Varāha Mahā Purana
80 - Valleys of Meru II
Rudra said:
1. Let us now see the valleys on the southern side occupied by Siddhas. Between Šhišhira and Patañga is the white land which is without women and trees. But its sugar-cane-like peak has trees, and around it there is the grove of Udumbara trees full of birds.
2. In this grove, the trees bear fruits as big as large tortoises. It is resorted to by all the eight kinds of demigods.1
1. The demigods are Vidyädharas, Apsarases, Yakshas, Räkshasas, Gandharvas, Kinnaras Pišhächas and Guhyakas.
3. In this region flow many rivers which are full of clear and sweet water. In it there is the hermitage of Kardama Prajäpati frequented by many sages and men. Around it there is a forest extending to a hundred yojanas.
Between the mountains Tamräbha and Patañga there is a big lake hundred yojanas broad and twice as long, full of different kinds of lotuses glowing like the rising sun and resorted to by Siddhas and Gandharvas.
4. In the middle is a tall peak, hundred yojanas long and thirty yojanas broad, full of a variety of minerals. At its top is a broad pathway leading to a vast enclosure with a jewelled porch. Within it is the city of Vidyädharas. Therein lives the Vidyådhara king by name Puloma with numerous attendants.
5. Between the mountains Sumüla and Vasudhãra, there is the place called Bilvasthalî, fifty yojanas long and thirty yojanas broad.
6. The Bilva trees there bear fruits big like pitchers, the ground there is strewn with these fruits, and it is resorted to by Guhyakaš and the like who eat these fruits.
Between Vasudhära and Ratnadhära there is the Kimšhuka forest, a hundred yojanas long and thirty yojanas broad, spreading smell of the blossoms over a hundred yojanas. It has abundant water and is used by the Siddhas.
7. In it is the abode of Äditya. This god, the sun, appears month after month. Devas and others bow to Prajäpati, the creator of the world.
Between Pañchaküta and Kailäsa, there is the expansive land which is one thousand yojanas long and hundred yojanas broad, white like the swan, unapproached by trivial beings, and which is like the ladder to heaven.
8. Let us sec now the valleys on the western side. Between Supäršhva and Shikhišhaila there is a stony plateau which is untouchably hot for ever. In its middle is a part, a hundred yojanas in extent, which is the place of fire. Here fire which is the destroyer of the world, blazes for ever without fuel.
Between the mountainas Kumuda and Añjana is the MätuIuñgakasthala (the place of Pomegranate), inaccessible to beasts and covered by yellow fruits.
In it is the holy pond used by Siddhas. This grove is Bruhaspati’s.
Then between the mountains Piñjara and Gaura there are lakes extending to hundreds of yojanas. They are full of big lilies.
9. In it is the abode of the great lord Vishnu.
Between the mountains Shukla and Pándura there is a single rock ninety yojanas long and thirty yojanas broad without trees. In it there is a pond of still water with different kinds of lotuses.’
In its middle is a big banyan tree spreading over five yojanas. Beneath it sits lord Shiva wearing blue cloth, praised by Yakshas and others.
Between the mountains Sahasrašhikhara and Kumuda is a sugar-cane-like peak, fifty yojanas long and twenty yojanas broad, full of birds and numerous trees bearing tasty fruits. In it is the divine hermitage of Indra.
Between Shañkhaküta and Rusåbha there is the bëautiful grove of Punnäga trees extending over several yojanas and bearing sweet-smelling fruits as big as bilvas. In it live the Nägas and others inebriated with the juice of the Punnäga fruits.
10. Between the mountains Kapiñjala and Näga, there is the place, two hundred yojanas long and one hundred yojanas broad, occupied by various kinds of people and with grapes and dates in abundance.
Between Pushkara and Mahämegha is the place, one hundred yojanas long and sixty yojanas broad, called Päpitala, without trees and plants. On its sides are four big forests and lakes extending over several yojanas. In it there are fierce valleys, ten, five, seven, eighty, thirty and twenty yojanas long.
Summary of chapter 80 of the Varāha Mahā Purana is as follows:
The text recounts the historical episode of King Vena, whose unrighteous deeds during his earthly reign resulted in severe karmic afflictions and a degraded post-mortal state. His noble and righteous son, King Prithu, carried the ancestral remains to the holy waters of Prithūdaka, where he performed devout ancestral libations and charity in honor of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. Through the pristine spiritual potency of Prithūdaka and the filial devotion of King Prithu, the soul of Vena was completely cleansed of all past sins and elevated to the celestial realms of the devas.