सागरों की उत्‍पत्ति महाभागवत पुराण के अनुसार Hindu-vigyan-Geography

समुद्रों की उत्पत्तिः भागवत महापुराण के अनुसार

अगर आप यह जानना चाहें कि सागर और द्वीप कैसे बने तो भागवत का निम्‍न 

उद्धण देखिएः

ये वा उ ह तद्रथचरणनेमिकृतपरि- खातास्‍ते सप्‍त सिंधव आसन् यत एव कृताः सप्‍त भुवो द्वीपाः

(स्‍कंध 5, अध्‍याय 1-31)

((( राजा प्रियव्रत के रथ के पहियों से जो लीक बनी, वे ही गढे सात सागर बन गए, इन्‍हीं के कारण सात द्वीप हो गए)))

बडे बडे वैज्ञानिक सागरों और द्वीपों की रचना के विषय में प्रत्‍यक्ष और अनुमान के घोडे दौडाते दौडात थक जाते हा, पर भागवत कार ने सह समस्‍या कितनी सरलता से सुलझा दी !

भागवत पुराण

मुक्त ज्ञानकोष विकिपीडिया से

श्रीमद्भागवत
गीताप्रेस गोरखपुर का आवरण पृष्ठ
लेखक	वेदव्यास
देश	भारत
भाषा	संस्कृत
शृंखला	पुराण
विषय	श्रीकृष्ण भक्ति
प्रकार	प्रमुख वैष्णव ग्रन्थ
पृष्ठ	१८,००० श्लोक

भागवत पुराण हिन्दुओं के अट्ठारह पुराणों में से एक है। इसे श्रीमद्भागवतम् या केवलभागवतम् भी कहते हैं। इसका मुख्य वर्ण्य विषय भक्ति योग है, जिसमे कृष्ण को सभी देवों का देव या स्वयं भगवान के रूप में चित्रित किया गया है। इसके अतिरिक्त इस पुराण में रस भाव की भक्ति का निरुपण भी किया गया है, परंपरागत तौर पर इस पुराण का रचयिता वेद व्यास को माना जाता हैं। 

1.2 Mt. Meru 100,000x higher than Mt. Everest

Arya texts of a comparatively late period ( 5 century AD ) still maintain a belief in the fictional Vedic Mt. Meru. It is supposed to be one hundred thousand times higher than Mt. Everest! Regarding this mountain, the Matsya Purana says,

"It [Mt Meru] is golden and shining like fire. The colour of the eastern side is white like the colour of Brahmans, that of the northern side is red like the that of Kshatriyas, the southern is yellow like that of Vaishyas, the western is black like the colour of Sudras. It is 86000 yojana high, and 16000 of these lie in the earth. Each of the 4 sids has 34000 yojanas ... There are beautiful golden houses inhabited by spiritual beings, the Devas, by the singers the Gandharvas and their harlots the Apsaras. Also Asuas, Daityas and Rakshasas are living in it. " 

-- [ Matsya Pur. quoted in al-B. i.247 ]

In general, 1 yojana = 8 miles = 32000 yards and 1 kroh = 1/2 yojana [ al-B i.167 ]. Thus Mt. Meru would be 8x86,000 = 704,000 miles high. Mt. Everest, by comparison, is only 29,000 ft., or less than 6 miles, high. Hence Mt. Meru is 100,000 times higher than Mt. Everest !

The Kurma Purana has this to say on this topic," Earth, composed of seven continents, together with the oceans extends 500,000,000 yojanas across. Holy Jambudvipa lies in the middle of all the continents; in its center is said to be lofty Mt. Meru, bright as gold. Its height is 84,000 yojanas, and it extends 16,000 yojanas below the earth; its width at the top is 32,000 yojanas, and its diameter at the base is 16,000 yojanas." 

-- [ Kurma Purana, quoted in Classical, p. 52 ]

The impossibly high Mt. Meru is held to be the source of really existing rivers in India such as the Sita:

" Ganga, the heavenly river flowing from the feet of Visnu and inundating the orb of the moon, falls all around the city of Brahma. Falling on the four regions, O twice-born ones, she subdivides into four rivers, namely Sita, Alakananda, Sucaksus and Bhadra. The river Sita flows from the atmosphere east of Mt. Meru and then through the eastern range called Bhadrasva to the sea. And each of the others does likewise: Alakananda to the South enters Bharatavarsa; Sucaksus to the West falls on Ketumala, and Bhadra to the North falls through Uttarakuru..." -- [ Kurma Purana, in Classical, p. 54 ]

The scripture then describes nine different subcontinents, of which one (Bharatavarsa) includes or is the same as India. Eight of the subcontinents are populated by people who live paradisial lives. Their lifespans are 10,000 years apiece or more and their diet consists of sweet foods like bread-fruit and sugarcane. By contrast,

" In Bharatavarsa women and men display diverse colors, worship various gods and perform many different duties. The full length of their lives is said to be a hundred years, O virtuous ones. They consume all kinds of food and live their lives according to virtue or vice... In these eight subcontinents, Kimpurusa and the others, O great sears, there is neither sorrow nor weariness, and no anxiety, hunger, or fear. And the people, healthy, unoppressed, free from all cares, ever youthful, all enjoy themselves in various ways. Only in Bharatavarsa, the wise say, and nowhere else, occur the four Ages: Krta, Treta, Dvapara and Kali." 

-- [ Kurma Purana, in Classical, p. 54 ]

Of these nine [lands], it is in Bharat-varsha only that there are sorrow, weariness, and hunger; the inhabitants of other varshas are exempt from all distress and pain, and there is in them no distinction of yugas. Bharata is the land of works, where men perform actions, winning either a place in Heaven, or release; or, it may be, rebirth in Hell, according to their merit. Bharata is, therefore, the best of Varshas; other varshas are for enjoyment alone. Happy are those who are reborn, even were they gods, as men in Bharat-varsha, for that is the way to the Supreme. [ Coom 396 ]