Śikhā (River)

Śikhā · śikhā, “the crest, the flame”

Śikhā is a river of Plakshadvīpa, one of the seven dvīpas of the earth. Lomaharshaṇa names it second among the seven rivers of that dvīpa in Chapter 20 of the Brahma Purāṇa: Anutaptā, Śikhā, Vipāśā, Tridivā, Kramu, Amṛtā and Sukṛtā. All seven flow to the sea, and they take away pāpa (sin) the moment one hears their names.

Plakshadvīpa

Plakshadvīpa is twice as wide as Jambūdvīpa, whose extent is a lakh of yojanas. Its lord is Medhātithi, and his seven sons ruled it: Śāntamaya the eldest, Śiśira, Sukhodaya, Ānanda, Śiva, Kshemaka and Dhruva. Its seven varsha mountains are Gomoda, Candra, Nārada, Dundubhi, Somaka, Sumanas and Vaibhrāja. In those lovely mountains and varshas the people live together with devas and gandharvas. The lands are pure and full of vigour, and the people there do not die; free of pain of mind and illness, they are happy at all times.

The people always drink the waters of the rivers, yet the rivers neither grow less nor more. Besides the chief rivers and mountains, small rivers and mountains are there in thousands. There is no yuga order in these regions: time always runs as in the Tretā yuga, and from Plakshadvīpa to Śākadvīpa people live five thousand years, free of disease. Dharma there is fourfold by varṇa and āśrama, and the four varṇas are called Āryaka (the brāhmaṇas), Kuru (the kshatriyas), Vivilva (the vaiśyas) and Bhāvin (the śūdras).

In the middle of the dvīpa stands a plaksha tree as great as the jambu tree of Jambūdvīpa, and from it the dvīpa takes its name. There Hari, the maker of the world, Sarveśvara, is worshipped in the form of Soma by the Āryakas and the other varṇas. The dvīpa is ringed by the ocean of sugar-cane juice, of the same measure as the dvīpa.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 20

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 20