Meru Parvata

Meru Parvata

Kapilā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kapilā. Haṃsa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Haṃsa. Ṛshabha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Ṛshabha. Śaṅkha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Śaṅkha.

Meru Parvata (Mount Meru) is the golden mountain that stands at the centre of Jambūdvīpa, the central land of the world, and in truth at the centre of all existence. The geography chapters of the Kūrma Purāṇa (Chapters 45–46 and 48) describe it in careful detail. It is eighty-four thousand yojanas tall (a yojana is an ancient measure of distance, several miles long), sunk sixteen yojanas into the earth, thirty-two thousand yojanas wide at the top and sixteen thousand yojanas wide at the base.

On its summit is Brahmā‘s great city, one lakh (one hundred thousand) yojanas in size. Right in front of Brahmā’s city stands Śiva‘s own shining temple, where munis (ṛshis devoted to silence and tapas) worship Maheśvara. Around Meru are the eight cities of the directions, belonging to Indra, Yama, Agni, Nirṛti, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Candra and Śiva. Four smaller mountains, Mandara, Gandhamādana, Vipula and Supārśva, stand at the four main directions like pillars holding Meru up. The Purāṇas and the Itihāsas (the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata) describe Meru as the axis around which all the celestial bodies move, and the four directions, each with its own presiding deva, are measured from it. The Vāyu Purāṇa, the Vishṇu Purāṇa, the Varāha Purāṇa, the Liṅga Purāṇa, and the Bhīshma Parva and Vana Parva of the Mahābhārata each give their own account of Meru, with further details.

The Vāmana Purāṇa tells of Meru, the golden mountain, standing in the middle of the lotus-shaped earth, with the cities of the eight dikpālas above it, and tells that it was formed from the piṇḍa of Brahmā’s egg. In its accounts Meru is the dwelling of the devas and the place of Aditi, the mother of the devas; it is the chief of the mountain kinsmen who counsel Himavān to give Kālī to Śiva, and the father of Mount Trikūṭa. On Meru the sons of Kratudhvaja performed tapas, Vishṇu slew the daitya Śrīdāma with his cakra, and from its peak Viśvakarmā fell to earth as a vānara.

In the Agni Purāṇa, Agnideva teaches Vasishṭha Maharshi that Meru, the king of mountains, rises in the middle of Jambūdvīpa in Ilāvṛta-varsha, like the pericarp of the lotus that is the earth, held up by four pillar-mountains set by Īśvara, with Brahmapurī on its summit and the cities of Indra and the lokapālas around it, and the Gaṅgā, risen from the foot of Vishṇu, descending from Brahmapurī. On the summit of Sumeru Brahmā performed the yajña from which the divine sword Nandaka came forth; King Raivata performed tapas on its peak; and the Sadāśiva-pada on Sumeru is the place of moksha from which there is no return. The same Purāṇa teaches the twelve Meru-dānas, gifts of Meru made of gems, gold, silver, land, elephants, horses, cows, cloth, ghee, sugar, grain and sesame, at whose navel-of-the-earth centre Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara are worshipped.

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa, in Śuka Maharshi’s description of the worlds to Parīkshit, places golden Meru, the best of the kula-parvatas, in the middle of Ilāvṛta, one lakh yojanas high, like the pericarp of the lotus that is the earth. Īśvara set four mountains around it as supports, Mandara, Merumandara, Supārśva and Kumuda, with their mango, jambū, kadamba and banyan trees, their lakes of milk, honey, sugarcane juice and sweet water, the gardens of the devatās, and the rivers that flow from the trees: the red Aruṇodā, the Jambū river that makes Jāmbūnada gold, five streams of honey, and the streams of the banyan Śatavalśa that give all things desired. Twenty mountains ring its base and eight stand on its four sides, so that Meru shines like a sacred fire ringed by samidhs. On its summit is Brahmā’s golden city, with the cities of the eight lokapālas around it; into that city falls the Gaṅgā, born from the foot of Bhagavān Vāmana, and divides into the Sītā, Cakshu, Bhadrā and Alakanandā. Sūrya goes round Meru, and the axle of his chariot rests on its peak. The Purāṇa names Meru as the father of Āyati and Niyati, the place where Kardama, Citraketu and the eight lokapālas take their delight, and, in Śrī Kṛshṇa‘s own words to Uddhava, his vibhūti among dwelling places.

Size and shape

Meru stands at the centre of Jambūdvīpa, which is itself the central land of the seven dvīpas (great land regions) of the world. The Kūrma Purāṇa gives the mountain’s size:

• Height: eighty-four thousand yojanas

• Depth below the earth: sixteen yojanas

• Width at the top: thirty-two thousand yojanas

• Width at the base: sixteen thousand yojanas in every direction

• Colour: shining like gold (suvarṇa-kānti)

Meru is called the karṇikā (the centre, or seed-pod) of the great lotus of the world. The earth is the lotus flower, and Meru is its central point.

The six mountain ranges

Meru is flanked by six varsha-parvatas (mountain ranges) that divide Jambūdvīpa into its nine regions.

South of Meru (three ranges, going southward):

• Himavat: the Himālaya

• Hemakūṭa

• Nishadha

North of Meru (three ranges, going northward):

• Nīla

• Śveta

• Śṛṅgī

The two middle ranges are one hundred thousand yojanas long; the others are a little shorter. Each is two thousand yojanas wide.

The four pillar-mountains of Meru

In Ilāvṛta-varsha, the region around Meru, four smaller mountains stand at the four main directions. They act as great pillars (gaḍiya-koyyas) supporting Meru:

• Mandara: to the east

• Gandhamādana: to the south

• Vipula: to the west

• Supārśva: to the north

On these mountains grow, in order, the kadamba tree, the nēreḍu (jambū, or Indian blackberry) tree, the rāvi (aśvattha, the sacred fig) tree and the maṭṭi tree. Jambūdvīpa takes its name from the jambū tree on Mandara, to the east of Meru. Its huge fruits give rise to the golden Jāmbūnada.

The four sacred lakes

At the four main directions of Ilāvṛta-varsha lie four great lakes, which the devas can always visit:

• Aruṇoda: to the east

• Mahābhadra: to the south

• Asitoda: to the west

• Mānasa: to the north

Each lake is ringed by its own mountain ranges. Their many named peaks are home to siddhas, gandharvas, yakshas (celestial beings of different kinds), devas and divine ṛshis.

The eight boundary mountains

Eight maryādā-parvatas (boundary mountains) stand in fixed places around Meru and mark its borders (Kūrma Purāṇa, Chapter 46):

• Jaṭhara and Devakūṭa: running south to north, like Nīla and Nishadha

• Gandhamādana and Kailāsa: running east to west, eighty yojanas wide, standing in the middle of the ocean

• Nishadha and Pāriyātra: placed to the west of Meru

• Triśṛṅga and Jārudhi: the northern boundary mountains

Brahmā’s city on the summit

On the top of Meru stands Brahmā‘s great mahāpurī (great city), one lakh yojanas across. Brahmā lives here:

• Attended by Yogīndras (masters of yoga), Munīndras (great munis), Vishṇu and Śaṅkara (Śiva)

• Honoured by the revered Sanatkumāra

• Served by siddhas, ṛshis, gandharvas and devas

• Drinking the highest amṛta (nectar of immortality) and resting always in yoga

The city blazes with the light of a koṭi (ten million) suns. It cannot be fully described in words, and even the devas cannot reach it.

Śiva’s temple in front of Brahmā’s city

Right in front of Brahmā‘s city, toward the east, stands the shining and pure temple of Śiva, the deva above all devas. It is:

• Divya-kānti-sampanna: filled with divine light

• Nirmala: spotless

• Catur-dvāra: with four gates

• Mahā-maṅgalakara: supremely auspicious

• Filled with gatherings of great ṛshis

• Served by brahma-vettās (knowers of Brahman)

Here Śaṅkara lives, with Sūrya (the sun), Candra (the moon) and Agni (fire) as his three eyes. With him are Pramathagaṇādhipati and his gaṇas (attendants), and Pārvatī. Peaceful munis who know the Vedas, brahmacārīs (celibate students) and satya-vādīs (those who always speak the truth) worship Mahādeva through tapas. Parameśvara himself receives the worship of these great munis directly, “with his own head” (svayaṃ śirasā svīkaroti).

The cities of the directions around Meru

There are eight cities of the directions on the slopes or at the foot of Meru:

Amarāvatī, the city of Indra, is on the eastern peak of Mānasa-śaila. It is full of apsarases, gandharvas, siddhas and cāraṇas (celestial singers and dancers). It is called atidurlabha, extremely hard to reach, even for devas. Only those who follow dharma, know the Vedas well and are devoted to yajña and homa (fire offerings) reach it. Inside Śiva’s city Yaśovatī there is also a home set up for the devotees of Parameshṭhī, and the vast hall of the Gaṇeśvara (Gaṇeśa) is there too.

Per Vāmana Purāṇa, when Prahlāda searched the worlds in dhyāna for Bhagavān Vishṇu, he saw first the earth in the shape of a lotus, and in its middle Meru, the golden mountain, shining with all aiśvaryas (splendours). Above Meru were the cities of the eight dikpālas (guardians of the directions); above them was Vairāja, the abode of Brahmā; and below that lay a holy āśrama, full of deer and birds and honoured by the devas, where he had darśana of Devamātā Aditi with Bhagavān Vishṇu in the form of Vāmana in her womb.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 51

The Gaṅgā divides into four on Meru

The Gaṅgā flows down from the lotus-foot of Vishṇu. She purifies the Candra-maṇḍala (the sphere of the moon) and falls into Brahmā‘s city on Meru from all four sides. From Brahmā’s city she splits into four streams:

• Sītā: flows east. She passes from mountain to mountain through the sky (antariksha) and reaches the sea through Bhadrāśva-varsha.

• Alakanandā: flows south through Bhārata-deśa (India), dividing into seven streams before she reaches the ocean.

• Sucakshu: flows west, crosses all the western mountains, enters Ketumāla-varsha and joins the western ocean.

• Bhadrā: flows north, crosses the northern mountains and the land of Uttara-Kuru, and joins the northern ocean.

Kailāsa and Hemakūṭa: Śiva’s peaks

The Kūrma Purāṇa (Chapter 48) describes Kailāsa-parvata as a separate and deeply sacred mountain:

• It has many lovely, distinct peaks of great beauty

• It is the home of Kubera and a koṭi yakshas

• Śiva‘s great mandira (temple) is on Kailāsa as well. Beside it flows the holy Ākāśa-Gaṅgā (the Gaṅgā of the sky), whose water is always pure. It is decorated with golden lotuses and served by beings of every kind.

• Hundreds of other rivers full of golden lotuses flow at the foot of the mountain

• Brahmā‘s divine abode, Indra‘s splendid home in the Pārijāta forest, and Vishṇu‘s jewelled palace are also on different peaks of Kailāsa

• Lakshmī-devī lives on the Śrī-śṛṅga peak in her own golden palace, attended by gandharvas, siddhas and cāraṇas. There she shows herself as Parāśakti, the supreme power, who lights up the world with her own rays.

On the peak of Hemakūṭa stands a temple built of crystal and gems. It is Parameshṭhī’s own vimāna (divine palace), where devas and siddhas worship Śiva as Bhūtapati (master of all beings) forever. Maheśvara and Pārvatī live there always with the bhūtagaṇas (Śiva’s attendant beings). Munis have their āśramas (hermitages) on these peaks, among them Jaigīshavya (one of the 28 Śiva-yogācāryas, great teachers of Śaiva yoga) and his disciples Śaṅkha, Manoharā, Kauśika, Kṛshṇa and Sumanā. Parameśvara himself lives there with Devī Pārvatī to bless the gathered yogīs.

Meru as Brahmā’s navel

The Kūrma Purāṇa (Chapter 4), in its account of creation, says that when Brahmā (Hiraṇyagarbha) comes forth inside the great egg of the universe, Mount Meru is his navel-cord (nābhi-sūtra). The mountain ranges around it are his placenta, and the oceans are the waters of the womb. Seeing Meru as Brahmā’s navel shows that it is the life-giving centre of all created existence.

Per Vāmana Purāṇa, Sanatkumāra told Mārkaṇḍeya near the Sthāṇuvaṭa that when the great egg, lying in the waters that covered all, was broken open, the Oṃkāra came forth, and from it the three worlds, bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ and svaḥ. Viriñci, the grandsire of the worlds, arose in the middle of the egg. For him the piṇḍa (the first form of the embryo) became Meru, the yoni became the mountains, and the garbhodaka (the water of the womb) became the seven seas and thousands of rivers.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 21–22

The Vāyu Purāṇa’s account of Meru

The Vāyu Purāṇa (Chapters 34–37) gives another account of Meru in its description of Jambūdvīpa. Here Meru has four colours and is the tallest of all mountains. Its top is broad, and its base broader still, “like a grinding pestle turned upside down”. It shines like gold. The six kula-parvatas (main mountain ranges) that divide Jambūdvīpa into nine varshas (regions) are Himavat, Hemakūṭa and Nishadha to the south, and Nīla, Śveta and Śṛṅgī to the north. Each range runs east to west and reaches the eastern and western oceans at its two ends.

The four trees of the pillar-mountains

Each of the four pillar-mountains has its own great tree:

• Mandara (east): the kadamba tree

• Supārśva (west): the jambū tree, from which the golden river Jāmbūnada flows

• Kumuda (north): the pippala (aśvattha, sacred fig) tree

• Gandhamādana (south): the vaṭa (banyan) tree

When the fruits of the great jambū tree ripen, they fall onto the rocks below. Their juice forms the golden river Jāmbūnada, which flows south through the dvīpa. The people of the southern regions who drink this Jāmbūnada juice gain a golden complexion, a divine fragrance and freedom from all disease.

The four lakes

The four great lakes around Meru in Ilāvṛta-varsha are Aruṇoda (east, with red water), Mānasa (south), Sitoda (west, with white water) and Maṇābhavā (north). These lakes are the sources of the four great rivers of Jambūdvīpa: the Sītā, the Alakanandā, the Cakshu and the Sindhu.

Meru’s divine gardens

On the summit there are four great gardens: Caitraratha (east), Nandana (south, Indra‘s garden), Vaibhrāja (west) and Sāvitra (north). All the seasons are present in these gardens at once, and every flower is always in bloom. The fragrance of the Pārijāta tree in the Nandana grove spreads one hundred yojanas in every direction.

The Vishṇu Purāṇa’s account of Meru

The Dvitīyāṃśa (second part) of the Vishṇu Purāṇa (Chapters 2–3) gives its own account of Meru.

Size

The Vishṇu Purāṇa gives Meru’s size as:

• Height: 84,000 yojanas

• Width at the top: 32,000 yojanas

• Width at the base: 16,000 yojanas

Brahmā’s city: 14,000 yojanas wide

The Vishṇu Purāṇa says Brahmā‘s city on Meru is 14,000 yojanas wide.

The four pillar-mountains and their trees

The Vishṇu Purāṇa names the four pillar-mountains of Ilāvṛta as:

• Mandara (east)

• Gandhamādana (south)

• Vipula (west)

• Supārśva (north)

Great trees stand on these mountains like banners (dhvajas). The most famous is the jambū tree on Mandara. Its huge fruits fall and their juice flows as the Jāmbūnada river, a golden stream from which Jambūdvīpa takes its name. The people of the southern lands who drink Jāmbūnada water gain a golden complexion and freedom from disease.

The four rivers from Brahmā’s city

The Vishṇu Purāṇa names the four rivers that flow out from Brahmā‘s city on Meru:

• Sītā: flows east into Bhadrāśva-varsha

• Alakanandā: flows south through Bhārata-varsha

• Cakshu: flows west into Ketumāla-varsha

• Bhadrā: flows north into Uttara-Kuru-varsha

The kesara mountains

The Vishṇu Purāṇa describes a ring of kesara mountains around Meru on every side. Kesara means “filaments”, like the fine threads around the centre of a lotus. These smaller peaks form a halo around the great central mountain and complete the picture of the world as a lotus, with Meru as its centre.

The Varāha Purāṇa’s account of Meru

The Varāha Purāṇa (Chapters 74–88) describes Meru as the mountain at the very centre of the bhū-maṇḍala (the circle of the earth). It is the golden axis of the universe, around which Sūrya, Candra, the stars and the grahas (planets) move. Brahmā‘s city is on its summit, the four great rivers start from it, and the devas hold their divine assemblies on it.

Size

The Varāha Purāṇa gives these measures for Meru:

So the summit, 32 yojanas wide, is broader than the base, 16 yojanas wide, and the mountain is widest at its middle, 96 yojanas. Seen from below, Meru appears to the devas like a vast lotus in flower.

Colour of the four faces

Meru shines with a golden light. It is made of gold (suvarṇa) and other precious substances. Its four faces look to the four main directions, and each has its own colour:

• East: white like the moon

• South: tawny gold

• West: like copper

• North: like refined silver

Place in Jambūdvīpa

Meru stands at the exact centre of Jambūdvīpa, inside the central region called Ilāvṛta-varsha. Ilāvṛta-varsha stretches 9,000 yojanas in every direction around Meru. Two great mountain ranges flank Meru:

• Mālyavanta: on the eastern side, 34,000 yojanas long and 2,000 yojanas high

• Gandhamādana: on the western side, 34,000 yojanas long and 2,000 yojanas high

To the south of Meru is Kailāsa, the home of Mahādeva Śiva and Gaurī. Kailāsa is separate from Meru itself, but it belongs to the same group of divine mountains.

Brahma-purī on the summit

On the summit of Meru stands Brahma-purī, the celestial city of Brahmā. It is broad and splendid and covers the whole 32-yojana width of the summit. Around Brahma-purī, in the eight directions, are eight smaller cities. Each belongs to one of the eight lokapālas (guardians of the directions): Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirṛti, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Kubera and Śiva. The devas hold their great assemblies and festivals in these cities on Meru’s summit.

The four rivers of Meru

Four great rivers come out from the summit of Meru and flow to the four main directions:

1. Sītā: flows east and sustains the eastern varshas.

1. Alakanandā: flows south. She is the Gaṅgā in her celestial form. Brahmā first receives her in his kūrcam (waterpot). She then comes down through the footstep of Vishṇu (the Vishṇupāda), and at last reaches Bhārata as the Gaṅgā.

1. Cakshu: flows west and sustains the western varshas.

1. Bhadrā: flows north toward Kuru-varsha.

These four rivers carry the waters of Meru’s divine springs to all four quarters of the bhū-maṇḍala. So Meru is the source of the waters that sustain the world.

Sūrya, Candra and the stars

Bhagavān Sūrya and Candra (the moon) move around Meru as their axis. The stars and the nakshatras (constellations) are fixed in relation to Meru as well. When Sūrya is on the eastern side of Meru, it is day in the eastern varshas and night in the western varshas. This is why it is day in one part of the world while it is night in another. The Varāha Purāṇa presents Meru as the aksha (axis) around which the whole working of day and night, the seasons and the movement of the grahas turns.

The merit of hearing about Meru

The Varāha Purāṇa teaches that a person who hears a description of Meru with devotion gains the same merit (puṇya) as walking around the mountain itself in pradakshiṇā (reverent circling).

Meru at the meeting point of the worlds

Meru is more than a mountain on the earth. It is the point where the vertical line of the worlds, from the worlds below the earth up to Brahma-loka, meets the level spread of the seven varshas stretching out on every side. Brahmā rules from its summit. Bhagavān Śiva lives to its south on Kailāsa. Bhagavān Vishṇu fills it as the antaryāmī (the indweller of all).

The Liṅga Purāṇa’s account of Meru

The Liṅga Purāṇa (Pūrvārdha, Chapter 48) gives more detail on Meru’s size and on its bond with Parameśvara.

Size, support and colours

The Liṅga Purāṇa gives Meru a height of 84 lakh yojanas. It is sunk 16 yojanas into the earth and is 1 lakh yojanas wide. Ādiśesha holds it up from below. Each of its four sides has its own colour:

• East: the red glow of padmarāga (ruby)

• South: the brightness of suvarṇa (gold)

• West: a dark colour

• North: the shine of coral

The touch of Maheśvara

The Liṅga Purāṇa says that Meru’s golden glow comes from the touch of the divine body of Maheśvara. The mountain shines with the colour of dhattūra (datura) flowers as the mark of Parameśvara’s presence on it.

The cities of the directions

Around Meru, at the directions, stand the cities of the guardians of the directions. The Liṅga Purāṇa names these:

• Amarāvatī: the city of Indra, to the east

• Tejasvinī: the city of Agni, to the south-east

• Vaivasvatī: the city of Yama, to the south

• Śuddhavatī: the city of Nirṛti, to the south-west

• Gandhavatī: the city of Vāyu, to the north-west

• Mahodaya: the city of Kubera, to the north

• Yaśovatī: the city of Īśāna, to the north-east

Sadāśiva on Meru

At the summit of Meru, 84,000 yojanas high, Parameśvara himself lives and plays always as Sāmbasadāśiva. With him are Ambā (Pārvatī), Śrīhari, Brahmadeva, Nandi and the pramatha-gaṇas (Śiva‘s attendants).

The Liṅga Purāṇa also says that Kailāsa, the home of Kubera, is a peak of Meru. The Mandākinī river flows from Kubera’s peak. Here, at Kailāsa, Maheśvara is present forever with the bhakta-gaṇas (hosts of devotees).

Sadāśiva lives not only on Meru’s summit. He lives in all mountains, all forests, all varshas, all rivers and lakes, and all places where rivers meet the sea, throughout the world. There are lakhs of Śiva-sthalas (places of Śiva) throughout creation.

Sadāśiva also lives in a divine āyatana (shrine) in the Bhūtavana forest, on the peak of Devakūṭa mountain. Pramatha-gaṇas surround him there. The shrine is adorned with crystal pillars and thrones of gems. Brahmā, Indra, Hari and all the siddhas worship him there without pause.

The Mahābhārata’s account of Meru

The Mahābhārata describes Meru in two places: the Bhūmi Parva section of the Bhīshma Parva (Chapters 6–7), and the Vana Parva (Chapter 163). The Vana Parva places the abodes of Brahmā and Vishṇu on Meru’s peak.

Size

Meru is 84,000 yojanas high, and it goes just as deep, 84,000 yojanas, below the earth. The text adds: “Meru stands in all directions — above, below, and on all sides — encompassing all worlds.”

Place and shape

Meru stands between Mālyavanta on its eastern side and Gandhamādana on its western side, the two great ranges that support it. It is round (maṇḍalākāra) in shape. In the early morning it gleams with a golden light, like the sun without smoke.

The lands around Meru

The four dvīpas around Meru are Bhadrāśva (east), Ketumāla or Jambū-khaṇḍa (west) and Uttara Kuru (north). On the southern side lies the wider Jambūdvīpa, which holds Bhārata Varsha.

The Gaṅgā falls from Meru

The Bhīshma Parva says the Gaṅgā comes down from Meru’s summit with tremendous force and falls into Bindu Sarovara, the Moon-lake (Candra-kuṇḍa). Her roar is like a thunderbolt. No mountain could bear the force of her fall, so Parameśvara Śaṅkara held the Gaṅgā on his head for one lakh years. From Bindu Sarovara the Gaṅgā divides into seven streams:

1. Vasvokarā

1. Nalinī

1. The sacred Sarasvatī

1. Jambū Nadī

1. Sītā

1. Gaṅgā

1. Sindhu

Paśupati and Umā in the Karṇikāra forest

On the northern part of Meru there is a divine forest of Karṇikāra (oleander) trees. There Paśupati (Śiva), surrounded by divine bhūtas, wears a garland of Karṇikāra flowers and plays with Umādevī. He blazes with the light of three suns from his three eyes. Only those of uttama-vrata (the highest vows), satya-vādīs (those who always speak the truth) and siddha-purushas (perfected beings) can see him there.

Gandharvas, Kubera, Śukrācārya and the ṛshis

When Brahmā, Rudra, Indra and the devas perform yajñas on Meru, five famous gandharvas come to the gathering devas and praise them with many kinds of stotras: Tumburu, Nārada, Viśvāvasu, Hāhā and Hūhū.

Kubera, the king of the yakshas, lives on Gandhamādana, at the side of Meru. He takes one-fourth of Meru’s wealth, and gives one-sixteenth of it to human beings.

Śukrācārya lives on Meru’s peak with his daitya disciples and watches over the mountain’s gems and treasures.

The Saptarshis (seven ṛshis) and Prajāpati Kaśyapa climb up to Meru at every parva (the turning point of each fortnight).

Sumukha leaves Meru

The Bhīshma Parva also tells a short account. Sumukha, the son of Garuḍa, once saw that on Meru there was no difference between the highest, the middle and the lowest kinds of birds: all the birds there glowed golden. This equality did not please him, so Sumukha left Meru and went elsewhere.

Dhaumya’s description in the Vana Parva

The Vana Parva (Chapter 163) gives a full description of Meru. The ṛshi Dhaumya, the family purohita (priest) of the Pāṇḍavas, tells it to Yudhishṭhira while the Pāṇḍavas are staying on Mount Gandhamādana. Dhaumya describes the shape of Meru, the four directions and their rulers, how the sun moves around Meru, what day and night really are, and where the highest divine abodes lie on its peak and above it.

The four directions and their rulers

Dhaumya names the four main directions and the devas who preside over them:

• East (Pūrva): ruled by Indra (Śakra), the king of the devas and of svarga. The east is linked with dawn, with the Vedic rites performed at sunrise, and with the awakening of divine awareness.

• South (Dakshiṇa): ruled by Yama, who presides over death and the order of dharma. The south is linked with pitṛloka (the world of the ancestors) and with karma and its results.

• West (Paścima): ruled by Varuṇa, the master of the waters and guardian of ṛta (the order of the universe). The west is linked with the setting of the light and with the depths of the ocean.

• North (Uttara): ruled by Kubera and, above all, by Śiva. Both are linked with the northern Himālaya. The north is the direction of Meru, of tapas (spiritual discipline) and of moksha (liberation).

Height and light

Dhaumya describes Meru as a mountain of amazing height, far taller than any mountain on earth. Its slopes shine with gold and other celestial substances. Unlike an ordinary mountain, Meru has no shadow in the usual sense. The sun circles around it instead of passing over it, so on its peak there is no ordinary difference between day and night. The peak blazes with light at all times.

Meru is the centre of the inhabited world. All the great mountain ranges spread out from it, and the great rivers of the world start on its slopes and flow outward to water the dvīpas.

The sun’s path, and day and night

Dhaumya explains that what people call “sunrise” and “sunset” is not the sun really rising or setting. It is the sun moving in its circle around Meru. When the sun is on the side of Meru that faces a given land, the people there have day. When the sun has moved to the far side of Meru, they have night. The sun has not gone away; it has only moved behind the great mountain.

The Vana Parva also tells what happens at dusk. At the point where day turns into night, fire and the sun trade roles. The fire of lamps and household fires takes on the nature of the sun, and the sun takes on the nature of fire. This is the sacred moment of sandhyā (the meeting of day and night), honoured in daily Vedic practice.

The abodes of Brahmā and Vishṇu

Dhaumya says the peak of Meru is where Brahmā holds his assembly: the great hall where the creator lives with all the devas, ṛshis and celestial beings gathered around him. This is the highest point of the created world, the summit of all that is made.

Above and beyond Brahmā’s abode, on the eastern side of Meru, is the abode of Bhagavān Vishṇu, called the Nārāyaṇasthāna. It lies beyond even the highest point of the created world. Even Brahmarshis (the greatest ṛshis) cannot reach it by ordinary means. Those who reach Vishṇu’s abode on Meru do not return.

The planets circle Meru

The Vana Parva says that all the celestial bodies, the sun, the moon and the other grahas (planets), move around Meru. Their movement is a pradakshiṇā, a clockwise walk of reverence around the mountain that is the axis of the world, done without end.

The Vāmana Purāṇa’s account of Meru

The Vāmana Purāṇa, told by Pulastya Maharshi to Nārada Maharshi, and in its Saro Māhātmya by Romaharshaṇa to the ṛshis, gives Meru its place in the lotus of the earth and in Brahmā‘s egg (told above), and tells of the deeds of devas, asuras and ṛshis on the mountain, in this order.

Andhaka marches on Meru

When Andhaka, son of Hiraṇyāksha, had received from Mahādeva the varas that devas, siddhas, ṛshis and serpents could neither conquer nor kill him, and that he need fear neither fire nor water, he made Śukrācārya his purohita and set out to conquer the devas. He overran the whole earth, defeated its kings, and with their help came near the peak of Meru. Seeing this, Devendra made fit arrangements for the protection of his capital Amarāvatī, mounted the elephant Airāvata and went out against him, and the other dikpālas followed on their vāhanas with their armies.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 9

Meru in Himavān’s assembly

When the Saptarshis came to Himavān to ask for his daughter Kālī on behalf of Bhagavān Śiva, Himavān sent the mountain Gandhamādana to bring all his mountain kinsmen. Meru and the others, knowing the importance of the matter, came at once to Himavān’s house with excitement and wonder, and sat on the golden seats set for them. With Meru came Udayācala, Hemakūṭa, Ramyaka, Mandara, Uddālaka, Vāruṇa, Varāha, Garuḍāsana, Śaktimān, Vegasānu, Dṛḍhaśṛṅga, Śṛṅgavān, Citrakūṭa, Trikūṭa, Mandarakācala, Vindhya, Pāriyātra, Malaya, Dardura, Kailāsa, Mahendra, Nishadha and Añjanācala, and many lesser mountains.

Himavān told his kinsmen that the holy Saptarshis had come on Hara’s behalf to ask that his daughter become the wife of Parama Śiva, and that he would not go against their word. Then Meru and the other chiefs answered from their seats: “Those who have come asking are maharshis! The bridegroom is Hara, Devādhideva. What more is wanted? Give the maiden Kālī to Śiva in marriage at once. Śaileśvara, the bridegroom is the best in every way!” With the other great mountains beside him, Himavān then gave Kālī to Śarva.

Earlier, when King Saṃvaraṇa, having seen Tapatī, the daughter of Sūrya, came back to his capital Pratishṭhānapura, the Purāṇa likens his return to a deva who moves at will going to the peak of Meru.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 22, 26

Mura on Meru

The dānava Mura, son of Kaśyapa Maharshi and Danu, fearing death, performed tapas to Brahmā for many years and received the vara that whoever he touched with his hand, even an immortal, would die in battle. Then he went to the mountain Meru, the dwelling of the devas, and challenged the devas, yakshas, kinnaras and others to battle, but no one came out to fight him. From there he went on to Amarāvatī and called Indra to battle.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 34

Who could uproot Meru

When Andhaka, blinded by desire, longed for Devī Pārvatī, Prahlāda rebuked him: “Only one who can cross the ocean swimming with his arms, who can pluck out the sun and throw it on the earth, who can uproot Mount Meru, only he could conquer that Triśūlī. Even if there were beings strong enough for such deeds, all of them together could not conquer Hara. This is true, thrice over.”

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 37

Viśvakarmā and Vedavatī

By the śāpa (curse) of a muni, Ṛtadhvaja, Viśvakarmā became a vānara of fearsome form and fell from the peak of Meru down to the earth, onto the bank of the river Śālūkinī near the mountain Śālveya, in a terrible forest, where he lived for many years on roots, bulbs and fruits.

Vedavatī, a gandharva maiden, the daughter of Parjanya and Ghṛtācī, later told Citrāṅgadā that Meru was her home. While she was playing in a forest there, a strong vānara called out to her: “O Devavatī! Where are you going? Who brought you from the āśrama on earth where I left you, to this Meru mountain?” She answered: “My name is Vedavatī; I am not Devavatī. This Meru mountain is my home.” The vānara would not listen and came after her. She climbed a tall bandhujīva tree, but with one blow of his hand he broke it and hurled it into the waters of the ocean, and she fell with it, holding fast to a branch, while the siddhas and gandharvas cried out that this chaste maiden had been blessed by Brahmā himself to become the chief queen of Indradyumna, the son of Manu.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 38–39

The sons of Kratudhvaja on Mahāmeru

In the Svārocisha manvantara, Kratudhvaja, the son of Svārocisha Manu, had seven sons, equal to fire. They went to Mahāmeru and performed harsh tapas to Brahmā, seeking the position of Indra. Indra, afraid, sent Pūtanā, the best of the apsarās, to Mahāmeru to bring an obstacle to their tapas. When the seven brothers went down to bathe in the river near their āśrama, Pūtanā stepped into the water too; at the sight of her their seed fell into the water, and Śaṅkhinī, the wife of the makara Mahāśaṅkha, swallowed it. Fallen from their tapas, the princes went back to their kingdom. In time Śaṅkhinī gave birth to seven infants in the well of their house and gave up her body, and Pitāmaha Brahmā came to the crying children, named them Maruts and set them on the path of the wind. So the Maruts appeared in the Svārocisha manvantara.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 46

Meru in the battles of Bhagavān Vishṇu

• When Bhagavān Vishṇu with his cakra had cut off the arms and head of the daitya Kālanemi, the headless trunk still stood, like a palm tree with its top cut off, unshaken like Meru, until Garuḍa pushed it down with his breast (Chapter 47).
• In the account of Dhundhu, when Bhagavān Trivikrama had pressed down the earth and svarga with two steps and there was no place left for the third, he let his body, vast as Mount Meru, fall upon the back of the dānava Dhundhu, and a pit thirty thousand yojanas in extent was formed in the earth (Chapter 52).
• Bhagavān Vishṇu, Garuḍadhvaja, went to Mount Meru and saw the daitya Śrīdāma, who had humbled the pride of the devas. He released the Sudarśana cakra on him and cut off his head, and Śrīdāma fell to the ground like a mountain peak struck off by the vajra (Chapter 56).
• When Bali poured the water of the gift, Bhagavān Vāmana took a form made of the whole world: with his feet and calves he covered the sky, with his knees the Satya and Tapo lokas, and with his thighs Mount Meru and Mount Mandara (Chapter 65).

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 47, 52, 56, 65

Prahlāda leaves Meru

When Prahlāda set out on his tīrtha-yātrā, to wash away his pāpa (sin), he left Meru, the golden mountain, and went to the Mānasa tīrtha on bhūloka, where Śrī Hari dwells in the body of a fish. There he worshipped Acyuta by the Vedic vidhi and fasted.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 52

Trikūṭa, the son of Meru

Before the account of Gajendra Moksha, Pulastya tells of Mount Trikūṭa, splendid and full of every kind of gem. It is the son of Meru, which shines with the light of the sun. Hosts of devarshis serve it; it rose out of the Kshīra Sāgara, the ocean of milk, whose waves wash its smooth rocks. After freeing Gajendra, Madhusūdana declared that the bad dreams of those who, pure and with bhakti, praise Gajendra, himself, the lake, and the mountain peak that is the son of Meru, together with the other things he named, are destroyed, and good dreams come to them.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 58

Aditi’s abode on Meru

When Bali had brought the three worlds under his control, Indra went to the beautiful Mount Meru, the place of his mother Aditi, and told her how all the Ādityas had been defeated by the dānavas on the battlefield. Aditi answered that if even the Marut-gaṇas could not help him conquer Bali, son of Virocana, no one but Vishṇu could, and she went with the devas to their father Kaśyapa to ask the means. From this began the account of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s birth as Vāmana.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 3

The Agni Purāṇa’s account of Meru

In the Agni Purāṇa, Agnideva teaches Vasishṭha Maharshi the bhuvanakośa, “the treasury of the worlds”: the earth, its dvīpas, its varshas and its mountains. Meru stands at its centre. The same Purāṇa names Meru in the building of temples, in the great gifts, in the abhisheka of a king and in the path to moksha.

Meru in Ilāvṛta, the centre of Jambūdvīpa

Priyavrata gave the seven dvīpas to his sons, and Jambūdvīpa went to Āgnīdhra. Āgnīdhra divided Jambūdvīpa among his own sons, and to his son Ilāvṛta he gave Ilāvṛta-varsha in the middle, with Mount Meru; Ketumāla received Ketumāla-varsha, west of Meru. (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 107)

The seven dvīpas, Jambū, Plaksha, Śālmali, Kuśa, Krauñca, Śāka and Pushkara, are ringed by seven seas of salt water, sugarcane juice, wine, ghee, curd, milk and sweet water, and Jambūdvīpa is in the middle of them all. In the middle of Jambūdvīpa stands the lofty Meru. Its height is eighty-four thousand yojanas. This king of mountains goes sixteen thousand yojanas down into the earth. At its top it is thirty-two thousand yojanas wide, and at its base sixteen thousand. So it is like the karṇikā (pericarp) of the lotus that is the earth.

To its south are the varsha-parvatas Himavān, Hemakūṭa and Nishadha, and to its north Nīla, Śveta and Śṛṅgī. The two middle mountains, Nishadha and Nīla, stretch one lakh yojanas each, and each of the others ten thousand yojanas less; all are two thousand yojanas high and as wide. South of Meru lie Bhāratavarsha, Kiṃpurusha and Harivarsha; north of it Ramyaka, Hiraṇmaya and Uttarakuru, each nine thousand yojanas in extent. In the middle of them all is Ilāvṛta-varsha, in which Meru stands, and Ilāvṛta extends nine thousand yojanas on every side of Sumeru. East of Meru is Bhadrāśva-varsha, and west of it Ketumāla.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 107–108

The four pillar-mountains, their trees and the Jambū

On the four sides of Meru stand four mountains, as if they were pillars set by Īśvara to hold Sumeru up: Mandarācala on the east, Gandhamādana on the south, Vipula on the west and Supārśva on the north. Each is ten thousand yojanas in extent. On them the kadamba, the jambū, the aśvattha and the vaṭa trees, each eleven yojanas in extent, shine like banners. The jambū tree gives Jambūdvīpa its name. Its fruits are as large as elephants, their juice flows as the Jambū river, and from it comes the excellent jāmbūnada gold.

Around Meru are four forests: Caitraratha on the east, Gandhamādana on the south, Vaibhrāja on the west and Nandana on the north. In the east and the other directions are the lakes Aruṇoda, Mahābhadra, Śītoda and Mānasa.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 108

The kesara mountains and the cities of the devatās

Meru is the pericarp of the earth-lotus, and its kesara mountains (the filament-mountains) stand around it: in the east Śītānta, Cakramuñja and others; in the south Trikūṭa and others; in the west Śikhivāsa and others; in the north Śaṅkhakūṭa and others. In the valleys between the kesara mountains are the cities of Lakshmī, Vishṇu, Agni, Hari and the other devatās. Though they are on the earth, Agnideva says, they are equal to svarga, and pāpīs cannot live in them.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 108

Brahmapurī and the descent of the Gaṅgā

On Sumeru is Brahmapurī, the city of Brahmā, fourteen thousand yojanas in extent, and on its four sides, in every direction, are the cities of Indra and the other lokapālas. From this Brahmapurī the Gaṅgā, who rose from the foot of Bhagavān Vishṇu, flooding the orb of the moon, descends from svarga. In the east the river Sītā rises from the Bhadrāśva mountain, goes from mountain to mountain and joins the sea. So too the Alakanandā comes south to Bhāratavarsha, divides into seven streams and flows into the sea. The Vakshu joins the western sea, and the Bhadrā crosses Uttarakuru-varsha and joins the sea.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 108

The maryādā mountains and the world-lotus

The Mālyavān and Gandhamādana mountains stretch north and south up to Nīla and Nishadha, and between the two stands Meru, shaped like the pericarp. The varshas Bhārata, Ketumāla, Bhadrāśva and Uttarakuru, outside the maryādā (boundary) mountains, are the petals of this world-lotus. Jaṭhara and Devakūṭa are maryādā mountains stretching north and south up to Nīla and Nishadha. Gandhamādana and Kailāsa, spread east and west, are eighty thousand yojanas long. As in the east, so in the west there are two maryādā mountains, Nishadha and Pāriyātra, whose roots go into the sea. On the north the varsha mountains Triśṛṅga and Rudhira go into the eastern and western seas. In this way Jaṭhara and the other maryādā mountains shine on the four sides of Meru.

Śrī Mahāvishṇu dwells in the varshas around Meru: in Bhadrāśva in the form of Hayagrīva, in Ketumāla as Varāha, in Bhāratavarsha as Kūrma and in Uttarakuru as Matsya, and in his Viśvarūpa he is worshipped everywhere.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 108

The five prāsādas on the peak of Meru

Teaching Skanda the marks of a prāsāda (temple), Bhagavān Śiva says that on the peak of Meru there are only five prāsādas: Vairāja, which is square; Pushpaka, an oblong square; Kailāsa, round; Maṇika, oval; and Trivishṭapa, eight-cornered. Each has nine kinds, so there are forty-five kinds in all, and the first of the nine of the Vairāja family is itself called Meru.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 104

A golden Meru in the foundation of a Śiva temple

In the rite of Śiva-pratishṭhā, which Bhagavān Śiva teaches to Skanda, the central pit of the foundation receives a tortoise or a bull of gold or copper, with soil from a river bank or from a mountain peak. Or a Meru made of gold, mixed with madhūka, akshata (unbroken rice) and añjana, is placed in that pit.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 97

The twelve Meru-dānas

Agnideva tells Vasishṭha Maharshi of the twelve kinds of Meru-dāna, the gift of a Meru, which give bhukti and mukti (enjoyment and moksha).

The Ratna-meru. On Kārttika pūrṇimā one keeps the Meru-vrata and gives the Ratna-meru, the Meru of gems, to a brāhmaṇa. The measure for all the Merus is this: of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, vaidūrya (cat’s-eye), crystals, pushparāga (topaz), emeralds and pearls, one prastha of each is the best measure, half of that the middle, and half of the middle the lowest. The giver of the Ratna-meru must give up all miserliness. He makes a twelve-petalled lotus and sets the Meru on its pericarp; its devatās are Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara. On the petals stand twelve mountains, three on each side: on the east Mālyavat, Bhadrāśva and Ṛsha; on the south Nishadha, Hemakūṭa and Himavat; on the north Nīla, Śveta and Śṛṅgī; on the west Gandhamādana, Vaikaṅka and Ketumāla. So Meru is worshipped together with the twelve mountains. Fasting and bathed, the giver worships Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva, worships the Meru before Bhagavān Vishṇu, and gives it to the brāhmaṇa with the mantra. Naming the place and the time, he says: “This Meru, made of this substance, whose devatā is Śrī Mahāvishṇu, I give to a brāhmaṇa of this gotra. By this dāna may my inner being be purified, and may the highest enjoyments and moksha come to me.” One who gives in this way uplifts his whole kula, is honoured by the devas, and, seated in a vimāna, moves through Indraloka, Brahmaloka, Śivaloka and Śrī Vaikuṇṭha. The Meru-dāna should be made, and caused to be made, at sacred times such as a saṅkrānti.

The Mahā-meru of gold. The Mahā-meru is made of a thousand palas of gold, with three peaks on which Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara are installed. Each of the mountains around it is made of a hundred palas of gold, so that with Meru there are thirteen mountains. On the day of the Uttarāyaṇa saṅkrānti, or at an eclipse of the sun or the moon, one sets the Meru before a mūrti of Bhagavān Vishṇu, worships Śrī Mahāvishṇu and the Meru, and gives it to a brāhmaṇa. He dwells long in Vishṇuloka.

The Rajata-meru. One who gives, with saṅkalpa, a Meru of silver with its twelve mountains enjoys kingship for as many years as there are atoms on the earth, and the phala told above as well.

The Bhūmi-meru. Worshipping Śrī Mahāvishṇu and the brāhmaṇa, one gives a Meru of land: from a town, a janapada or a village, the Meru is formed from an eighth part and the twelve mountains from the remaining share. It gives the phala told before.

The Hasti-meru. One forms a Meru with twelve mountains of elephants and gives it together with three men. Its fruit is imperishable.

The Aśva-meru and the Go-meru. The Aśva-meru is formed of fifteen horses, twelve of them standing in the places of the twelve mountains. After the pūjā of Śrī Mahāvishṇu and the other devatās, the giver enjoys many enjoyments in this birth and becomes a king in the next. The Go-meru, of cows, is given in the same way.

The Vastra-meru. The Vastra-meru is made of silk cloths weighing one puṭṭi, set in the middle with twelve cloths around it. Its fruit is imperishable.

The Ghṛta-parvata. The mountain of ghee is made of five thousand palas of ghee, and each mountain beside it of five hundred palas. One worships Śrī Mahāvishṇu upon it and gives it before him to a brāhmaṇa; the giver has happiness in this world and reaches Vishṇuloka.

The Khaṇḍa-meru. One who makes and gives a Meru of sugar candy in the same way gains the phala told before.

The Dhānya-meru. The Meru of grain is made of five puṭṭis of grain, and each of the twelve mountains of one puṭṭi. On every one of them three golden peaks are made, and on all of them Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara are worshipped, with a special pūjā to Śrī Mahāvishṇu. Its fruit is imperishable.

The Tila-meru. The Meru of sesame is made by the same measure, and the other mountains by a tenth of it, with peaks as before. One who gives it goes to Vishṇuloka with his relatives. It is given with this dāna-mantra, which the Purāṇa gives in Telugu prose: “Namaskāra to the Tila-meru, which is of the form of Vishṇu. Namaskāra to the Tila-meru on whose peaks are Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara, which is at the navel of the earth, which is lord of the twelve mountains around it, which removes all pāpa, which is full of peace and joined with Vishṇu-bhakti. May it protect me. Freed of pāpa, I shall reach the presence of Śrī Mahāvishṇu together with the pitṛs. Oṃ namaḥ. You are of the form of Vishṇu. Before Vishṇu, to a brāhmaṇa who is of the form of Vishṇu, with bhakti, for bhoga and moksha, I give you.”

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 212

Invoked for śānti at a king’s abhisheka

Pushkara taught Paraśurāma the mantras for the abhisheka (consecration) of a king, which remove all pāpas. In them the great mountains are asked to give the king śānti (peace): “May the mountains Himavat, Hemakūṭa, Nishadha, Nīla, Śveta, Śṛṅgavat, Meru, Mālyavat, Gandhamādana, Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Śuktimat, Ṛkshavat, Vindhya and Pāriyātra give you śānti.”

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 219

Brahmā’s yajña on Sumeru and the sword Nandaka

Long ago Brahmā performed a yajña on the summit of Mount Sumeru, on the bank of the Ākāśagaṅgā. He saw the daitya Loha, who had come to that yajña, and considered that he might cause an obstacle to it. At that very thought a mighty purusha appeared from the fire and bowed to Brahmā. The devas welcomed him with delight, and because he was so welcomed (abhinandana) he became the sword named Nandaka. At the prayer of the devas, Śrī Mahāvishṇu accepted that sword as his divine weapon. When the Devādideva grasped it, placing his hand at its throat, it came out of its sheath: its lustre was blue, its hilt was made of gems, and it grew to a hundred hastas in length. The daitya, striking with his gadā (mace), began to drive the devas from the field. Śrī Mahāvishṇu cut through his whole body with the sword; at the very touch of Nandaka all the iron limbs of the daitya were shattered and fell scattered over the earth. Having slain Lohāsura, Śrī Mahāvishṇu gave him a vara: “May your pure body be of use on the earth for the making of weapons.” Then, by the grace of Śrī Mahāvishṇu, Brahmā worshipped him with the yajña, free of every obstacle.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 245

Raivata’s tapas on Sumeru

King Raivata went with his daughter to Brahmā and listened to the music there. Only one muhūrta passed for Brahmā, but in that time many yugas passed in the world of mortals. When Raivata hurried back to his own city, the beautiful city of Dvāravatī, full of Yādavas and guarded by the Bhojas, Vṛshṇis and Andhakas led by Vāsudeva, stood in the place of Kuśasthalī. Raivata gave Revatī to Balarāma. Then, knowing saṃsāra to be impermanent, he performed tapas on the peak of Mount Sumeru and reached a higher state.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 273

The Sadāśiva-pada on Sumeru

In the dīkshā of the mantra of Tvaritā, Agnideva tells what moksha is like. When the mantra-upāsaka is at the Sadāśiva-pada on Sumeru, on the second day, with a composed mind, he performs a thousand homas for the destruction of karma. Having given the pūrṇāhuti, the mantra-yogī, free of all connection with dharma and adharma, attains moksha. Having gone there he does not return: as water poured into water becomes one with it, the jīva unites with Bhagavān Śiva and takes the form of Śiva.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 311

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa’s account of Meru

In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Śuka Maharshi describes Meru to Parīkshit as part of the bhuvana-kośa, the description of the worlds. Parīkshit asks for it so that the mind, made one-pointed on this gross virāṭ-rūpa (cosmic form) of Bhagavān Vāsudeva, may then be fixed on his most subtle nirguṇa form. Śuka answers that even with the lifespan of the devatās no one could describe in words the greatness of the māyā-śakti of Bhagavān Vāsudeva, and so he will give only the principal names, forms, measures and features.

Meru in Ilāvṛta, the centre of Jambūdvīpa

Jambūdvīpa, where we live, is the innermost sheath of the bhū-maṇḍala. It is one lakh yojanas in extent and evenly round like a lotus leaf. In it are nine varshas, each nine thousand yojanas in length, well divided by the mountains on their boundaries. In the middle of them is the inner varsha called Ilāvṛta, and in the middle of Ilāvṛta stands Mount Meru, made entirely of gold, the best of the kula-parvatas (the chief mountains). Its height equals the length of Jambūdvīpa, one lakh yojanas. It is like the pericarp, the seed-head at the centre, of the lotus that is the bhū-maṇḍala. At its summit it is thirty-two thousand yojanas wide and at its foot sixteen thousand, and sixteen thousand yojanas of it have entered into the earth.

Around Ilāvṛta lie the other varshas. To the north, in a row, are Ramyaka, Hiraṇmaya and Kuru, bounded in order by the mountains Nīla, Śveta and Śṛṅgavān. These are two thousand yojanas broad and stretch from east to west as far as the salt ocean; Śveta is shorter than Nīla, and Śṛṅgavān shorter than Śveta, each by a little more than a tenth, and their height is the same. To the south are Harivarsha, Kiṃpurushavarsha and Bhāratavarsha, bounded in order by Nishadha, Hemakūṭa and the Himālaya, which also stretch from east to west and are ten thousand yojanas high. To the west of Ilāvṛta is the mountain Mālyavān and to the east Gandhamādana; they are two thousand yojanas in extent and reach north to Nīla and south to Nishadha, and they bound Ketumāla in the west and Bhadrāśva in the east.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 16

The four supporting mountains, their trees, lakes and gardens

As supports of Meru in the four directions, Īśvara made the mountains Mandara, Merumandara, Supārśva and Kumuda, each ten thousand yojanas long and as high. On them, in order, stand four great trees, the mango, the jambū (rose-apple), the kadamba and the banyan, like flags upon the mountains. They are eleven thousand yojanas high, their branches spread as far, and their girth is a hundred yojanas.

On the four mountains are four lakes, of milk, of honey, of sugarcane juice and of sweet water. The gaṇas of upadevatās such as the gandharvas enjoy them, and through them the yoga-siddhis come to them naturally. There too are four gardens of the devatās: Nandana, Caitraratha, Vaibhrājaka and Sarvatobhadra. In them the great devatās gather and sport, with their wives, young women fit to be called the ornament even of the women of the devas, while the gandharvas and other upadevatās sing their glory.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 16

The four rivers of the four trees

• The mango of Mandara and the Aruṇodā. On the summit of Mandara stands a mango tree eleven hundred yojanas high, born in the deva-loka. From its topmost branch fall fruits as large as mountain peaks, tasting like amṛta. They burst, and a very sweet red juice with a natural fragrance flows from them in great quantity; joined by other fragrances, it flows as the river famed as Aruṇodā, “she whose water is red”. Falling from the summit of Mandara, it flows in the eastern part of Ilāvṛta. The yaksha women who are companions of Devī Pārvatī enjoy its waters; their limbs become fragrant, and the wind that blows over them spreads that fragrance for ten yojanas around.
• The jambū of Merumandara, the Jambū river and Jāmbūnada gold. On Merumandara jambū fruits keep falling, each as large as the body of an elephant, with a very small seed. Falling from that great height they burst, and their juice flows as the Jambū river. It falls to the earth from a peak ten thousand yojanas high and flows southward as far as Ilāvṛta. The earth on both its banks, soaked with its water and dried by the wind and the sun’s rays, is changed and becomes the gold famed as Jāmbūnada. That gold is at all times the ornament of the devatās: the devatās, gandharvas and others and their wives wear it as crowns, bracelets, girdles and other ornaments.
• The kadamba of Supārśva and the five streams of honey. On Supārśva a great kadamba stands firmly rooted. From its hollows flow five streams of honey, each five vyāmas (arm-spans) in girth. Falling from the summit of Supārśva, they flow on the west of Ilāvṛta, add to its beauty, fill it with fragrance and gladden the beings there. The breath of those who taste the honey spreads fragrance for a hundred yojanas around.
• The banyan Śatavalśa of Kumuda and its streams of all things desired. On Kumuda stands firmly rooted a banyan famed as Śatavalśa, “the one with a hundred branches”. From the aerial roots of its branches streams come down that give whatever is desired: milk, curd, honey, ghee, jaggery, cooked rice and other foods, clothes, beds, seats, ornaments and other things. Falling from the summit of Kumuda, they enrich the north of Ilāvṛta. Those who enjoy the gifts of these streams never suffer wrinkled skin, grey hair, fatigue, sweat, bodily odour, old age, disease, death, cold, heat, pallor, breaking of limbs and the like, and for as long as they live they know only the highest happiness.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 16

The twenty mountains at the base and the eight around Meru

As a pericarp is ringed by its filaments, so Īśvara made twenty mountains around the base of Meru. They are Kuraṅga, Kurara, Kusumbha, Vaikaṅka, Trikūṭa, Śiśira, Pataṅga, Rucaka, Nishadha, Śinīvāsa, Kapila, Śaṅkha, Vaidūrya, Jārudhi, Haṃsa, Ṛshabha, Nāga, Kālañjara, Nārada and others.

On the four sides of Meru stand eight more mountains. To the east are Jaṭhara and Devakūṭa, which stretch from north to south for eighteen thousand yojanas and are two thousand yojanas broad and as high. In the same way, to the west are Pavana and Pāriyātra; to the south Kailāsa and Karavīra, which extend towards the east; and to the north Triśṛṅga and Makara. So the golden mountain, ringed by these eight, shines like a sacred fire ringed by eight samidhs (sticks of the yajña fire) and by darbha grass.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 16

Brahmapurī and the eight cities of the lokapālas

The mahātmās say that the city of Brahmā the Svayambhū is built of gold in the middle of the summit of Meru. It is square and one koṭi (ten million) yojanas in extent. Around it, after the pattern of Brahmapurī, stand the eight cities of the eight lokapālas, the guardians of the directions, each in its own direction. Each is a quarter of the extent of Brahmapura and befits the rank of its lokapāla.

When the three worlds and Indra had lost their fortune through the śāpa of Durvāsa Maharshi, and the devatās could find no way out, they went to the sabhā of Brahmā on the peak of Meru, bowed to the Parameshṭhī and told him all that had happened.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 16; Skandha 8, Chapter 5

The Gaṅgā falls on Meru

When Bhagavān Vishṇu took the form of Vāmana at the yajña of Bali and measured the brahmāṇḍa with three steps, the nail of the big toe of his left foot broke open the upper part of the brahmāṇḍa. The water outside it entered, washed his lotus feet and became red with their kuṅkuma; it is Bhagavatpadī, “she who is connected with the foot of Bhagavān Vishṇu”, whom people later called the Gaṅgā. After a thousand mahāyugas she reached Dhruvaloka, where Dhruva bears her on his head; the Saptarshis bear her in their jaṭās; and then, coming down along the path of the deva-loka crowded with many thousands of crores of vimānas and flooding the Candra-maṇḍala on the way, she falls into Brahmapurī on the summit of Meru.

There she divides into four streams, which flow in the four directions to the ocean:

• Sītā, to the east: from Brahmapurī, through the kesara region of Meru, over the peaks of the first of the mountains, falling lower and lower, she falls on the peaks of Gandhamādana, flows through the middle of Bhadrāśva and joins the salt ocean.
• Cakshu, to the west: falling from the peak of Mālyavān with undiminished speed, she flows west towards Ketumāla and reaches the ocean.
• Bhadrā, to the north: falling north from the peak of Meru, from one mountain peak to another, she glides down from the peak of Śṛṅgavān, flows north through Uttarakuru and joins the ocean.
• Alakanandā, to the south: flowing south from Brahmapurī across many peaks, she reaches Hemakūṭa; from there, crossing the peaks of the Himālaya with great speed and whirling eddies, she flows towards Bhārata and reaches the ocean. They say that for one who comes to bathe in her it is not impossible to gain, at every step, the fruit of yajñas such as the aśvamedha and the rājasūya.

In every khaṇḍa there are besides hundreds of rivers of many kinds born from Meru and the other mountains, both nadīs and nadas.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 17

Sūrya’s course around Meru

Bhagavān Sūrya lights the bhū-maṇḍala as he goes round Mount Meru in pradakshiṇa, but he lights only half of it and leaves the other half in darkness. This did not please King Priyavrata. Having gained a power beyond the human by worshipping Śrī Hari, he mounted a chariot full of light, as swift as Sūrya, and like a second Sūrya went round Meru seven times. The trenches cut by the rims of his chariot wheels became the seven oceans, and so the bhū-maṇḍala was divided into seven parts.

Above the mountain Mānasottara in Pushkara-dvīpa, the chariot of Sūrya goes round Meru; the year is the wheel of that chariot, half of it uttarāyaṇa and half dakshiṇāyana, the day and the night of the devatās. The land from Meru to Mānasottara is where living beings move. On Mānasottara, in the four directions of Meru, stand the four cities of the lokapālas: Devadhānī of Indra to the east, Saṃyamanī of Yama to the south, Nimlocanī of Varuṇa to the west and Vibhāvarī of Candra to the north, and in them morning, midday, evening and night come in their turn. For the beings on Meru only the midday Sūrya shines at all times. Sūrya goes round with the mountain on his left, though it appears to be on his right. One end of the axle of his chariot rests on the peak of Meru and the other on Mānasottara, and fixed to that axle the wheel turns like the wheel of an oil press.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapters 1, 20–21

The daughters of Meru

Maitreya Maharshi tells Vidura that Meru gave his daughters Āyati and Niyati in marriage to Dhātā and Vidhātā. To these two couples were born, in order, Mṛkaṇḍa and Prāṇa.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 1

Meru in the accounts of the Purāṇa

• Kardama Maharshi. Praised by the siddhas and served by Vidyādhara women, Kardama mounted his vimāna and delighted for a long time in the valleys of Mount Meru, like Kubera. There the Gaṅgā falls from above with an auspicious sound, and the wind, the friend of Manmatha, blows softly and pleasantly; that is why the eight lokapālas take their pleasure there.
• The darśana to the Pracetas. When Śrī Hari appeared to the Pracetas, clad in yellow and seated on the shoulders of Garuḍa, he looked like a cloud on the peak of Mount Meru.
• Citraketu. Citraketu the Vidyādhara, a great yogī whose senses never weakened, praised by maharshis, siddhas and cāraṇas, roamed for ten thousand crore years in the valleys of Meru, the king of the kula-parvatas, which fulfils many wishes.
• Sudyumna. Prince Sudyumna, hunting towards the north, entered the forest called Ilāvṛta at the foot of Mount Meru, where Bhagavān Śiva dwells with Devī Pārvatī.
• Durvāsa Maharshi. Chased by the Sudarśana cakra of Śrī Hari in the account of King Ambarīsha, Durvāsa ran, seeking to enter a cave of Mount Meru.
• Ādiśesha. When Akrūra saw Ādiśesha in the waters of the Yamunā, Śesha-deva had a thousand hoods, each with a golden crown, so that he looked like Mount Meru with its golden peaks.
• A vibhūti of Śrī Kṛshṇa. Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Uddhava that among dwelling places he is Mount Meru.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 23; Skandha 4, Chapter 30; Skandha 6, Chapter 17; Skandha 9, Chapters 1, 4; Skandha 10, Chapter 39; Skandha 11, Chapter 16

Sources

• Kūrma Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 4

• Kūrma Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 45

• Kūrma Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 46

• Kūrma Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 48

• Vāyu Purāṇa, Chapters 34–37

• Vishṇu Purāṇa, Dvitīyāṃśa, Chapters 2–3

• Varāha Purāṇa, Chapters 74–88

• Liṅga Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 48

• Mahābhārata, Bhīshma Parva (Bhūmi Parva), Chapters 6–7

• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 163

• Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 9, 22, 26, 34, 37–39, 46–47, 51–52, 56, 58, 65

• Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 3, 21–22

• Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 97, 104, 107–108, 212, 219, 245, 273, 311

• Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 23; Skandha 4, Chapters 1, 30; Skandha 5, Chapters 1, 16–17, 20–21; Skandha 6, Chapter 17; Skandha 8, Chapter 5; Skandha 9, Chapters 1, 4; Skandha 10, Chapter 39; Skandha 11, Chapter 16