Evolution of love

Bhagavata Purana

A tale from the Bhagavata Purana states that once sage Markandeya visited Narayana and asked him for a boon. Markandeya prayed to sage Narayana to show him his illusory power or maya since sages Nara-Narayana are incarnation of Supreme Lord Narayana. To fulfill his wish, Vishnu appeared in the form of a child floating on a leaf, and declared to the sage that he was Time and Death. Sage Markandeya entered into his mouth and save himself from the surging water. Inside the boy's stomach Markandeya discovered all the worlds, the seven regions and the seven oceans. The mountains and the kingdoms were all there. So were all living beings. Markandeya did not know what to make of all this. He started to pray to Vishnu. No sooner had he started, than he came out of the boy's mouth. Vishnu now appeared before him and blessed him. The sage spent a thousand years with Vishnu. He composed the Bala mukundashtakam at this moment. Markandeya's long life gives an account of how he lived past the death of the previous world and watched it end.

We know the geography of earth today as shown in the world maps. though it is actually incorrect in depicting the actual geographical area distribution. We today know the seven continents, the oceans, the land mass or water bodies they span across and so on.

We also know that the ancient vedic civilization was an advanced one with great achievements in science and technology, and so one becomes curious to know what was the geographical distribution mentioned in the vedic texts like? What were the names given to different parts of our planet Earth in these vedic texts?

This article is an attempt to answer such questions. But before that let us understand a bit about an ancient vedic practice – The Sankalpa – which is practiced even today.

The Sankalpa Determination
In the vedic way of life, Sankalpa means somewhat on lines of free will, a determination, a resolution, a kind of oath which one takes. The veda says that the entire universe itself was created because of a Sankalpa by the Supreme Consciousness (Narayana or Vishnu).

By making a Sankalpa the person becomes committed to the goal. Sankalpa is an expression by the Saadhaka (doer) about his goals (Saadhana). The Sankalpa becomes the foundation for a person who is all set to achieve a specific goal.

When a person makes a Sankalpa, he is also supposed to mention the time of the day when the Sankalpa was made, the geographical location where the Sankalpa was made, the purpose of the Sankalpa, the mode of achieving the goal, the name of the person doing the Sankalpa and so on. This is called Sankalpa Shlokha.

The Geographical Element of a Sankalpa
In the Sankalpa Shlokha, when one talks about the geography of the location, it starts as follows

Jambudveepe Bharatha Varshe Bharata Khande

and can go on to mention the specific location like

Bhagya Nagare Svagrahe (meaning at my home which is in the City of Hyderabad, earlier called as Bhagya Nagar)

This is something that has been passed down for generations, being practised even today at the beginning of every vedic ritual. And in this article we talk about the the first three terms referring to geography which is Jambudvipa, Bharatha Varsha and Bharatha Khanda. People usually think that Bharatha Varsha and Bharatha Khanda mean the same, but they are not. The hierarchy in the Sankalpa Shlokha clearly says that Bharatha Khanda is inside Bharatha Varsha. So we shall see what they are. And we will also see what exactly is Jambudveepa.

But how do we understand the geography? Science aids our brains to understand ancient way of geographical references. The equatorial coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system widely used to specify the positions of celestial objects. It may be implemented in spherical or rectangular coordinates, both defined by an origin at the center of the Earth, a fundamental plane consisting of the projection of the Earth's equator onto the celestial sphere (forming the celestial equator), a primary direction towards the vernal equinox, and a right-handed convention.

The equatorial coordinate system in spherical coordinates. The fundamental plane is formed by projection of the Earth's equator onto the celestial sphere, forming the celestial equator (blue). The primary direction is established by projecting the Earth's orbit onto the celestial sphere, forming the ecliptic (red), and setting up the ascending node of the ecliptic on the celestial equator, the vernal equinox. Right ascensions are measured eastward along the celestial equator from the equinox, and declinations are measured positive northward from the celestial equator - two such coordinate pairs are shown here. Projections of the Earth's north and south geographic poles form the north and south celestial poles, respectively.

The origin at the center of the Earth means the coordinates are geocentric, that is, as seen from the center of the Earth as if it were transparent. The fundamental plane and the primary direction mean that the coordinate system, while aligned with the Earth's equator and pole, does not rotate with the Earth, but remains relatively fixed against the background stars. A right-handed convention means that coordinates are positive toward the north and toward the east in the fundamental plane.