Mālyavān (Mountain)

Mālyavān · mālya-vān, “the one with garlands”

Mālyavān, printed Mālyavanta in the Brahma Purāṇa, is one of the mountains around Meru in Jambūdvīpa. It is one of the kesara (filament) mountains of Meru, and with Gandhamādana it stretches from the Nīla mountain to the Nishadha mountain, with Meru between the two like the pericarp within a lotus. The Purāṇa names it where the teller describes to the munis the bhuvana-kośa, the arrangement of the earth.

A kesara mountain of Meru

Meru, the golden mountain, stands in the middle of Jambūdvīpa like the pericarp in the middle of the lotus that is the earth. Around it stand the kesara mountains, the filaments of that lotus. The first group named is Śāntavanta, Cakrakuñja, Kurarī, Mālyavanta and Vaikaṅka. Then come those of the south (Trikūṭa, Śiśira, Pataṅga, Rucaka, Nishadha and others), of the west (Śikhivāsa, Vaidūrya, Kapila, Gandhamādana, Jānudhi and others, which touch Meru) and of the north (Śaṅkhakūṭa, Ṛshabha, Haṃsa, Nāga, Kālañjara and others). The kesara mountains stand on Meru’s four sides, and their beginnings and ends are cool.

From Nīla to Nishadha

Mālyavanta and Gandhamādana stretch from the Nīla mountain in the north to the Nishadha mountain in the south. In the middle between them is Meru, like the pericarp within a lotus flower. Beyond the maryādā (boundary) mountain, up to the Lokāloka mountain, the Bhāratas, the Ketumālas, the Bhadrāśvas and the Kuru lands are like the petals of that lotus.

The valleys within these mountains are lovely, frequented by siddhas and cāraṇas, with cities, forests and the finest temples of Lakshmī, Vishṇu, Agni, Sūrya, Indra and the other devatās. Gandharvas, yakshas, rākshasas, daityas and dānavas play there day and night. These are the bhauma-svargas, svarga lands on the earth, the dwelling of those firm in dharma; those given to pāpa cannot reach them in any number of births.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 18

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 18