Varāha Mahā Purana
79 - The valleys of Meru I
Rudra said:
1-2. Between the mountains Asita (Krishna) and Kumuda is the valley which is three hundred yojanas long and hundred yojanas broad and full of all kinds of birds and beasts.
3. In it there is a beautiful big lake with sweet water and huge lotuses, white and red, in which are seated gods, demons, Gandharvas and the great snakes.
4. Its placid water is resorted to by all. It is called Shrisaras and it always sparkles.
5-7. Amidst that array of lotuses there is a particularly big lotus shining like the sun, astounding in its size, spreading with a crore of petals and attractive filaments, and with the bees humming all around. In it is seated the great goddess Lakshmï, the embodiment of prosperity.
8-9. On the bank of that lake is the forest of Bilva trees always full of flowers and fruits wherein live Siddhas. It is two hundred yojanas in length and hundred yojanas in breadth.
10. It has numerous big trees as high as half a krošha with thousands of branches.
11. They bear thousands of fruits green and grey, smelling sweet and tasty like nectar.
12. The place is filled with the fruits falling from these trees and it is known all over the world as Shrivana.
13. It has eight peaks. Many Devas and bilva-eating sages, live in it. Lakshmï, adored by groups of siddhas, ever remains there.
14-15. Between the mountains Ekächala and Manišhruñga there is a lotus-grove, two hundred yojanas long and a hundred yojanas broad, resorted to by Siddhas and Chäranas.
16. The flower there appears as if held by Lakshmï. There are big peaks as high as half a krošha.
17. With branches full of flowers, the whole place is made reddish yellow.
18-19. In this the flowers are each three cubits long and two cubits broad and with filaments of the colour of red arsenic and sweet-smelling. It always hums with inebriate bees and there are in it gods, Gandharvas, Räkshasas and Yakshas, and also Kinnaras, Apsarases and Nägas.
20. There is the hermitage of the divine Kašhyapa in it and also other hermitages.
21. Between Mahänila and Kakubha (Kumbha?) there is the river Sukhä, and on its bank is a big forest fifty yojanas long and thirty yojanas broad.
22. This forest is Tälavana (forest of Palmyras) with the trees rising to a height of half a krošha.
23. These trees are full of big, strong and juicy fruits of the colour of’ collyrium.
24. The whole place smells sweet and it is resorted to by Siddhas. This bears close resemblance to Airävata, the great elephant.
25-26. Between Airävata, Rudra (Kailäsa)? and Devashila (Pañchašhaila?) there is a tableland formed of a single rock, thousand yojanas long and hundred yojanas broad, without any kind of trees or plants, and with but a small stream of water.
27-28. Thus has been narrated, O Brahmins, the valleys in order around Meru.
Summary of chapter 79 of the Varāha Mahā Purana is as follows:
Maharshi Pulastya reveals the divine origins of Sannihitā Sarovara, describing how all sacred rivers, lakes, and tīrthas of the cosmos assemble within this holy reservoir during the precise moment of a solar eclipse. Performing ancestral rituals, tarpaṇa, and holy dips in Sannihitā Sarovara bestows the immense spiritual merit of performing thousands of Ashvamedha sacrifices. Devotees who offer prayers to Bhagavān Vishṇu at this sanctified lake achieve complete freedom from reborn existence and gain eternal residence in Vaikuṇṭha.