipa+hindu+mythology&pg=PA120 |title=A Survey of Hinduism: Second Edition |date=1994-08-30 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-4384-0933-7 |pages=120 |language=en}} The Mahabharata names the following as the seven islands of the world:Mahabharata 6.604

The British author Benjamin Walker offers the following description of the dvipas:{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Benjamin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6zj3DwAAQBAJ&dq=Dvipa+hinduism&pg=PA254 |title=Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism. In Two Volumes. Volume I A-L |date=2019-04-09 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-62465-0 |pages=254 |language=en}}

Beneath the celestial regions, the earth is arranged in these seven concentric rings of island continents.

• Jambudvipa is the innermost of these island continents, shaped like a disc. The earth rests upon the head of Shesha, the cosmic serpent, who is himself supported by the tortoise named Akupara, who is supported by the Ashtadiggajas, the eight celestial elephants that stand on the shell of Brahmanda.
• Plaksha is the second of the ring-shaped continents, surrounded by a sea of sugarcane juice.
• Shalmala is the third of the ring-shaped continents, surrounded by a sea of wine.
• Kusha is the fourth of the ring-shaped continents, surrounded by a sea of clarified butter (ghee).
• Krauncha is the fifth of the ring-shaped continents, surrounded by a sea of curds.
• Shaka or Shveta is the sixth of the ring-shaped continents, whose shores are surrounded by a sea of milk.
• Pushkara is the seventh of the ring-shaped continents, surrounded by a huge circular sea of freshwater.

Bordering the outermost sea is a land named Lokāloka, which separates the known world from the world of darkness. This realm comprises a range of mountains ten thousand yojanas high. The shell of the cosmic egg known as Brahmanda lies beyond this darkness, cradling all of creation.

The Brahma Purana describes the sapta-dvīpa as such:{{Cite web|last=www.wisdomlib.org|date=2018-03-17|title=Seven Continents (sapta-dvīpa) [Chapter 16]|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/brahma-purana-english/d/doc216086.html|access-date=2021-10-18|website=www.wisdomlib.org|language=en}}

{{Blockquote|text=O brahmins, there are seven continents viz—Jambū, Plakṣa, Śālmala, Kuśa, Krauñca, Śāka and Puṣkara. These are encircled by seven oceans, the briny ocean, sea of the sugarcane juice, wine, ghee, curds, milk and sweet water.

The Jambūdvīpa is situated in the middle. In its centre, O leading brahmins, is the Meru the mountain of gold.|source=Chapter 16}}

The Bengali text Chaitanya Charitamrita, written c. 1557, describes the concept in the following manner:{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Richard L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9oi64rTVwNMC&dq=dvipa+planet&pg=PA72 |title=Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy |date=2004 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1954-2 |pages=72 |language=en}}

{{blockquote|"The "planets" are called dvīpas.

Outer space is like an ocean of air.

Just as there are islands in the watery ocean,

these planets in the ocean of space are called dvīpas, or islands in outer space"

— Chaitanya Caritamrita Madhya 20.218, Purport}}

• Jambudvipa
• Manidvipa
• Shakadvipa
• Kshira Sagara

{{reflist}}

Category:Locations in Hindu mythology

Category:Hindu mythology

Category:Mythological islands