Text 31] The Island of Jambiadvipa 269
TRANSLATION

Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: My dear King, in the opinion of
some learned scholars, eight smaller islands surround Jam-
bidvipa. When the sons of Maharaja Sagara were searching all over
the world for their lost horse, they dug up the earth, and in this
way eight adjoining islands came into existence. The names of
these islands are Svarnaprastha, Candrasukla, Avartana,
Ramanaka, Mandaraharina, Paficajanya, Sitnhala and Lanka.

PURPORT

In the Kurma Purana there is this statement about the desires of the

demigods:
anadhikarino devah
svarga-stha bharatodbhavam
vaiichanty atma-vimoksartha-
mudrekarthe ‘dhikdrinah
Although the demigods are situated in exalted positions in the heavenly
planets, they nevertheless desire to descend to the land of Bharata-varsa
on the planet earth. This indicates that even the demigods are unfit to
reside in Bharata-varsa. Therefore if persons already born in Bharata-
varsa live like cats and dogs, not taking full advantage of their birth in
this land, they are certainly unfortunate.
TEXT 31

ad aT ARATE aracteai fA TaTIAATaTHT ef 13211
evam tava bharatottama jambidvipa-varsa-vibhago yathopadesam
upavarnita ui.

evam—thus; tava—unto you; bhdrata-uttama—O best of the descen-
dents of Bharata; jambudvipa-varsa-vibhagah—the divisions of the is-
land of Jambidvipa; yatha-upadesam—as much as | am instructed by
the authorities; upavarnitah—explained; iti—thus.
