SB 5.16.8 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

उत्तरोत्तरेणेलावृतं नील: श्‍वेत: श‍ृङ्गवानिति त्रयो रम्यकहिरण्मयकुरूणां वर्षाणां मर्यादागिरय: प्रागायता उभयत: क्षारोदावधयो द्विसहस्रपृथव एकैकश: पूर्वस्मात्पूर्वस्मादुत्तर उत्तरो दशांशाधिकांशेन दैर्घ्य एव ह्रसन्ति ॥ ८ ॥

Verse text

uttarottareṇelāvṛtaṁ nīlaḥ śvetaḥ śṛṅgavān iti trayo ramyaka-hiraṇmaya-kurūṇāṁ varṣāṇāṁ maryādā-girayaḥ prāg-āyatā ubhayataḥ kṣārodāvadhayo dvi-sahasra-pṛthava ekaikaśaḥ pūrvasmāt pūrvasmād uttara uttaro daśāṁśādhikāṁśena dairghya eva hrasanti.

Synonyms

uttara — uttareṇa ilāvṛtam — further and further north of Ilāvṛta-varṣa ; nīlaḥ — Nīla ; śvetaḥ — Śveta ; śṛṅgavān — Śṛṅgavān ; iti — thus ; trayaḥ — three mountains ; ramyaka — Ramyaka ; hiraṇmaya — Hiraṇmaya ; kurūṇām — of the Kuru division ; varṣāṇām — of the varṣas ; maryādā — girayaḥ — the mountains marking the borders ; prāk — āyatāḥ — extended on the eastern side ; ubhayataḥ — to the east and the west ; kṣāroda — the ocean of salt water ; avadhayaḥ — extending to ; dvi — sahasra — pṛthavaḥ — which are two thousand yojanas wide ; eka — ekaśaḥ — one after another ; pūrvasmāt — than the former ; pūrvasmāt — than the former ; uttaraḥ — further north ; uttaraḥ — further north ; daśa — aṁśa — adhika — aṁśena — by one tenth of the former ; dairghyaḥ — in length ; eva — indeed ; hrasanti — become shorter .

Translation

Just north of Ilāvṛta-varṣa — and going further northward, one after another — are three mountains named Nīla, Śveta and Śṛṅgavān. These mark the borders of the three varṣas named Ramyaka, Hiraṇmaya and Kuru and separate them from one another. The width of these mountains is 2,000 yojanas [16,000 miles]. Lengthwise, they extend east and west to the beaches of the ocean of salt water. Going from south to north, the length of each mountain is one tenth that of the previous mountain, but the height of them all is the same.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Just north of Ilāvṛta-varṣa—and going further northward, one after another—are three mountains named Nīla, Śveta and Śṛṅgavān. These mark the borders of the three varṣas named Ramyaka, Hiraṇmaya and Kuru and separate them from one another. The width of these mountains is 2,000 yojanas. Lengthwise, they extend east and west to the ocean of salt water. The length of each mountain decreased by a little more than 10% compared to the previous mountain. North of Ilāvrṭa are the mountain ranges starting with Nīla. The mountains extend on the east and west (ubhayataḥ) to the salt ocean. The mountains after Nīla become shorter than 100,000 yojanas by a little over 10% each.

Purport

In this regard, Madhvācārya quotes the following verses from the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa: yathā bhāgavate tūktaṁ bhauvanaṁ kośa-lakṣaṇam tasyāvirodhato yojyam anya-granthāntare sthitam maṇḍode puraṇaṁ caiva vyatyāsaṁ kṣīra-sāgare rāhu-soma-ravīṇāṁ ca maṇḍalād dvi-guṇoktitām vinaiva sarvam unneyaṁ yojanābhedato ’tra tu It appears from these verses that aside from the sun and moon, there is an invisible planet called Rāhu. The movements of Rāhu cause both solar and lunar eclipses. We suggest that the modern expeditions attempting to reach the moon are mistakenly going to Rāhu.