Cakrakuñja (Kesara Mountain)

Cakrakuñja · cakra-kuñja, “the grove of the wheel”

Cakrakuñja is one of the kesara (filament) mountains of Meru, the mountains that stand around Meru in Jambūdvīpa. The Brahma Purāṇa names it in its account of the shape of the world, where the teller describes to the munis the varshas, forests and lakes around Meru.

Among the kesara mountains of Meru

East of Meru is the varsha Bhadrāśva and west of it Ketumāla, with Ilāvṛta between them. Around Meru are four forests, Caitraratha on the east, Gandhamādana on the south, Vaibhrāja on the west and Nandana on the north, and four lakes enjoyed by the devas, Aruṇoda, Mahābhadra, Asitoda and Mānasa.

Then the teller names the kesara mountains of Meru. The first group is Śāntavanta, Cakrakuñja, Kurarī, Mālyavanta and Vaikaṅka. In the south are Trikūṭa, Śiśira, Pataṅga, Rucaka, Nishadha and others; in the west Śikhivāsa, Vaidūrya, Kapila, Gandhamādana, Jānudhi and others, which touch Meru; and in the north Śaṅkhakūṭa, Ṛshabha, Haṃsa, Nāga, Kālañjara and others. On the top of Meru is the city of Brahmā, fourteen thousand yojanas wide, with the cities of the eight dikpālas at its eight corners.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 18

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 18