Hemaśaila (mountain of Kuśa Dvīpa)
Hemaśaila · hema-śaila, “the golden mountain”
Hemaśaila is a mountain of Kuśa-dvīpa, one of the seven dvīpas of the earth. It is the second of the seven varsha mountains of that dvīpa.
In Kuśa-dvīpa
Lomaharshaṇa, describing the dvīpas to the munis, tells that in Kuśa-dvīpa the varshas bear the names of the sons of the king Jyotishmān: Udbhida, Veṇumān, Svairatha, Randhana, Dhṛti, Prabhākara and Kapila. There, with humans, live daityas, dānavas, devas, gandharvas, yakshas and kiṃpurushas. The four varṇas, devoted to their own dharma, are the Damas, Śushmiṇas, Snehas and Māndahas. The deity worshipped there is Janārdana in the form of Parabrahma, and by their yajñas to Janārdana the people exhaust the fruit of their former puṇya-karma, which would otherwise bring them birth as beings holding an office.
The seven varsha mountains are Vidruma, Hemaśaila, Dyutimān, Pushṭimān, Kuśeśaya, Hari and Mandara. The rivers named are the Dhūtapāpā, Śivā, Pavitrā, Sammati, Vidyudambhas and Mahī, with others, and thousands of small streams there remove every pāpa. In the middle of the dvīpa is a great clump of kuśa grass, and from it the dvīpa takes its name.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 20
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 20