Devanagari
मन्दरो मेरुमन्दर: सुपार्श्व: कुमुद इत्ययुतयोजनविस्तारोन्नाहा मेरोश्चतुर्दिशमवष्टम्भगिरय उपक्लृप्ता: ॥ ११ ॥
Verse text
mandaro merumandaraḥ supārśvaḥ kumuda ity ayuta-yojana-vistāronnāhā meroś catur-diśam avaṣṭambha-giraya upakḷptāḥ.
Synonyms
mandaraḥ
—
the mountain named Mandara
;
meru
—
mandaraḥ — the mountain named Merumandara
;
supārśvaḥ
—
the mountain named Supārśva
;
kumudaḥ
—
the mountain named Kumuda
;
iti
—
thus
;
ayuta
—
yojana — vistāra — unnāhāḥ — which measure ten thousand yojanas high and wide
;
meroḥ
—
of Sumeru
;
catuḥ
—
diśam — the four sides
;
avaṣṭambha
—
girayaḥ — mountains that are like the belts of Sumeru
;
upakḷptāḥ
—
situated .
Translation
On the four sides of the great mountain known as Sumeru are four mountains — Mandara, Merumandara, Supārśva and Kumuda — which are like its belts. The length and height of these mountains are calculated to be 10,000 yojanas [80,000 miles].
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
On the four sides of the great mountain known as Sumeru are four mountains-Mandara, Merumandara, Supārśva and Kumuda—which are supporting mountains. The length and height of these mountains are calculated to be 10,000 yojanas.
The length (vistāra) and height of the supporting mountains is 10,000 yojanas. Since they act as the support of Meru in the center, the mountains on the east and west side of Meru run south and north in length, and the mountains on the north and south run east and west. If each mountain was 10,000 yojanas wide, Ilāvṛta would disappear (since it is only 9000 yojanas on either side of Meru.) This would contradict the descriptions in SB 5.16.16 stating that juice cascades from the Mandara Mountain in waterfalls and becomes a river called Aruṇodā, which flows pleasantly through the eastern side of Ilāvṛta. Vistāra here means length. They spread out in the four directions (catur-diśam).