काव्यमीमांसा (महाकवि राजशेखर - कवि-रहस्य एवं देश-विभाग सटीक)

INTRODUCTION. XXVII situated in the centre and its chief mountain is Mahāmeru. The Mahāmeru, again, is surrounded by the country called the Ilāvṛtavarṣa. The third country to the south of the Mahāmeru is called the Bhāratavarṣa. The Bhāratavarṣa is divided into nine parts, and the Kumā- rīdvīpa, one among them, corresponds with the present India from Cape Comorin to the Himālayas. This country is also known as the Cakravartikṣettra. One who holds sway over the whole country is called a Cakravartin, while the king who is able to conquer all the nine parts of the Bhāratavarṣa is called a Samrāṭ. The author mentions the seven Kulaparvatas of the Kumā- rīdvīpa, and says that the Āryāvarta is a part of this Dvīpa. Kumārīdvīpa is again subdivided into five parts with Madhyadeśa in the middle, and four other countries in the four directions of the middle country, which according to him is bounded by the Prayāga, the Vindhya range, the Vinaśana and the Himālayas. He places the other four countries as follows: from Benares in the east, from Māhiṣmatī in the south, from Devasabhā in the west and from Pṛthūdaka in the north, all extending to the extreme limits of India. In the same chapter Rājaśekhara gives innumerable details regarding the countries, rivers, mountains and the agricultural products of all the five divisions of the Kumārīdvīpa. These geographical names have been collected together in an appendix in which an endeavour has been made to identify the places mentioned by him, as far as practicable, since it has now become difficult to trace the old sites. It is noteworthy, however, that Rājaśekhara includes such countries as Arabia, Persia and Afghanistan in the northern India, and distinguishes Siṁhala from Laṅkā. Moreover, he includes in his list many new names not known to the Purāṇas, or the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahā- bhārata, or even to the Greek or Arabic historians and the Chinese travellers, as will be seen from the appendix already referred to.