Puṇḍarīkā (River)

Puṇḍarīkā, “the river of the white lotus”

Puṇḍarīka has other meanings too: see all meanings of Puṇḍarīka.

Puṇḍarīkā is a river of Krauñcadvīpa, one of the seven dvīpas of the earth. Lomaharshaṇa names it last among the seven chief rivers of that dvīpa in Chapter 20 of the Brahma Purāṇa, in his account of the dvīpas that lie beyond Jambūdvīpa. The seven are Gaurī, Kumudvatī, Sandhyā, Rātrī, Manojavā, Khyāti and Puṇḍarīkā.

Krauñcadvīpa

Krauñcadvīpa is twice as wide as Kuśadvīpa. Its rulers are the seven sons of Dyutimān: Kuśaga, Mandaga, Ushṇa, Pīvara, Andhakāraka, Muni and Dundubhi. Its lovely varsha mountains, where devas and gandharvas go, are Krauñca, Vāmana, Andhakāraka, Devavrata, Dhama, Puṇḍarīkavān and Dundubhi, each twice the measure of the one before. There the blessed Pushkaras and Pushkalas move about with the hosts of the devas, and the four varṇas, beginning with the brāhmaṇas, live there. In that dvīpa Janārdana, in the form of Rudra, is worshipped in yajña by the Pushkaras and the others through dhyāna-yoga. The dvīpa is ringed by the ocean of cream, of the same measure as the dvīpa, and beyond it lies Śākadvīpa.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 20

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 20