850 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 16
varsas. Such vargas are known as continents in the modern geographical
context. Ketumiala is described as one of the above varsas. It is said that in
this varsa, women are the most beautiful. This varsa was conquered by
Arjuna also. A description of this part of the world is available in the
Mahabharata (Sabha 28.6).

It is said that this part of the world is situated on the western side of
the Meru Parvata, and inhabitants of this province used to live up to ten
thousands of years (Bhisma Parva 6.16.31-32). Human beings living in this
part of the globe are of golden color, and the women resemble the angels
of heaven. The inhabitants are free from all kinds of diseases and griefs.

Bharatavarsa: This part of the world is also one of the nine varsas of the
Jambiidvipa or earthly planet. Each planet is also sometimes called a
dvipa because of its being an island in the fathomless outer space. Each
planet is factually an island in the airy ocean of outer space. Jambiudvipa
is only one of such countless islands in this airy ocean of space. A
description of Bharatavarsa is given in the Mahabharata (Bhisma Parva,
Chapters 9 to 10).

Uttaran: According to Sridhara Svami these parts of the world are
called Ilavartavarsa, or the Mediterranean countries of Europe. The
description of the Ilavartavarsa is given in the Mahabharata (Sabha 28.6-7)
as follows:

nagaraés ca vanarn ca vd nadi§ ca vimalodakah
purusan deva-kalparns ca priya-darsanah

adrsta-piirvan Subhagan sa dadarsa dhanaiijayah
sadanam ca subhrani narig ca apsarasam-nibha

It is twice mentioned here that the women are beautiful, and some of
them are equal to the apsaras or heavenly women. Therefore the countries
mentioned are round about the Mediterranean coast.

Kimpurusavarsa: It is stated to be situated beyond the northern side of
Darjelling Dhavala Giri and probably may be a country like Nepal, Bhutan,
Tibet and China. These parts of the world were also conquered by Arjuna
(Sabha 28/1-2). The Kimpurusas are descendants of the daughter of
Daksa. When Maharaja Yudhisthira performed a horse sacrifice yajfia, the
inhabitants of these countries were also present to take part in the festival,
and they paid tributes to the emperor. This part of the world is called
Kimpurusavarsa, or sometimes the Himalayan provinces (Himavati). It is
said that Sukadeva Gosvami was born in these Himalayan provinces, and
he came to Bharatavarsa after crossing the Himalayan countries.
